As for other raw ingredients, they are legion: cucumbers, tomatoes, scallions, all things you can slice down a pile of and stash in a tupperware in your fridge for easy deployment. I'd keep your selection to around three at any time just so they don't go bad on you. Raw veggies have wildly variable lifespans, so keep an eye on them.
So you've got food now. What do you do with it?
Grain Salads
Grain salads make for an easy starch-and-veg side to work with. Just cook off some kind of grain (quinoa, couscous, brown rice, whatever) according to the directions on the box (as a Chef Instructor once told me, they want you to eat their product; their directions are usually good), add dressing to taste, season with salt and pepper to taste. Then mix in whatever the fuck you want. Roasted vegetables, raw ingredients mentioned earlier, crushed nuts (tee hee) of your liking - it's all good. Eye this out into a resealable container in portions you think you'd like to eat for lunch, add around 4 oz. of the sliced protein of your choice, et voila, you have a lunch you can snag from the fridge on the way out the door and eat at your desk.
Wraps
Pavel: "People tend to hate wraps because pre-made ones are the pits. But it's fun as heck to play with combinations. I grill off three or four chicken breasts and then slice them. Then I'll add arugula/baby spinach/spring mix and some accents. Guacamole (not a shitload), pico, and scallions; enchilada sauce, jalapenos, scallions and Queso Fresco; cucumbers and gyro sauce; and so on. These can also all be tacos on corn tortillas or low carb wraps.
"I always pair these these with a big pile of lightly dressed greens because I want to feel like eating a lot of food, but that's at [your] discretion. [You] can cram-a-lam a lot into a big-ass wrap instead."
Pretty much this. This seems like a good time to bring up the idea of shredded cheese, too - at home, I always shred a block of cheese down and keep it in a quart container for easy access. Pre-shredded cheese is usually made from scraps and has all kinds of anti-coagulants in there that I'm not too comfortable consuming on a regular basis.
Also, Pavel's mention of tzatziki reminds me of something. Plain yogurt is fantastic for when you want something creamy and flavorful without cramming a wad of sour cream in you. Plus the addition of a little honey, fruit, and granola make for a pretty decent breakfast.
Quiche/Frittatas
Pavel: "This is really frou-frou, but making a big-ass quiche is awesome for lunches. Bring a wedge and a frisee salad and you're good for four or more days."
Quiche is way easier than you think it is. Just grab a 9" frozen pie crust from your supermarket, whisk together two eggs, about a cup of half-and-half, and a heavy pinch of salt in a bowl, and you're ready to roll.
Preheat your oven to 350. Fill your crust with your fillings (don't overfill, it'll mess with the cooking of the custard), pour in your egg mixture, and bake until the center is set like Jell-O, maybe around 45 minutes.
As for fillings, the sky's the limit, really. Just don't use anything that's going to release too much water, as that'll mess with the aforementioned custard. Raw spinach = bad. Cooked spinach drained on a paper towel = good.
Suggestions:
Ham, scallions, and cheddar
Ham, scallions, and cheddar
Spinach and swiss
Roasted red pepper, asparagus, and goat cheese
Bacon, like, a lot of it
But what if you don't have a pie crust handy? No worries, just make a frittata, which is the exact same thing, but just put it in a well-buttered 8" pan instead of a crust and proceed as above.
And that's that. With any luck, this should get you on the right track to eating a little healthier on a limited time budget. I'll likely visit this subject again sometime, since this was pretty fun.
Enjoy, guys! See you tomorrow.
Tee hee.
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