Inspiring Lunch Ideas

spaceylou

Hi all,

so college starts back in a few weeks and I really prefer bringing my own food for a huge amount of reasons such as the cost, the quality, the selection and so on. So I am looking for all and any suggestions/recipes for lunches keeping the following in mind:

1. I'm a veggie so no meat or fish
2. I'm allergic to tomatoes - so no tomatoes...
3. Cheap is good
4. Can't be anything that needs to be heated up!

Thank you all in advance for any suggestions you might have

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Does the college have a microwave in the canteen?

How about Pasta Bakes and the like, that you can make on a Sunday evening, and bring in each day, just warm them up in the microwave.

Pasta is cheap, tins of tomatoes are cheap, peppers, mushrooms whatever else...

spaceylou

Des, thanks for that but unfortunately there isn't a microwave in college - apparently there are too many of us in UCD to provide us with such a service....the very very odd time I work up the nerve to use the one in the arts cafe but seen as they are private it is very cheeky of me and I am in danger of being stopped.

Also tomatoes are a nono due to allergic reaction and I never know what to put in a pasta bake instead!!

bonsai

You can make all sorts of pasta salads and you don't need to heat them up. Just mix in some pesto (or even just drizzle some olive oil) a bit of feta (or whatever cheese you like) and a few veggies of your choice. Simple, quick and tasty

Minder

Get yourself a big flask and take soups, either homemade or shop bought and some breadrolls. Good for the winter.

For a pasta bake without tomatoes - use a white sauce and add mushrooms and cheese.

Cold rice, noodles or cous cous in salads will make an interesting alternative. Flat breads and homous. You can now pick up small freezer packs - little pillows of liquid that you chuck in the freezer to keep food cold.

tSubh Dearg

What about making a quiche? You can get several days out of it, you can eat it cold and you can put in whatever you like, spinach, mushrooms, etc.

Pigletlover

Quiche is just as delicious cold as it is hot and it freezes well so you can make up a big batch of it and freeze it, saves you having the same thing everyday for a week. Pasta is good cold with some pesto stirred in, or maybe add some spinach, pine nuts and parmesan. Or you could make some rice or cous cous salads, noodles with stir fried veg, all of which can be eaten cold. Maybe bagels with cream cheese? Filled pittas/wraps?