If your sandwich lunch is getting old or your reheated leftovers-for-lunch plan is putting you to sleep then it’s time for a change.
It’s time to add crunch to your lunch.
Lunch is truly an opportunity for jazzed up nutrition. It’s an eating occasion to look forward to, rather than one to put you to sleep. Texture is the name of the game for tingling your taste buds and challenging your jaws and teeth with a chewing workout. Here are 3 big tips for adding texture and pleasure to your midday meal and to keep it simple with good nutrition, too.
3 Tips that Add Nutrition with Crunch to Lunch
Tip #1: Sandwich or Wrap – Transformed
- Add crunchy veggies and/or fruit to your sandwich or wrap, mixed into the filling
- Add crunchy salad greens to your sandwich or wrap
- Toast your sandwich or wrap
Try this: Start with a Ham and cheese sandwich on flimsy bread. Transform it into a Ham and cheese sandwich with sliced red Bell pepper strips, cucumber slices, and salad greens on whole wheat toast.
or
Try this: Start with a basic Tuna salad wrap. Transform it into a Tuna salad with chopped apple and celery wrap with spinach on a whole wheat tortilla.
Tip #2: Reheated Leftovers – Transformed
- Add a half sandwich with crunch to your leftover soup
- Add a side salad with crunch to your leftover mac & cheese
- Add seeds with crunch to your leftover stir-fry with rice
Try this: Start with a leftover Bowl of soup. Transform it into a Bowl of soup with half sandwich of hummus, sliced onion, sliced tomato, and shredded cabbage on whole grain bread.
or
Try this: Start with a leftover Stir-fry and rice. Transform it into a Stir-fry with rice, sprinkled with a combo of pumpkin and sunflower seeds, and chopped green onion.
Tip #3: Yogurt – Transformed
- Add toasted walnuts or toasted almonds for texture
- Add mixed nuts and red grapes, made into a layered parfait for texture
- Add toasted nuts and coconut, served over a sliced banana, for texture
Try this: Start with Yogurt. Transform it into a Yogurt with a small handful of lightly toasted and cooled, walnuts and a few whole grain crackers topped with slices of fresh apple.
or
Try this: Start with Yogurt. Transform it into Yogurt scooped over a sliced banana and topped with toasted almonds and unsweetened coconut.
Texture Makes Lunch More Fun, More Satisfying
The tips above are a start for adding nutrition with crunch to your lunch. There are many ways to customize the crunch to your personal food preferences so try all the options you like. The Mediterranean menus that will get you started are free here. With a nutrition pyramid that emphasizes crunchy plant foods at its foundation, Mediterranean nutrition is a very delicious and smart way to go.