Nutritious lunches in a hurry

Not to boast, but I've got my breakfasts sorted. I’ve honed it down to two or three go-to breakfasts on rotation: nutritious, quick, genuinely delicious.  No mental effort needed.  It’s such a habit that the shopping and the making of them now just happen.   

Dinners were more of a challenge – but gradually adopting a habit of weekly menu planning helped navigate the various dietary preferences, likes, dislikes and different timings of the family with (some) degree of control.

Lunch, however, was a different story.  Too often I would stand in front of an open fridge door with zero plan and zero enthusiasm.  The mental load of lunches was defeating me.  This was until I hit on the formula of the ‘messy plate’

The magic of the messy plate

A messy plate is not a recipe, it's a principle. A collection of good things, already in your fridge, assembled in five minutes flat, with zero concern for how it looks.

Mine, recently, looked like this: a slice of leftover frittata, a scoop of cottage cheese with a drizzle of crispy chilli oil, a few anchovies, a handful of salad leaves, a spoonful of sauerkraut. Nothing plated, nothing styled. Just good things, together, on a plate. It took less time to make than it took to decide what to have.

Some ideas to try

Once you get the hang of the principle, you'll find your own combinations — but here are a few ideas start you off, all built around a solid hit of protein (roughly 30g), some fibre, and a good source of healthy fats.

Garlicky greens and eggs. Flash-fry a mix of frozen peas, edamame, green beans and kale in olive oil with salt, pepper and chopped garlic, then top with two fried eggs. Five minutes, one pan.  Protein, fibre and healthy fats all in one plate.

Tinned salmon or tuna, egg and avocado. Flake a tin of salmon over a handful of rocket, add two soft-boiled eggs, half an avocado, and a squeeze of lemon. Simple, filling, and almost entirely from things that live in your cupboard or fridge without needing any planning.

Leftover chicken, lentils and hummus. Shred any leftover or bought roast or grilled chicken over half a packet of ready-cooked puy lentils, add roasted peppers or cherry tomatoes, a spoonful of hummus, a few olives, salt, pepper, lemon juice drizzle of olive oil. The lentils bring fibre as well as extra protein, and the hummus and olives cover the healthy fat content.

Cottage cheese, egg and chickpeas. A generous scoop of cottage cheese with two, chopped soft-boiled eggs, a handful of jarred chickpeas, cherry tomatoes, chopped cucumber and spinach leaves, add chopped walnuts and a drizzle of crispy chilli oil. Higher in protein than it looks, super quick.

The exact combination matters less than the principle behind it: keep a rotating stock of nutrient-dense, ready-to-go ingredients: throw them together without ceremony. It doesn't need to be Instagram-worthy. It just needs to taste good and do you good.

Ingredients to have to hand

This will need to be adapted to individual tastes but here are a few of my favourites:

Cupboard stock: beans in jars (taste better), peppers, olives; packets of cooked lentils and brown basmati rice with quinoa; eggs; tinned and jarred fish; nuts and seeds.

Fridge stock: cottage cheese; hummus; salad leaves and green leafy veg; jarred sauerkraut or kimchi; radishes, tomatoes, good4u super sprouts and salad toppers.

Freezer stock: edamame beans, green beans, peas, sweetcorn, baby broad beans.

Flavourings: crispy chilli oil (not a health food but makes anything taste good and you only need the tiniest amount); harissa; herbs; olive oil; pesto.

Note: the same principle works just as well packed into a container for the office or thrown together the night before a work trip (blog coming soon on nutritious food on the go).  

How I can help

My mission is to help clients find an approach that adds maximum impact to their

health with minimum mental load.  I’m interested in finding what fits into the real, busy shape of your actual life — not an idealised version of it.

If you’d like to talk more about how to manage your nutrition alongside a busy life then please book a free discovery call. I’d love to hear from you.