[Darcy Struble]

So I’ll start out by saying that we are not vegetarian but we don’t cook much meat in our house. We buy meat maybe once a month, maybe less. Although we do buy fish a little more than that. But anyway, we eat a plant based diet.

The hardest meal to go more vegetarian is lunch, what with sandwiches that are heavy in meat and such. So I thought it would be fun to share some vegetarian lunch (or lunch box) ideas 🙂

Here’s one of my favorite things to make:
Chickpea salad (similar to a tuna or chicken salad, good for sandwiches, wraps or for crackers)

In a bowl mash until flakey:
~ 15 Ounces of CHICKPEAS

Stir in:
~2 stalks of CELERY, finely chopped
~3 GREEN ONIONS, finely chopped
~1/4 cup finely chopped DILL PICKLE
~1/4 RED BELL PEPPER, finely chopped
~2 to 3 tablespoons MAYONNAISE (I’ve used yogurt in place of mayonnaise in the past)
~1 GARLIC CLOVE, minced

Then mix in:
~1 1/2 teaspoons YELLOW MUSTARD
~2 teaspoons FRESH DILL
~1 1/2- 3 tablespoons fresh LEMON JUICE, to taste
~ Salt and Pepper, to taste

And now serve (or pack)! It’s great on toast or with crackers for lunch boxes. The recipe looks long but comes together really quickly.

Anyway, my husband just started asking for more lunch ideas, so I thought I’d open it up here 🙂

[Nicole]

Awesome!

I make a quick lunch of feta, cucumber, tomato and a little celery (for crunch) seasoned with salt and pepper.
It is quick and very tasty.

[Darcy Struble]

Oh that sounds amazing! Tomato season is coming!!

[Masha Richart]

like you, Darcy, we are not vegetarians but eat vegetarian (actually, vegan!) a lot. I love a hearty salad. To make it filling without animal proteins I add sunflower seeds, chickpeas, several different kinds of vegetables and fruits, and top it off with a tahini-based dressing.

A little more time consuming but very yummy is lettuce wraps filled with lentil taco filling. I just cook a cup of green/brown lentils and then blitz them in the food processor with a cup or two of walnuts and taco seasoning. Then I pile it up in a lettuce leaf with some sliced avocado and salsa. It’s really yummy.

[Sarvi]

This is not so much lunch as a micro snack but my kid was asking for peanut butter so I blitzed half roasted almonds and half roasted & salted sunflower seeds. Pretty fantastic in a little ‘sandwich’ between crackers, and really held her over well.

[Masha Richart]

@Darcy I made that chickpea salad for myself today – it was delicious!

[Rhythm]

Thank you for starting this thread. My family is vegetarian. We generally cook a lot of Indian food at home. I have a massive load of those recipes. I made this watermelon salad for dinner yesterday.

Mix together pieces of watermelon, slices of red onion, red and green peppers, cucumber, tomatoes, toasted walnuts, and a handful of mint leaves. Crumble feta cheese. Dressing – extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, pepper, teaspoon of honey.

[Darcy Struble]

@rhythm, watermelon salad sounds amazing! I’ll definitely be trying that! I’m excited that you have lots! Lunch is what I struggle with most while trying to eat more vegetarian.

@roundtheworldgirl I’m glad you liked it!! I do a good bit of vegan as well, especially dessert 🙂 I love vegan dessert. I don’t know why haha