Office lunch: Delicious, healthy and super-easy

Editor’s note: It’s hard to eat healthy when you’re working long hours, sitting at a desk the entire day–or doing irregular night shifts. Nutritionists Ishi Khosla and Nina Mehta offer a useful guide–titled simply ‘Eating At Work’—with health gyaan, case studies, diet plans and—yay!—super easy recipes. We’ve included four—including snacks, entrees and meetha. Excerpted with permission from Simon & Schuster. 

Channa Spinach Kabab

Serves: 6

Ingredients 

• 2 cups channa dal
• 1 cup spinach
• 1⁄4 cup onion
• chopped 1⁄4 cup kasoori methi
• 1 tsp chopped garlic
• 1 tsp flax seeds
• 1⁄4 tsp chopped coriander
• 1 tsp cumin seeds powder
• 1⁄4 tsp red chilli powder
• 1⁄4 tsp saunf powder (fennel seeds powder)
• 1⁄4 tsp chaat masala
• Salt to taste
• 1⁄2 cup poha powder (flour)
• Oil for frying
  
  

Method

1. Wash and boil chana dal for 4 to 5 minutes. Dal should not be overly cooked.
2. Wash and chop spinach.
3. Heat oil in a pan, add chopped onion, garlic and chillies and cook until it turns pink in colour.
4. Add chopped palak and cook for 2 to 3 minutes without adding any water.
5. Drain the dal in a sieve and make a coarse mixture of dal in a mixer. Add water if required.
6. Add this coarse dal mixture in the spinach pan.
7. Mix well and add all the dry masalas and keep aside for 10 minutes.
8. Make round balls, flatten them, coat with poha flour and fry in oil till golden brown.

Buddha Bowl

Serves: 4

Ingredients

Rice and veggies 

• 1 1⁄4 cups short grain brown rice or long-grain brown rice, rinsed
• 1 1⁄2 cups frozen shelled edamame, preferably organic
• 1 1⁄2 cups trimmed and roughly chopped snap peas or snow peas, or thinly sliced broccoli florets
• 1 to 2 tbsp reduced-sodium tamari or soy sauce, to taste
• 4 cups chopped red cabbage or spinach or romaine lettuce or kale (ribs removed)
• 2 ripe avocados, halved, pitted and thinly sliced into long strips (wait to slice just before serving)
  
  

Essential garnishes

• 1 small cucumber, very thinly sliced
• Dressing of your choice
• Thinly sliced green onion (about 1⁄2 small bunch)
• Lime wedges
• Toasted sesame oil, for drizzling
• Sesame seeds
  

Method

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil (ideally about 4 quarts water). Once the water is boiling, add the rice and continue boiling for 25 minutes. Add the edamame and cook for 3 more minutes (it’s okay if the water doesn’t reach a rapid boil again). Then add the snap peas and cook for 2 more minutes.
2. Drain well, and return the rice and veggies to the pot. Season to taste with 1 to 2 tablespoons of tamari or soy sauce, and stir to combine.

Chicken with Peanut Butter

Serves: 2

Ingredients 

• 1 chicken breast
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 onion – chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic – chopped
• 1⁄4 tsp of chilli powder
• 2 tbsp peanut butter
• Bunch of parsley or coriander
• 2 cups potato / sweet potato / pumpkin 1 tsp of salt
• 1⁄4 cup of coconut milk

Method

1. Rub the chicken with salt.
2. In a frying pan melt the coconut oil and fry the chicken breast until golden on both sides. Then cover it with a lid to steam the chicken breast on a low heat.
3. When chicken is cooked through, add chopped onion, garlic and chilli, cover and steam for about 5 minutes occasionally stirring.
4. Take the chicken out of the pan and to the sauce add peanut butter and stir until smooth.

For the potatoes:

1. Peel the potatoes or pumpkin and cube it, boil it until soft.
2. Drain the water and add the salt, coconut milk and mash it. Serve with greens of your choice.

Flourless griddle cake

Serves: 1

Quick, easy and high on nutrition.

Ingredients 

• 1 banana
• 2 eggs
• Pinch of salt
• Olive / coconut oil for pan frying 
• Vanilla – optional

Method

1. Mash the banana until smooth.
2. Add eggs and salt and whisk it together.
3. Heat up an iron griddle with some olive/ coconut oil.
4. Pour the batter on the griddle and cover it with a lid, to cook well.
5. Flip the cake over and cook again for a few minutes.
6. Serve hot / cold with honey/ berries/ maple syrup.