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Would you like some ideas for out-of-home meals that come directly from the traditions of southern Italy? Here is how to prepare Broad bean puree with vegetables, a very simple dish, but absolutely extraordinary in terms of taste and well-being.

Once prepared, put a serving in the lunch box (I prepared a larger amount to use for the whole family), complete with boiled or baked seasonal vegetables and lunch is served!

Broad bean puree is prepared from dried broad beans, so you can cook it in any season, while the accompanying vegetables will change: have fun changing vegetables! At this time of year, rapini are the stars, so they couldn’t be missing alongside this soft, smooth puree.

Mashed broad beans are certainly more interesting than their more famous potato-based dish as they are rich in plant protein and slow-absorbing complex carbohydrates. Moreover, by accompanying it with vegetables, we will have a high percentage of fibre, our great ally of well-being.

Follow me not to run out of ideas for out-of-home meals and have a look at Legumotti with vegetable ragout and Jerusalem artichokes.

Broad bean puree with vegetables

32.16g carbohydrates for the whole lunch box

Ingredients for 1 lunch box

  • 60g dried broad beans
  • water
  • rapini and other boiled or baked vegetables to taste
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 bay leaves
  • salt and pepper

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

*Ingredients whose labels must read “gluten-free” (or, in Italy, present on  Prontuario AIC)

Preparation

  1. Rinse the broad beans and soak them in water the night before.
  2. Transfer the broad beans to a pan (use the soaking water for kneading the bread!) and cover them with water in such a way to have about 3cm of water above their surface. Simmer for about 1 hour or until the broad beans have dissolved.
  3. Pour the broad beans into a blender and blend them while pouring in extra virgin olive oil in a drizzle to make the puree nice and creamy, then add salt and pepper to taste.
  4. Assemble the lunch box with mashed broad beans accompanied by blanched rapini and other vegetables to taste: I added onion and baked beetroot.

Purè di fave con verdure

Ideas for out-of-home meals are always good because we increasingly eat lunch away from our kitchens. What does our lunch box contain today? An appetising Red rice salad with avocado cream.

Red rice is a wholemeal alternative to white rice, thus an excellent substitute, rich in flavour and, above all, fibre. In this lunch box you will find it paired with a tasty cream of avocado, a fruit rich in antioxidants and cholesterol-friendly mono-unsaturated fatty acids, and a vegetable salad enriched with the Omega 3 of tuna.

Here then is how you can prepare it for another good and satisfying lunch.

Follow me not to run short of ideas for out-of-home meals! And if you are looking for meals with a lower amount of carbs, try my Roastbeef with aubergine cream.

Red rice salad with avocado cream

51.72g carbohydrates for the whole lunch box

Ingredients for 1 lunch box

  • 60g Basmati rice
  • 1/2 avocado
  • 40g drained tuna
  • 40g iceberg lettuce
  • 30g fat free Greek yoghurt
  • 30g carrots
  • 30g pitted green olives
  • lemon juice
  • parsley
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • salt and pepper

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

*Ingredients whose labels must read “gluten-free” (or, in Italy, present on  Prontuario AIC)

Preparation

  1. Boil the red rice in lightly salted water, possibly making sure that the rice completely absorbs the liquid. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with a little oil.
  2. Mash half an avocado in a bowl and add Greek yoghurt, season with parsley, salt and pepper.
  3. Prepare the salad by cutting iceberg lettuce into strips, grate the carrots, add the pitted olives and dress with extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper.
  4. Fill the lunch box by placing the red rice in one of the containers with the drained tuna and the avocado cream, while placing the vegetable salad in the second container. Close it up and take it with you!

riso rosso con crema di avocado