What to Eat for a Clean Lunch (DF/GF)

When first starting out on the Clean Eating Journey, one of the trickiest meals I think can be lunch! The go-to is a sandwich of course. Or if you’re a bit fancier, a wrap. Or a bit fast-foodier, a burger. Most everything for lunch seems to be wrapped in bread and often served up with a slice of cheese. So what is a Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free Organic Clean Eater supposed to eat for lunch? Salad!

I’m not talking about the garden variety (see what I did there?) iceberg lettuce with a tomato wedge and maybe a cucumber slice if you’re lucky. I’m talking tasty curry chicken salad, Asian soba noodle salad, tex-mex “cowboy caviar” salad, tabbouleh style quinoa salad, roasted veg salad. There are so many kinds of salad that you could easily have a different one every day for a month and not repeat!

Of course there is nothing wrong with bringing to work a green leafy salad like the Salad in a Jar trend. A little planning ahead on Sunday evening and you can store these jars in the fridge for grab and go healthy lunch fare. There are a ton of these Salad in a Jar recipes on the internet.

Planning ahead and having healthy ingredients on hand to create a satisfying lunch salad makes it quick and easy. Spend an hour on Sunday planning and prepping your lunches for the week ahead.

Here’s a salad I made recently with leftover chicken breasts from a roasted chicken. My family loves the dark meat so we often have the breasts left to chop up and make into a stir-fry or tacos or in this case, curry chicken salad for lunch. If you don’t have leftovers, you can cook two breasts on the bone with a little EVOO and salt and pepper on the skin at 350º for about 30 minutes or until the meat temp is 165º.

This recipe and loads of others, I have been posting on my Instagram @larenwatson and my Organically Laren Facebook Page. Follow me there to see recipes for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Ones that I personally have made and served up to my family. Only winners get posted 🙂

Classic Curry Chicken Salad

2 organic cooked boneless skinless chicken breasts (leftover from a roast?)
2 medium golden delicious organic apples
4 stalks organic celery
3/4 cup organic raisins
3/4 cup chopped walnuts (organic if you can find them!)

Chop everything into small chunks (except raisins. they’re already in small chunks!) and add the dressing:

3/4 cup organic mayonnaise
2 Tbsp alternative milk like organic almond milk
2 Tbsp curry powder

Whisk together and add to the salad ingredients.

Toss to combine.