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Are you running short of ideas for out-of-home meals? Here comes another load of recipes for our lunch box ideas for a quick, balanced and tasty lunch to carry with your, wherever you go.

In this way, eating gluten free and counting carbs is no longer a programme, not even when eating out of home, i.e. when meals are always a challenge: the lunch box becomes a travel companion and moment of joy and pleasure.

We found the perfect lunch box for our needs at our friend’s store “I love my house” whom I always ask for help when I am looking for equipment and kitchen solutions: here is where you can find our LUNCH BOX.

Follow me not to run short of ideas for out-of-home meals and watch this vegetarian alternative Venere rice salad with cherry tomatoes and pistachio nuts.

Quinoa salad with Primo sale cheese and salmon

38.6g carbohydrates for the whole lunch box

Ingredients for 1 lunch box

  • 100g green beans
  • 50g quinoa
  • 50g Primo sale cheese or another semi-soft cheese you like
  • 50g smoked salmon
  • 10g shelled walnuts
  • 1 clove garlic
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • parsley
  • salt

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

*Ingredients whose labels must read “gluten-free” (in Italy they may be listed on  Prontuario AIC)

Preparation

  1. Boil the quinoa in double the amount of water of its weight for about 20 minutes or until the water has been completely absorbed.
  2. Boil the green beans, strain into cold water, drain and cuthttp://unochefpergaia.it/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Insalata-di-quinoa-con-primo-sale-e-salmone-7.jpg into pieces.
  3. Pour a dribble of oil in a non-stick pan and brown a clove of garlic in it, then add chopped parsley and the green bean pieces: allow to gain flavour for a couple of minutes.
  4. Dress the quinoa with the green beans, the cheese in dices, the smoked salmon in slices and the shelled and slightly crushed walnuts; adjust salt if necessary.

insalata di quinoa

Version with gluten of Quinoa salad with Primo sale cheese and salmon

The recipe contains only naturally gluten free ingredients, so no adaptation is necessary for its version with gluten.

 

Here come more ideas for out-of-home meals to be carried in our lunch box for eating at work or at school.  This is a recipe for a Chicken salad with a very low carb content to be thus completed with a source of healthy carbs.

This tasty lunch box contains very few carbs therefore remember to add a slice of wholemeal bread to and a fruits in season for a balanced nutritional intake.  And remember that this Chicken salad with apples and green beans can be a good solution in every season.

This is where we found our LUNCH BOX.

Are you running short of ideas for out-of-home meals! And if you are looking for a lunch with a higher amount of carbs, try my Pasta with chickpea cream and broccoli.

Chicken salad with apples and string beans

8.4g carbohydrates for the whole lunch box

Ingredients for 1 lunch box

  • 180g chicken (this will weigh about 130g once cooked)
  • 60g iceberg lettuce
  • 50g string beans
  • 50g tuna in oil
  • 50g apples
  • 1 tbsp of lemon juice
  • Tabasco
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • parsley
  • salt and pepper

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

*Ingredients whose labels must read “gluten-free” (in Italy they may be listed on  Prontuario AIC)

Preparation

  1. Grill the chicken, then cut it into strips and flavour with some drops of Tabasco, salt, pepper, a dribble of extra virgin olive oil and chopped parsley.
  2. Boil the string beans and throw them in cold water as soon as they are cooked.
  3. Put the lettuce cut into strips in a bowl, add the apples, sprinkle with lemon juice to prevent the apple from becoming dark, add some tuna fillets in pieces and dress with olive oil, salt and pepper.
  4. Complete the lunch box dressing the chicken with string beans in pieces, a dribble of extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper as needed.

Insalata di pollo

Version with gluten of Chicken salad with apples and string beans 

The recipe contains only naturally gluten free ingredients, so no adaptation is necessary for its version with gluten.

Are you looking for more ideas for your out-of-home lunch? Eating out is indispensable not only for those who work, but also for those who study, so the time has come to share some recipes for your lunch box or for what Japanese people call “bento“… Well, many ideas for lunch boxes that are complete, balanced and tasty to take with you on every occasion.

So, for our young ones going to university and having to eat gluten free and to count carbohydrates easily, the lunch box is a faithful travel mate that contributes to turning the lunch break into a joyful moment.

We found the perfect lunch box for our needs at our friend’s store “I love my house” whom I always ask for help when I am looking for equipment and kitchen solutions: here is where you can find our LUNCH BOX.

This is the beginning of a project that is very dear to me because lunch is a key meal, especially for out kids and we cannot allow ourselves to run short of ideas!

Stay tuned for many more fantastic recipes! Meanwhile, have a look at my Coronation pasta salad.

Pasta with chickpea cream and broccoli

85.91g carbohydrates for the whole lunch box

Ingredients for 1 lunch box

  • 110g broccoli florets
  • 100g boiled chickpeas
  • 70g Massimo Zero Organic Pipe**
  • 15g dried apricots
  • 1 tbsp of lemon juice
  • paprika
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • parsley
  • salt

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

*Ingredients whose labels must read “gluten-free” (in Italy they may be listed on  Prontuario AIC)

Preparation

  1. Boil pasta al dente in salted boiling water, drain and dress it with a dribble of extra virgin olive oil leaving the pasta to cool down.
  2. Blend 70g chickpeas with about 50g water, lemon juice, salt and pepper and a dribble of oil to obtain a cream.
  3. Dress the remaining chickpeas with paprika, pepper and oil to taste, together with blanched broccoli florets.
  4. Season the pasta with the chickpea and broccoli mixture, then add the dried apricots cut in pieces and pour everything in the lunch box.
  5. Put the chickpea cream in the second container or on the pasta completing with a dusting of chopped parsley and a dribble of oil.  Mix well before eating.

Version with gluten of Pasta with chickpea cream and broccoli 

The recipe contains only naturally gluten free ingredients, so no adaptation is necessary for its version with gluten; however, if you want, you can replace Massimo Zero corn and rice pasta with a durum wheat alternative.