There’s actually no secret formula for healthy eating.

As I’ve always said, it requires a bit of cooking and carrying food with you. This is almost a necessity, especially for those who eat out at work. If you don’t have a reliable home-cooked meal at your workplace or nearby, or if you spend a lot of time out, I recommend carrying non-spoiling, odorless meals like the ones below.

You might say, “Sema, we already have such a hectic life, we can’t be bothered cooking lunch,” but these are really simple things that won’t take up much of your time. Especially if you’ve already done the preparations I described in my “Quick Cooking Guide” article, your job will be much easier. Even if you haven’t done those preparations, having boiled dried legumes and quinoa/brown rice/buckwheat in the freezer will be lifesavers.

There’s no meat in these examples because I wanted to choose odorless foods that you can eat under any circumstances, even if you don’t have the means to reheat food. I also made sure they were filling. Because unsatisfying lunches are a harbinger of afternoon dessert cravings…

I hope this helps and makes your life a little easier.

I prepared these to give you some ideas. Of course, you can modify them according to your diet and the ingredients you have at home. The Lunchbox Exercise is my favorite exercise…

Baked Vegetables
You can adapt this to any vegetable. Here I chose Brussels sprouts and sweet potatoes. Regular potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower would also work. In summer, zucchini and eggplant would work. So the options are endless.

I chop all the vegetables into small pieces and arrange them on a baking tray, add olive oil, salt and spices and mix. It doesn’t even take 5 minutes. Then I put them all in the oven on one tray, they’re cooked in about 30 minutes. When you put your vegetables in a glass container, they will easily last 3-4 days in the refrigerator. You can use them as a side dish or as a main course with yogurt.

Cauliflower Kısır
The pleasure of eating kısır without feeling bloated + without guilt + feeling wonderfully full = Cauliflower kısır

I sautéed an onion well in a pan. Then I added plenty of tomato paste and red pepper paste. Divide the cauliflower into florets and process them in a food processor or blender. They immediately become the size of bulgur. Then add the cauliflower bulgur to the pan and continue sautéing with the sautéed onion and paste mixture. 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Your kısır will be ready. I turned off the heat and transferred it to a bowl. When it cooled, I added greens, red bell pepper, and pickles. As a sauce, I mixed olive oil, pomegranate molasses, lemon juice, sumac, and red pepper and poured it over the top and mixed it.

Quick Red Beans
A wonderful meal made from boiled red beans that have been waiting in the freezer.

I added my previously prepared purple cabbage pickle to the thawed red beans; the regular version will also work. I added some pomegranate, parsley, and for the sauce, olive oil, pomegranate molasses, and sumac. The dish is ready in no time.

Swiss Chard and Egg Dish

This is my lifesaver. It works with any vegetable.

Sauté any vegetable (in this case, Swiss chard), one kilo, 4 eggs, 3-4 tablespoons of cooked quinoa or blended oatmeal, cheese if desired, a little olive oil and salt. Mix everything together, pour into a baking dish, and bake in the oven at 170 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Absolutely fantastic…

Leek and Egg
This is the same dish, but with leeks and carrots. It also uses corn flour instead of wheat flour.

This week I’ve brought you lots of healthy snacks. No more unhealthy foods when you’re hungry.

I wish everyone a happy, healthy, and sugar-free week.

With love,

Sema