5 Junk Free Lunches

Whether you're a stay at home parent, a university student or work the 9-5, a fulfilling lunch is super important to get you through the day! You want something quick, delicious but totally nutritious. These lunch ideas give you plenty of options and can easily be prepared ahead of time. Click 'Read More' to explore the full recipes!

1. The Perfect Gut-Healing Chicken Soup

When trying to improve your gut health, be sure to include lots of gut-loving foods like bone broths! My favourite bone broth recipe can be found here, it's from BePure and the flavours are beyond amazing. I like to prep a lot of bone broth in advance and then freeze it in 1.5 litre lots. This means that it's perfect portioned for this recipe - my favourite soup. To keep the chicken fresh throughout the week, I like to batch my chicken into 2-day portions and freeze them. Every second day during the week, I'll defrost a batch of chicken and quickly poach it for 7 minutes in a pot of boiling water and this easy lunch is ready to go!

This recipe was originally sourced from Cultivate Beauty, so be sure to check out the original recipe here.

You'll Need:

• Whole free range, organic chicken
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 onion
• 6 cloves garlic
• 1 zucchini
• 2 carrots
• 1/2 small pumpkin
• thumb of ginger
• handful fresh thyme
• salt + pepper, to taste.

1. Place the whole chicken, breast side down, in a large pot and cover with the broth and filtered water. Add the herbs (roughly chopped), salt and pepper.
2. Simmer at a medium heat for 45 – 60 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Hint: The chicken should break apart easily. Remove any grey impurities that float to the top as needed.
3. Meanwhile, roughly chop the onion, zucchini, carrots and pumpkin. Finely chop the garlic and ginger.
4. Remove the chicken from the liquid, and cool for a few minutes on a large chopping board. Carve up the chicken, discarding the bones (or keeping for later – great for broths!).
5. If you’re confident that all bones have been removed from the liquid, go ahead and add all of the vegetables. If you’re unsure – cool and strain first!
6. Simmer the vegetables for around 30 minutes to soften, before adding the carved chicken. Add extra salt and pepper, to taste… and it’s ready to serve. Enjoy!

2. Stella's Super Slaw
This is a wonderful meal prep dish and a great way to pack lots of vegetables into a lunch meal. The opportunities are endless for toppings, extra protein options or the addition of noodles for an extra boost. It's surprising how well this salad keeps during a week as well. This gives you the option to reduce the amount of prep required for your daily lunch, while still giving you the opportunity to add variety throughout the week with different flavour/topping variations. This recipe is definitely worth a try. 

​Check out our recipe here!

3. Detoxifying Cauliflower Tabbouleh 

Cauliflower is known as a cruciferous vegetable - alongside the likes of broccoli, cabbage, kale and turnips. This is because they contain important phytochemicals that are released when they are chopped, chewed, fermented, cooked and digested. In simple terms, try to incorporate these vegetables as often as possible! They aid great detoxification throughout the body. This recipe is a lovely wee lunch, and a protein element could easily be added if you are more of the protein type. 

This recipe is originally sourced from BePure, so be sure to check out their original recipe here.

You'll Need:

• 1 medium to large head of cauliflower
• 1 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped
• 1⁄2 cup packed fresh mint leaves, chopped
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered or halved (depending on size)
• 1 cup cucumber, de-seeded peeled and chopped
• 1 red or yellow capsicum, finely chopped

For the Dressing...

• 1⁄2 tsp ground cumin (dry roasted)
• 1⁄2 tsp ground coriander (dry roasted)
• 1⁄4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1⁄4 cup olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1⁄4 tsp black pepper
• 1⁄2 – 1 tsp salt

1. Cut the cauliflower to remove the stem and then chop into pieces small enough to fit into your food processor.
2. Place the cauliflower in food processor and pulse until the cauliflower pieces turn into “cauliflower rice”. You may have to do this in batches, depending on how large your processor is.
3. Transfer blended cauliflower to a large mixing bowl.
4. Add the rest of the prepared vegetables and herbs to the cauliflower rice.
5. In a small frying pan, gently roast the cumin and coriander (without any oil) until fragrant. Combine in a jar or blend together all the dressing ingredients and add this to the cauliflower
6. Mix Tabbouleh. Season with extra salt, pepper and lemon juice to get the desired flavour.

4. Hoisin Pork & Crispy Pancakes
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This was a really fun recipe to come up with. Not only is it seriously easy to put together, it's bloody delicious. This is yet another way to adapt the Stella Super Slaw (as previously mentioned).

With the simple addition of a protein component, a quick egg pancake and a simple dressing, the slaw is renovated to another level.

​Every one at home or work would be envious of this lunch! 

Check out the full recipe here!

5. Dr Libby's Sushi Bowl

Dr Libby is totally a girl crush of mine! And this delicious lunch idea doesn't disappoint either. Sourced from her new book, The Energy Guide, this wonderful combination of textures and flavours is a delicious way to encourage good gut health, while also packing in the vegetables.

​Check out the original recipe from her blog here. 

For the Bowl...

• 1 cup (220 g) medium-grain brown rice 3 cups (750 ml) water

• 1 tablespoon tamari
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin coconut oil
• 1 avocado, thinly sliced
• 1 Lebanese cucumber, thinly sliced
• 1 carrot, cut into matchsticks
• 1 cup (120 g) frozen edamame beans, thawed
• 2 sheets nori
• 1⁄2 cup (75 g) red cabbage sauerkraut or kimchi
• 1⁄2 teaspoon sesame oil

For the Ginger cream...

• 2⁄3 cup (100 g) raw cashews
• 1⁄4 teaspoon fresh horseradish
• 1 tablespoon finely grated ginger
• 
2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1⁄2 cup (125 ml) water
  

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To make the ginger cream, place the cashews in a bowl, cover with cold water and leave to soak overnight. The next morning, rinse and drain well. Place the cashews into a small food processor with the remaining ingredients and process until smooth and creamy.

1. Place the rice and water in a medium saucepan. Bring to the boil over high heat and boil for 20 minutes or until tunnels form in the rice and most of the liquid has been absorbed. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook gently for 5 minutes or until the rice is soft and there is no liquid left in the pan. Remove from the heat, stir in the tamari and set aside to rest while you prepare the toppings.
2. Whisk together the egg and sesame seeds. Melt the coconut oil in a 26 cm non-stick frying pan over medium heat, add the egg mixture and cook, stirring gently, until the egg is just beginning to set, then use a spatula to push the set edge into the middle of the pan. Continue until all the egg is just set. Flip over and cook until set (this should take about 3 minutes all up), then remove from the pan and slice.
3. Divide the rice among four serving bowls and arrange the avocado, cucumber, carrot, edamame, nori and sesame omelette on top. Add the sauerkraut or kimchi, then drizzle over the sesame oil. Serve with the ginger cream.

We hope you enjoy giving some of these fantastic lunch ideas a try!

Be sure to let us know what your favourites are!

​From our home to yours,