Brown Bagging It? These 5 Recipes Will Shake up Your Lunchtime Routine

A nutritious lunch can provide a much-needed midday energy boost and help improve focus and productivity.

Paying attention to the midday meal has plenty of nutritional, financial and health benefits, but there’s also an emotional value: making time to care for yourself. Skypixel/Dreamstime/TNS

By Nicole Hvidsten The Minnesota Star Tribune

Lunch deserves better.

We have no problem pulling out all the stops for an evening meal, and brunch is like the popular cousin who gets all the attention. Then there’s lunch, which is often eaten at desks, over the sink or maybe not at all. On good days there might be leftovers. On harried days, it might be a PB&J, a handful of almonds, cheese and crackers, a spin through a drive-thru. Quick, yes. Satisfying? No.

Not only does lunch deserve better, you deserve better.

Paying attention to the midday meal has plenty of nutritional, financial, and health benefits, but there’s also an emotional value: making time to care for yourself.

My go-to lunch is cheese, crackers, and cucumbers, and it’s often eaten as I work. (I know.) But an influx of lunch-related cookbooks has me rethinking my strategy. One is “Lunch Well” by Fern Green, which has recipes that incorporate leftovers as well as an entire chapter of five-ingredient recipes.

In her praises of lunch, Green also cites the need for a midday energy boost, the mental break needed to improve focus and productivity, and a chance to step away to change your focus, even if it’s just for a few minutes.

Try one of these recipes to shake up your lunch routine. If you choose to eat it over the sink or at your desk, that’s on you.

Your One Noodle Soup

Serves 1

If you like your soups and love Asian flavors, this is the soup for you. It’s ready in 25 minutes. Try adding salmon or smoked mackerel for extra protein. Tofu works well too. From “Lunch Well: 85 Recipes to Bring a Little Spark To the Midday Meal, by Fern Green (Hardie Grant, 2025).

• 2 cups vegetable stock
• 2 tablespoons dried mushrooms, chopped
• 3/4 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and cut into matchsticks
• 2 ounces of noodles, preferably soba
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons tamari sauce, divided
• 3 cremini mushrooms, sliced
• 1 baby bok choy, chopped
• 2 scallions, chopped
• 2 teaspoons sweet white miso paste
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• 1 chile, seeded and chopped

Place vegetable stock in a saucepan with a lid. Add the dried mushrooms and ginger, cover, and bring to a simmer for 15 minutes.

Cook the noodles in a pan of boiling water for 4 minutes, or according to the package directions.

In another pan, pour in enough boiling water to cover an egg.

Add 2 tablespoons of the tamari sauce, then lower in the whole egg and simmer for 7 minutes. Pop the egg into a bowl of cold water to stop cooking.

Add the cremini mushrooms, bok choy, and scallions to the stock and simmer for 3 minutes. Uncover, add the remaining tamari and the miso and stir until the miso has dissolved. Remove from the heat. Peel the egg and cut in half. Pour the soup into a bowl, add the noodles, egg, a drizzle of sesame oil, and the chile.

Pasta Surprise Bento

Serves 2 to 3

From “Bento Lunch Box” by Sara Kiyo Popowa (Kyle, 2025), who writes: “It’s a standing joke between me and Andy that when he cooks dinner, four times out of five it will be a ‘pasta surprise.’ Well, the good thing about it is how easy and quickly it comes together—and we’ve started adding veggies to the cooking water for color and added nutrients. Pasta surprise works well in a bento, just make sure you choose a pasta that will be delicious even when cold and undercook it slightly. What to put inside can be your own surprise, but here is one simple red and green suggestion.”

For the salad:

• 7 ounces pasta, shells or spirals are great
• 1/2 head of broccoli, florets separated and cut, or torn, in halves
• 4 to 5 kale leaves, any type
• 8 1/2 ounces chickpeas, drained and rinsed

For the dressing:

• 2 tablespoons tamari sauce or low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil or flaxseed oil
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

For the toppings:

• 2 tablespoon red gomashio (see below) and/or a handful of pine nuts
• 1/2 avocado, flesh scooped out and sliced
• Cherry tomatoes and/or a handful of pomegranate seeds, optional

Cook the pasta according to package instructions. While it cooks, prepare the broccoli and rip the kale leaves off their stems, then finely chop the stems.

Two minutes before the pasta is done (remember to undercook it slightly), add the vegetables and chickpeas to the cooking water, return to a boil and continue cooking for the remaining time. Drain in a strainer and cool completely under cold running water. Drip-dry in the strainer for 5 minutes or spin dry in a salad spinner.

Return to the pan (best if the pan has also been cooled under the tap together with the pasta) and add all the dressing ingredients. Stir or shake the pan to combine. Tip into bento boxes and add the toppings.

To make red gomashio: Mix together 5 tablespoons sesame seeds, 1 teaspoon coconut palm sugar or brown sugar, 2 teaspoons sweet smoked paprika, 1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic, and 1 teaspoon sea salt. Store leftovers in an airtight container.

White Bean Tuna Orzo

Serves 4

From “Easy Everyday,” by Jessica Merchant, who writes: “This might be my most-made make-ahead lunch salad. It can be found on repeat almost every other week, and it’s incredibly satisfying and delicious. One of the best parts about this recipe is that you can make a very large portion and it will last. I’ll either keep it in a large bowl or portion it out, and I serve it a few different ways, too. I like this as a salad topping, piled high on a bed of greens. And sometimes I scoop it into lettuce cups or wraps, which adds an additional refreshing crunch.” (Rodale Books, 2025)

• 1 cup dry orzo
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 2 cloves garlic, minced or grated
• 1/3 cup chopped roasted red peppers, plus 1 tbsp. oil from the jar
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt and black pepper
• 1 (14 ounces) can cannellini beans, drained, and rinsed
• 1 (5 ounces) can tuna packed in water, drained
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh herbs, like dill, parsley and/or chives
• 1/4 cup Quick Pickled Onions (see below)

Cook the orzo according to the package directions. Once finished, transfer the orzo to a large bowl.

Whisk together the vinegar, mustard, garlic, the oil from the roasted red peppers, the olive oil and a big pinch of salt and pepper.

Drizzle half of the dressing over the orzo. Add the beans, tuna, roasted red peppers, herbs and pickled onions and mix together. Drizzle with the remaining dressing and serve. This stays good in the fridge for 3 to 4 days.

To make Quick Pickled Onions: Thinly slice 1 medium red onion and place in a heatproof jar. In a saucepan over medium heat, combine ¾ cup apple cider vinegar, 1 ½ tablespoons sugar, 1 teaspoon kosher salt with 1 cup of water. Bring mixture to a boil, whisking to dissolve sugar and salt, about 3 minutes. Turn off heat and pour mixture over the onions. Let them sit at room temperature to cool. Once cool, seal jar and keep in the fridge for up to 1 week.

Tahini Avocado Salad

Serves 1

Note: No avocado? Try cooked broccoli, green beans, cauliflower, or even leftover roasted vegetables. Make it more substantial by adding fish or cooked chicken at the end. From “Lunch Well: 85 Recipes to Bring a Little Spark To the Midday Meal, by Fern Green (Hardie Grant, 2025).

For the salad:

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 slice of sourdough or other bread, cut into small cubes
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
• 1 1/2 cups arugula
• 1 avocado, halved, peeled, and pitted (see Note)

For the dressing:

• 1 tablespoon tahini
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 tablespoon. lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon honey
• Salt and black pepper

Heat the oil in a pan and drop in the bread cubes. Fry until they start to turn golden and crispy. Add the sesame seeds and Parmesan and fry until the Parmesan has melted and the seeds are golden. Tip onto paper towels and set aside.

Add the arugula to a salad bowl, then scoop the avocado out of its skin over the bowl.

In another bowl, whisk all the dressing ingredients together and add 1 tablespoon of really cold water. Season and whisk until it’s creamy. Drizzle generously over the salad before topping with the croutons.

Carrot Ribbon, Chicken and Coconut Curry Soup

Serves 4

From “Mostly Meatless,” by America’s Test Kitchen (2025). We wanted to develop a quick plant-forward dish that drew inspiration from the fragrant noodle soups enjoyed across Southeast Asia. In place of rice or wheat noodles, we used a vegetable peeler to create long ribbons of carrot. Thai curry paste, which we first bloomed in oil so its many aromatics could thoroughly suffuse the dish, gave our soup a delectably spicy-sweet foundation. We then added ground chicken, simmering it in coconut milk to make a quick, savory broth in which to cook our carrot noodles and snow peas. We finished this off with a mound of fresh herbs and scallions. It’s worth seeking out Thai yellow curry paste for its sweet complexity; however, you can substitute red curry paste. Thai curry paste can range from mild to spicy; taste yours and, if it’s very spicy, use the lower amount.

• 1 pound carrots, peeled
• 2 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 to 4 tablespoon Thai yellow curry paste
• 1 pound ground chicken
• 2 cups water
• 1 cup canned coconut milk
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce, plus extra for serving
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 6 ounces snow peas, trimmed and sliced 1/2 inch-thick on bias
• 4 scallions, sliced thin on bias
• 1 cup fresh Thai basil, torn
• 1 cup fresh cilantro leaves and tender stems, torn
• Lime wedges
• Sriracha

Shave carrots into thin ribbons lengthwise with vegetable peeler; set aside. Combine oil and curry paste in Dutch oven and cook over medium heat until fragrant, about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add chicken and cook, breaking up meat into small pieces with wooden spoon, until chicken is no longer pink, 3 to 4 minutes.

Add water, coconut milk, fish sauce, sugar, and reserved carrot ribbons. Bring to simmer, then add snow peas and simmer until vegetables are crisp-­tender, 3 to 5 minutes.

Divide evenly among individual serving bowls or lunch containers. Sprinkle with scallions, basil, and cilantro. Serve with lime wedges, Sriracha, and extra fish sauce to taste.

Copyright 2025 The Minnesota Star Tribune. Visit at startribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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