Hi all
Im wanting to make lunch for work on a Sunday night BUT enough for Mon/Tue/Wed, even the entire working week.

Im not great eating things Ive pre-made though, I think I have a psychological block that its not fresh and wont taste good. Im totally ok with things like left overs that are heated but salad type things havent really worked in the past.

On a whim I bought a supermarket gourmet pre-made salad, it was on sale at the end of the day and just looked good.
It was raspberry quinoa layered with grated carrot, beets, toasted almonds and topped with some greens. The Balsamic dressing was in a separate container and it was sealed from air. I was VERY surprised how good it tasted so that got me thinking what combinations could I do and store them for the working week?

Clearly the dressing needs to be separate and things like tomato wont work so well ( the thought of day old cut tomato - UCK)

Also - does anyone use decent containers? Im so sick of the sistema range, I know they are cheap and do the job but they seem to go a bit weird in my dishwasher and Im just sick of seeing them.

Cheers
Vanessa

Like you Vanessa I'm not good with left overs, I aspire to be, but I just can't.
However most salads will keep for a few days as long as they are undressed, and don't contain things like avocado or soggy tomato.
So I don't have anything constructive to say except I hope you get some good responses here as I'd like some ideas too. (Especially as I'm about to start a run of 6 PM shifts which means no dinner at home, so getting healthy veges in becomes difficult as I only have a microwave and a toasted sandwich maker to work with).

Raw cabbage salads keep very well for several days. Coleslaw, Vietnamese cabbage and onion, that kind of thing. Would you like some recipes?

Recipes - yes please its its no trouble, especially the dressing - I find that transforms a dull salad into a magical one.
Vanessa

Here's a basic Vietnamese cabbage salad. You can use prawns instead of chicken, or cooked pork or rare beef, or just leave out the meat. Add other herbs as available - basil, coriander, Thai basil, Vietnamese mint, dill, perilla. I sometimes add roasted peanuts or cashews.

Vietnamese Chicken, Cabbage & Mint Salad

Serves 2 – 4

Dressing:

1 hot chilli seeded and chopped
1 large garlic clove finely chopped
1 tab sugar
1 ½ tsp rice vinegar
1 ½ tab lime juice
1 ½ tab fish sauce
1 ½ tab peanut oil
½ med onion finely sliced
black pepper

200g white cabbage finely shredded
1 med carrot finely julienned or grated
200g cooked chicken breast shredded
big bunch of mint coarsely chopped

Mix veges & chicken, add dressing and mix very well. Check for salt.

Will keep a day or two in the fridge.

Basic Coleslaw

200g white cabbage finely shredded
1 med red onion, finely sliced
1 -2 carrots, peeled and grated
a few leaves of silver beet, kale or spinach, finely sliced

Dressing:

3 tab kefir or plain full fat yoghurt
1 tab Dijon mustard
2 tab extra virgin olive oil or walnut oil
2 tab wine vinegar or cider vinegar
salt and pepper

Whisk all together until it emulsifies.

Optional additions:

toasted walnuts or almonds
grated gruyere or cheddar or gouda
finely sliced celery
finely sliced red capsicum

Thanks guys - both dressings sound really good

I wonder if the mass produced salads have some trick when grating beets and carrots, they seem to be dryer rather than wet?
Chick peas is something else I thought about adding , drained, even pan fried in some spice/salt/garlic.

Vanessa

I think they just expose them to cold air.

Raw energy salad - recipe on here - lasts well for 2-3 days.
I think that the cabbage becomes more palatable over time.

Thanks Helen, Ill check it out.
Vanessa

I have been buying those pre mixed bags of vietnamese salad with dressing or even the southwest chopped salad with creamy coriander dressing - I know its a bit of a cop out but they keep pretty fresh and I take them to work and they make 2 lunches for me when I dont have time to make anything else.

I also find they make super easy dinners if you tear up some smoked chicken or cook up some chicken thighs and toss it all together.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/20/2017 08:46AM by IngridO.