Healthy Vegetarian Lunch Ideas for Work

Start the week on a healthy note with these packable lunches. If you follow a vegetarian diet or are just trying to eat less meat, these healthy lunch recipes are great for bringing to the office. Cue coworker envy.
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Spicy Ramen Cup of Noodles

Start to finish: 15 mins
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Make your own cup of instant soup at home with this vegetarian ramen recipe. Pack several jars at once to take to work for easy lunches throughout the week.

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Rainbow Buddha Bowl with Cashew Tahini Sauce

Start to finish: 20 mins
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This vibrant bowl is packed with nutrients to keep you full for hours. Look for precooked lentils in the refrigerated section of the produce department.

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Creamy Avocado & White Bean Wrap

Start to finish: 25 mins
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White beans mashed with ripe avocado and blended with sharp Cheddar and onion makes an incredibly rich, flavorful filling for this wrap. The tangy, spicy slaw adds crunch. A pinch (or more) of ground chipotle pepper and an extra dash of cider vinegar can be used in place of the canned chipotles in adobo sauce. Wrap these up to take as a healthy and portable lunch for work.

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Tomato-&-Avocado Cheese Sandwich

Start to finish: 15 mins
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Parmesan cheese is such a bold flavor, you only need 1/4 cup to add a big punch to this vegetarian toaster-oven sandwich. Get a serving of fruit too, when you enjoy the sandwich with a fresh pear.

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Roasted Veggie Mason Jar Salad

Start to finish: 5 mins
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Layering the creamy cashew sauce into the bottom of the jar ensures that your big, bold power salad won't become wilted by the time you're ready to eat.

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Turmeric Rice Bowl with Garam Masala Root Vegetables & Chickpeas

Start to finish: 50 mins
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This fragrant turmeric rice bowl topped with leftover spiced roasted root vegetables and chickpeas is inspired by flavors from India for an easy, vegetarian dinner.

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Radish & Goat Cheese Sweet Potato Toast

Start to finish: 20 mins
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Sweet potato takes the place of bread in this tartine-like recipe. Serve with extra greens dressed with balsamic vinaigrette for a light lunch.

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Chickpea Pasta with Lemony-Parsley Pesto

Start to finish: 30 mins
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We love using chickpea pasta in this quick and easy dinner recipe, but other bean pastas or whole-wheat noodles are just as good with this fresh and zesty pesto sauce.

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Pizza Roll-Up Bento Lunch

Start to finish: 15 mins
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This easy pizza-inspired roll-up is a kid-pleaser. Make crunchy vegetables more appealing by selecting colorful varieties like orange and purple cauliflower--and don't forget the dip! Keep 'em smiling with watermelon cut into fun shapes with cookie cutters.

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Edamame Hummus Wrap

Start to finish: 35 mins
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Made with protein-rich edamame instead of chickpeas, this easy hummus recipe is the perfect vegetarian filling for a grab-and-go wrap. Or double the recipe and use the hummus for a healthy snack with cut-up vegetables.

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Thai Peanut Curry Noodles

Start to finish: 30 mins
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Thai curry paste delivers a spicy kick-in-the-pants in this healthy peanut noodle recipe. If you haven't tried kohlrabi yet, here's your excuse to buy it. The bulbous vegetable is related to broccoli and Brussels sprouts, but has a milder, sweet flavor and fabulous crunch.

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Italian Vegetable Hoagies

Start to finish: 20 mins
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This delightfully easy, and somewhat messy, sandwich packs a punch with sweet balsamic vinegar, artichoke hearts, red onion, provolone cheese and zesty pepperoncini. We love it for dinner as well as lunch. If you're packing the hoagies to take along, keep the ingredients separate and assemble right before eating to avoid soggy bread. Serve with tomato and cucumber salad.

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Quinoa & Smoked Tofu Salad

Start to finish: 35 mins
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We took the tangy fresh flavors of tabbouleh and paired them with smoky tofu and quinoa to create a main-dish salad that's perfect served on a bed of greens. This salad is jam-packed with heart-healthy ingredients--whole grains (quinoa), legumes (soy-based tofu) and plenty of vegetables.

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Roasted Tofu & Peanut Noodle Salad

Start to finish: 40 mins
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Top this vegetarian noodle salad recipe, which is tossed with loads of veggies and ample peanut sauce, with chopped roasted peanuts for added crunch and protein.

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Tomato & Provolone Sandwiches

Start to finish: 15 mins
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There's something magical about a simple bread-and-tomato sandwich, but this one is even better topped with melted provolone cheese and tarragon-garlic mayo.

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Tijuana Torta

Start to finish: 25 mins
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A Mexican-style torta is just like a burrito, except the “wrapper” is a hollowed-out roll instead of a tortilla. Here it's filled with mashed spiced black beans and a quick guacamole. Take this vegetarian version to another level (and add calcium) by melting Monterey Jack cheese onto the bean side of the sandwich. Serve with: Grilled corn on the cob or Spanish rice.

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Parmesan Spinach Cakes

Start to finish: 40 mins
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If you like spinach-cheese pie, try these simple but elegant-looking little spinach cakes.

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Tomato & Smoked Mozzarella Sandwiches

Start to finish: 25 mins
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Take a classic combination like fresh tomatoes and mozzarella, add a couple flavor-packed ingredients like olives and sun-dried tomatoes, put it between two pieces of crusty bread and you'll have a satisfying weekend lunch or an easy warm-weather supper.

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Chile-Lime Veggie Noodles

Start to finish: 30 mins
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We love the bright flavor that lime and chile-garlic sauce give to this quick and easy veggie-and-noodle stir-fry. Multicolored peppers make this recipe festive, while the addition of eggs makes it a satisfying vegetarian supper.

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Roasted Buffalo Chickpea Wraps

Start to finish: 40 mins
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This vegetarian riff on a Buffalo chicken wrap adds the spicy Buffalo tang you love to crunchy roasted chickpeas all tucked into an easy-to-make wrap with carrot, celery and blue cheese. Make and take a wrap for a healthy packable lunch or serve them up on game day for a protein-packed snack everyone will devour.

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Roasted Veggie & Hummus Pita Pockets

Start to finish: 5 mins
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Mediterranean flavors and fiber-packed ingredients combine for a satisfying and tasty pita-pocket sandwich.

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Vegan BLATs (BLTs with Avocado)

Start to finish: 35 mins
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Roasted shiitake mushrooms doused in soy sauce with a dash of smoked paprika become a natural, vegan alternative to bacon. Try them in this vegan version of a classic BLT with creamy avocado and eggless mayonnaise or on top of a salad as a substitute for bacon bits.

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Quinoa Chickpea Salad with Roasted Red Pepper Hummus Dressing

Start to finish: 10 mins
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This hearty vegan salad is loaded with plant-based power ingredients: chickpeas, quinoa and hummus. We love the crunch of the sunflower seeds and the unexpected flavor of roasted peppers.

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Whole-Wheat Veggie Wrap

Start to finish: 10 mins
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Use whichever veggies you have on hand to fill up this veggie wrap. The avocado and hummus help hold the wrap together--and provide heart-healthy fat and fiber.

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Broccoli & Tortellini Salad with Arugula Pesto

Start to finish: 30 mins
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A quick homemade arugula pesto dresses this simple broccoli and tortellini salad recipe. Serve with fresh sliced tomatoes drizzled with olive oil.

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Healthy Detox Salad

Start to finish: 50 mins
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Skip the cleanse and eat this instead. Packed with veggies, avocado and seeds, this healthy salad recipe is bursting with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Everything can be prepared ahead of time except the avocado. If you love beets, shred one raw and add it to the salad for extra color, crunch and flavor. Excerpted from The Dinner Plan by Kathy Brennan and Caroline Campion, published by ABRAMS © 2017.

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Tomato Sandwiches with Basil-Anchovy Mayo

Start to finish: 35 mins
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Eating a tomato sandwich with juice and mayo gushing down your pinkies is a rite of passage in North Carolina. Typically, Duke's mayo, tomatoes and salt are the only ingredients, but this healthy tomato sandwich recipe goes above and beyond with extra layers of veggies and herbs. Opt for yolks from pasteurized-in-the-shell eggs for the mayo if you like.

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