Vegan Lunch Ideas for School/Work (no need to reheat)

Hey, what's up? Today I have four delicious and easy to recreate meal ideas to share. They can all be made the night before, they're super easy to take with you, and there's no need to warm them up again before eating. Starting with this sweet and sour chickpea rice bowl. This recipe is like an update from my barbecue chickpeas. First, cook up some rice according to the packaging, or go with any other grain of choice. In the meantime, chop up one small onion, a bell pepper, or multiple tiny ones, and a piece of fresh ginger. Add a little bit of oil to your skillet, bring it to medium, then once it's hot, add the chopped vegetables and let them saute for about six to eight minutes. While that's happening, combine some cornstarch and water in a small bowl. Then add soy sauce, ketchup, a little bit of rice syrup or agave or maple, white wine vinegar, and tomato puree. Add this sauce to your pan along with a half a can of chickpeas. Bring the heat up to medium high and let this simmer for, let's say, another six to eight minutes. As it's simmering, add a bit of water here and there to adjust the consistency. And that's about it. Now this can go straight into your lunchbox or be served immediately, maybe with some green onions and sesame seeds if you're feeling fancy. I also added some walnuts and strawberries here for visual purposes only. I didn't take this anywhere. But yeah, this was so good. Wraps are always a great to-go meal. This one, for instance, a lentil zucchini burrito. First things first, grate a medium-sized zucchini or just chop it into really small pieces. Also, finely cut up a small clove of garlic. Bring a skillet with some oil to medium heat, then add the zucchini shreds and let them cook for about four to five minutes. The pan I'm using is not super nonstick. My zucchini definitely tried to stick to the bottom numerous times. You can prevent that by either using an actual nonstick pan or just keep the veggies moving at all times. That's what I tried to do. Add the garlic then, letting everything cook for another three minutes or so. Then add a half a can of brown lentils. I love these so much. And about two tablespoons of barbecue sauce. Mix it all up and let it all continue to cook for three to five more minutes. Meanwhile, mash up half an avocado and add lemon juice plus seasonings of choice. Now grab your tortillas. I used these gigantic durum wraps. Add some of the lentil mix to the center first, then some of the mashed avocado. Then I added about a tablespoon of this Oatly creme creme fraiche. You can substitute this with plain soy yogurt, any vegan cream cheese, or even hummus. Lastly, I added greens and sunflower seeds. Roll it up. Let it toast up in a pan without oil for a bit. Make sure this side is facing down first. It takes about one to two minutes on medium high. Flip it once you're happy with the color and that's it. Also keep in mind that even though you're adding lemon juice to the avocado, it won't look as vibrant green after a couple hours in the fridge, of course. But that's okay. It's still totally fine to eat and it tastes just the same. If you do have a bit of time in the morning, you can also only have the lentil mix prepared from the night before and then put together the rest the day of. On to idea number three, which is for some chickpea and spinach pesto pasta. This sauce is adapted from an old video of mine where I made these pesto bagels. First off, cook up some pasta. I think shortcut pasta works best for on-the-go lunches. Anything in the spaghetti realm just tends to be a bit more messy to eat. Grab your food processor. That's right, finally got a food processor. Add the following things. A half a can of chickpeas, a handful of fresh basil, some fresh baby spinach, some toasted cashews. I had toasted these in a small skillet on medium heat for about five to six minutes. Lemon juice or white wine vinegar, a bit more non-dairy milk, and a generous pinch of salt. Also nutritional yeast. Combine the pasta and the quote-unquote pesto. Taste test and see if any more salt is needed. Also cherry tomatoes go super well with this. To my imaginary school lunch, I'm also adding this protein flavored protein bar. Protein flavored? Peanut butter flavored protein bar. I was intrigued by this because I already really like their chocolate covered bars and I must say, even without the chocolate, still holds up. Pretty good. For this last and final recipe, I tried to recreate this poke bowl I had last week. It does have some weird but, in my opinion, yummy food combinations. So you'll see. First off, once again, cook up some rice and grate another zucchini. While the rice is cooking, mix together the ingredients for the miso sauce, some miso paste, one teaspoon of sesame oil. You can also add a different oil, like olive or non-dairy milk instead. Some soy sauce, rice syrup, and lemon juice or vinegar. Our base is going to be a mix of cooked rice and the grated zucchini. You can either add the sauce directly or add it on top later. To keep everything extra fresh, just like with the wrap recipe, you could only prepare the zucchini rice mix the night before and then add your chosen toppings in the morning. At the poke place, I had some smoked tofu in mine. I used this vegan feta here instead, which is not the same thing. But yeah, use any flavored or smoked tofu you like. Then there's also pineapple in this, half an avocado, and then lastly, I added some sesame seeds, spring onion, and hot sauce. But that's it for this last one. I hope you guys enjoyed this video. If you are making any of these, let me know how that goes. Bye!