Hi. Can we chat for a second? I want to talk about lunch.
You know, that meal that happens in the middle of the day? In between breakfast, post-breakfast snack, pre-lunch snack and the post-lunch snack, pre-dinner snack, dinner, and dessert.
Yes! That’s exactly the meal I’m talking about.
Well it turns out that of all the daily eats, lunch seems to be the hardest one to come by on a low-sodium diet.
Of course, if you’re eating at home, you can make anything you want — like a bowl of low-sodium chicken curry — to curb those afternoon hankerings.
But when you go to work, eat out with friends, are on the road, or traveling from point A to point B, finding a low-sodium meal that’s worthy of your palate…well, that’s a little more complicated.
Or is it?
Okay, so now I’ve asked you about a gazillion questions. But here’s the most important one of all:
What do you eat for lunch?
No, seriously. I want to know what you pack in your bag or grab on the go. I have a few tricks up my sleeve that I’ll be happily sharing with you in the coming weeks. But I want to know about yours.
So please, send your ideas my way in the comments below, on Twitter, or on Sodium Girl’s Facebook page.
And let’s see what we can cook up. Without any cooking.
Chow on.
So one great, easy, and no heating required lunch we make are veggie wraps. We have a favorite from a restaurant that we turned low-so. We buy Tumaro’s tortillas (low in fat and sodium!) throw on some hummus (homemade or Zilk’s brand, which is lower in sodium), rice, asparagus, low-sodium black beansand corn and red onion (or whatever veggies you like). We usually make 2 for each of us, but ususally only finish 1 1/2.
Lunch….that meal I avoid for business meetings, lest I explain my low-sodium requirement to a dining companion or hapless server. I agree: lunch kinda sucks because it’s all salt-laden soups and sandwiches or burgers. My at home go’s to are the following:
1. The ubiquitous lo-so sandwich.
Core ingredients:
Ezekiel low sodium bread
Wegmans just turkey or just beef, sliced
Organic baby arugula or baby romaine
Add on combos: salt free Dijon or whole grain mustard, low sodium Swiss, sliced tomato; wegmans balsamic glaze, thin slice of fresh mozzarella, sliced tomato; low sodium ancho mustard, roasted red pepper; wegmans yogurt curry dressing, thin sliced green apple, sliced tomato.
2. If I have time I’ll make a low sodium curry with air chilled chicken breasts like you do. But it’s mostly #1
3. Big low sodium salad. Favorite is chicken with no salt seasoning and a homemade dressing.
Will love to see what others post!!!
Karen
I also do a wrap with boarshead low sodium roast beef, honey cup mustard, veggies and Benson’s table tasty seasoning. I pack fruit, veggies and or applesauce. I love Garden of Eatin no salt added blue tortilla chips and hummus too. I just found Star Kist very low sodium tuna. I eat that on a wrap too! I haven’t been eating low sodium very long so i’m looking forward to reading what other people are eating!
I tend to be a leftover for lunch kinda girl. If I happen to give my husband all of the leftovers then I’ll just grab some Boar’s Head no-salt added turkey breast and roll the turkey in Boar’s Head low sodium swiss cheese with a smidgen of horseradish mayo. I usually have my daily apple at lunch and that seems to do the trick for me when I haven’t planned enough leftovers.
I am one of those people who ALWAYS takes leftovers for lunch. It makes it so much easier to not have to buy or plan for other ideas or cook something the morning. On the off chance I don’t have them, I use 1 cup of cooked Trader Joe’s whole wheat couscous, some sautéed veggies (mushrooms and zucchini are my favorite) and unsalted (homemade) garlic herb butter and mix all of that together. Depending on my sodium levels for the day, I sometimes add a little Parmesan cheese to it.
Here’s what I’m doing lately – making salad in a jar! I bought the $20 Food Saver vacuum gizmo at Wal-Mart, so now I chop all my Romaine for a week’s worth of salad, then chop veggies and some leftover meat into other containers so I can toss a salad together in no time at all. I work at home, so I like to get through prep quickly. Here’s where I got my my salad in a jar inspiration: http://www.saladinajar.com/
I do quite a bit of canning, so I had plenty of jars, and I’m starting to store all kinds of things in a vacuum now – great for travel, office or home use! If I feel like a wrap I can use a home made low sodium tortilla.
THAT. IS. AWESOME!
Salads made on the weekend that will last me all week. If I have great things to choose from when making my lunch it is so much easier to eat well. Like: egg salad made with fresh eggs, low sodium mayo (or sometimes real may0, just not a lot) and chopped low-sodium ripe olives (Mario’s). Add a splash of cider vinegar and fresh ground pepper. Eat open-face on a piece of Ezekiel bread along with some lo-sodium pickles from healthyheartmarket.com. Throw in some carrot sticks or some of those Garden of Eatin no salt added blue tortilla chips mentioned above. I also make a batch of tuna fish made with low-sodium tuna, low-sodium sweet relish and a little bit of mayo. Eat it in a lettuce cup or hint-of salt Triscuits. Or I will make a homemade tabuleh salad with a mix of bulghar and red quinoa, chopped cucumbers and tomatoes, lots of lemon juice and pepper and parsley. After experimenting with the flavors, I found all of the nutritional ingredient information and put it into a recipe data base so now I know how much to allow myself when counting sodium, calories, carbs, etc for my day.
Brilliant! Where did you find low-sodium olives?!?
My low sodium lunches are pretty simple most of the time – like no salt bread made into a toasted no salt pbj or tomato sandwich with celery sticks or apple slices on the side. Lately I’ve been having no salt corn tortillas warmed in the toaster and spread with homemade low-so guacamole and sprinkled with chicken, lettuce, and tomato.
I take tortillas with me whenever I travel. Flat. Filling. Foldable. Perfect.
I like bean salad for lunch, lots of protein and fiber keeps the afternoon munchies at bay.
My version:
1 can low sodium kidney beans (rinsed)*
1 can low sodium black beans (rinsed)*
2 stalks chopped celery
2 finely diced carrots
1/2 cup low sodium salsa (or just low sodium tomatoes)
2 T olive oil
2 T vinegar
1 tsp sugar (or splenda)
Top with shredded swiss
Goes well with no-salt tortilla chips or crackers.
This can be dressed up with garlic and onions for a stronger taste if you don’t need to give a presentation or meet with clients right after lunch!!!
*I usually boil my own beans the night before, but the canned variety works well in a pinch.
I eat salad pretty much every single day for lunch. Salad with added goodies like chicken or shrimp, lots of veggies, beans and a simple balsamic dressing!
Salads travel well and the more creative you are with toppings (blueberries with steak?!) the more exciting they get!
low sodium lunch is good as it is made from vegetables wraps which helps to reduce calories and requires no cooking mean not time consuming .if you are on dieting , then try it and see results.
I take roasted fennel, zucchini, leeks and carrots and roll them in a low sodium whole wheat lavash with dijon mustard, turkey and goat cheese.
Another good bet is to wrap roasted beets and sweet potatoes with goat cheese. It’s colorful and delicious, and my co-workers are always jealous.