Wizard Recipes

The midday meal is the meal most often eaten away from home. Your options include bringing a lunch from home or purchasing foods in a cafeteria, vending machine, or local delicatessen.

The same rules apply for “eating well” at lunch: plan to eat foods low in saturated fat and high in nutrients. This midday meal helps you meet your goal of 5 fruits and vegetables every day, and it is the perfect time to include whole grains.

Lunch helps you to distribute your intake of calories and nutrients evenly throughout the day. It can keep energy levels high and help prevent unplanned snacking on foods that may not be the best choices.

Brown Bagging

Bringing a lunch to work can save you money and help you eat what you really want to eat. To be sure that your lunch tastes good and is good for you, try to incorporate each of the food groups in your lunch.

If you bring too little food, you will likely be hungry later in the day. You then increase the chance that you will snack before supper or eat too much at supper. To keep brown-bag fare interesting and healthful, pack more variety. Think of the options:

Grains-Instead of the usual sandwich bread, try pita (pocket) bread, tortilla wraps, crackers, pretzels, or rice cakes. Or, try salads made with nutritious grains.

Fruits-Include fresh fruits. Every now and then, choose an “exotic” fruit to add interest. Try star fruit, kiwi, papaya, mango, or passion fruit. Fruit juices can be nutritious and refreshing.

Vegetables-Expand your repertoire from raw carrots and celery sticks to potentially more satisfying vegetable soups and salads. Stuff pocket bread with a variety of cooked vegetables. Use vegetables to make your sandwich more filling: fresh spinach or romaine, and slices of cucumber, tomato, mushrooms, and sweet or chili peppers. A vegetable juice makes a great lunchtime drink.

Dairy-Some days drink milk. Other days eat yogurt or a bit of cheese. Choose the low-fat forms more frequently to be sure your meal is rich in nutrients and not fat and calories.

Meat - Meat (which includes poultry, fish, and also beans, legumes, and nuts) is good for you, but remember that “moderation” is the key word. To help take meat off center stage, be sure that you also include plenty of fruits, vegetables, and grains in your lunch. Eat only lean meats.

When possible, instead of meat, try to substitute foods such as hummus, lentils, beans, tofu, and nut spreads, which contain large amounts of plant protein.

Vary the temperature of your lunch by including both hot and cold items. A thermos will preserve heat more effectively if you first rinse it with hot water. Likewise, rinsing with cold water will help keep foods cold longer.

If your workplace does not have a refrigerator, a thermal lunch bag can help keep your food fresh and safe. A frozen box of juice can help keep your lunch cold, and the juice will thaw by lunchtime.

Going Out for Lunch?

If you know what you are doing, eating lunch out increases your options rather than your temptations. Most fast-food restaurants, eager to please the ever-growing number of people who insist on eating more nutritious foods, now offer “lighter” fare such as salads and chicken.

But be careful that you don’t choose foods that are healthful in name only. Many foods that at first glance seem to be good choices in fact are loaded with fat and calories.

Salad Savvy

Simple salads are best. To construct a nutritious salad, incorporate lots of fresh vegetables and fruits. Remember that the word “salad” is not synonymous with “healthful.”

Try to eat salads that are low in calories and fat but high in much-needed nutrients . Many taco salads contain at least 900 calories, more than half of which comes from fat. High-fat meats and cheeses heaped on a chef salad can dominate the vegetables.

Chicken and seafood are low in fat; however, this advantage is lost when they are covered with high-fat dressings and oils. Many of today’s salad bars look like delicatessens. Pasta salad, potato salad, guacamole, and tortellini are popular items.

Depending on how they are made, they too can be high in fat and calories. Unless used sparingly, some dressings can provide up to 400 calories to your salad. Watch for packaged dressings that contain more than “1″ serving; check the label to see how many servings are in the package. In some instances, the listed ingredients are those contained in a half-ounce serving, even though the package may hold up to 5 servings!

A generous-sized ladle can easily drown an otherwise healthful salad with a quarter-cup of dressing (300 calories or more). Instead of using high-fat dressings, try squeezing lemon on your salad, request low-calorie or fat-free dressings, or ask that the dressing be placed on the side.

Burgers and Sandwiches

Beware of burgers and sandwiches that are described as “jumbo,” “double,” or “deluxe.” Many contain about 1,000 calories and the majority of your fat allowance for the day.

Ask for a regular-sized burger. Stick with lean meat without mayonnaise or cheese. If salt is not a concern, ketchup or mustard adds very few calories. Request extra lettuce or toppings such as tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, or sweet peppers

As I was looking for an interesting story to write, I found this wonderful article that I think everyone will want to read , at least the ones who have 9 to 5 jobs:

As much as I believe in the power of a midday pause, I’m often as guilty as anyone else of dashing out, grabbing takeout and returning to eat in front of the computer. When I’m not brown-bagging it, that is.

It’s not the most healthful approach, perhaps mentally even more than physically. I’ve read about Take Back Your Lunch, a movement started by the Energy Project that encourages workers to reclaim the lunch hour, and of course it makes sense to fuel creativity by stepping away and relaxing, even to see friends or to network. One colleague of mine is the king of the indulgent lunch, giving no thought to cabbing off to Alexandria for the prix-fixe special at Restaurant Eve or taking the Metro to Arlington for a hit of Ray’s Hell-Burger. And he’s plenty productive at work.

Even if I made the time, though, here’s a news flash: My office is nicely air-conditioned, and in the recent triple-digit heat downtown, I would rather do anything than step outdoors, especially around noon. When I head down to The Post’s cafeteria, trying to find something appealing at the so-called Around the World Bar, let’s just say that it doesn’t bode well for the rest of the day.

The compromise? I take the time to cook lunch myself. I should probably put quote marks around that operative verb, because compared with what I usually do at home, this might not exactly be considered cooking. Nonetheless, for someone like me who finds the kitchen the most meditative room in the house, it’s still almost as soothing to cobble together something in our office’s kitchenette as it is to chop, heat, slice and stir at home.

I’ve made a game of it. What ingredients can I bring to work and store in my dorm-size fridge or desk drawers that will last without quickly spoiling (or annoying my office mates); can pack enough flavor to allow me to forgo spices and seasonings; and can be made with the simplest of equipment?

Smoked, cured and/or otherwise fully cooked sausages, herb-brined olives and canned sardines go to the front of the line. Right behind is tomato paste in a tube, which, unlike its canned counterpart, is more convenient for single-serving recipes. Canned beans (I prefer the low-sodium or no-salt-added variety) are ready whenever you are. Instant couscous and angel-hair pasta nests are shelf-stable and cook in minutes.

Best of all, these ingredients can be prepared using the typical appliances in office kitchens.

Truth be told, I do sometimes employ a toaster oven at work, but in acknowledgment of the fact that many offices aren’t as well equipped, I resisted developing recipes for this column that way. Instead, my instruments have been the microwave and teakettle. At home, I use the former for two things: reheating and cooking a potato or sweet potato. At work, its job has been limited to “cooking” — really just heating — toppings for that pasta and couscous.

The teakettle does what teakettles do: boil water, a key step in making instant couscous. I’ve also taken advantage of the fact that angel-hair pasta is delicate enough that once boiling water has been added, its residual heat can get the noodles to al dente in a few minutes flat. I also have been known to “blanch” vegetables such as snow peas, sugar snaps and broccoli using the same technique.

At first, I was a little hamstrung by the kitchen tools, or lack thereof. What passes for a sharp knife in our office would prompt any culinary instructor to launch into a lecture about the importance of cutlery maintenance. And forget measuring cups or a big cutting board.

No matter. A dull paring knife can still handle olives, spinach leaves and sausage. Sardines barely need breaking up with a fork. The container of instant couscous comes with its own measuring scoop, and I found a plastic leftover-food container that has cup markings on the side for the water that will hydrate the couscous. Mostly, measurements aren’t needed; I boil as much water as possible to keep the pasta from getting gummy, and I eyeball everything else.

Preparing food at work comes with etiquette issues, the types of behaviors that prompt those “Your Mother Doesn’t Work Here” signs. I keep things clean enough, but I’ve been worried about those sardines. After all, I’ve been in some offices that specifically forbid fish in the microwave, because the device has a way of carrying the odor across time and space. But with a paper towel over the fish and just enough time to heat the small amount I use, I’ve avoided the wrath of others.

After several weeks of experiments, my pasta with sardines was pungently satisfying, but the couscous-and-sausage concoction was so simple it verged on boring. That’s when another crucial ingredient became mandatory. Now, one thing I always keep in my desk drawer is a little bottle of Tabasco.

I don’t think I’ll be completely satisfied with my workplace cooking, though, until I cross one remaining hurdle. Once the weather cools, I am going to try my darnedest, after I whip up something in our kitchenette, to carry the plate or bowl not back to my desk, but up to a roof-deck patio. And maybe even to invite a colleague to do the same