12 Homemade Lunches To Take Into The Office

Soak the quinoa overnight in double the amount of water. When you’re ready to cook, rinse the quinoa and rice until the water runs clear.

Measure out all of the spices into a cup — this makes it less likely that you'll burn your spices while searching for the others.

Heat the ghee or oil in a large pot. Add all the spices and sauté together on medium heat for a minute until fragrant. Be careful not to overdo this stage – it's better to err on the side of caution on your first attempt than risk frazzling the spices and making them bitter or burnt.

Stir in the mung dal and quinoa. Add 4 cups of water, bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer, lid on.

Cook for 10 minutes, then add the sweet potato. Continue cooking for another 30 minutes (longer if using whole green mung beans), or until the dal is completely soft (easily squashed between finger and thumb), the kitchari has a porridge-like consistency and the ghee has risen to the top, adding more water if necessary.

Adjust the seasoning and garnish with fresh chopped herbs or the fresh green chutney if you like.

Melt the ghee and gently fry the onion until soft. Add the garlic, if using, and cook until soft. Add the ginger, cumin, mustard, turmeric, cinnamon and chilli and cook for 30 seconds. Add the carrot, and stir through.

Add the lentils, water and coconut milk. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 20—30 minutes, lid on, but stirring from time to time, until the lentils are cooked.

Add the tomatoes and cook for few more minutes until they are soft. Add the lime juice, salt and pepper to taste. Serve with coriander and toasted cashews on top, if you like.

In a large pan, sauté the leeks in the ghee until soft. Add the chopped ginger and cumin and sauté again.

Add the parsnips first and cook for a few minutes, then add the beetroot and sweet potato.

Add 750ml of bone broth or veg stock, and the rosemary, split lentils and sea salt if using.

Bring to the boil, cover and simmer on low for about 20 minutes until the vegetables are completely tender. Carefully remove the sprigs of rosemary and discard.

Use a stick blender to purée the soup to your liking, adding more hot water, broth or stock if needed. Taste and adjust seasoning, stirring in a generous grind of black pepper and ladle into bowls.

Dress with extra virgin olive oil, a squeeze of lemon juice and a final grind of black pepper to serve.

Whizz the yoghurt, peach, curry paste and salt in a blender until smooth.

Empty into a large bowl and mix in the chicken, apple, celery, walnuts, spring onions and parsley.

Serve the chicken mixture on a bed of beans and lettuce.

Place all the dressing ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.

Add all the salad ingredients, toss well to combine and taste, adding a little more soy sauce if you like.

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat and gently sauté the onion and carrots until the onions are translucent.

Now add the spices and lentils and fry until the spices are fragrant and toasted.

Stir in the stock and simmer gently for 20 minutes until the lentils are tender. I like this soup as it is, but feel free to blend it if you prefer a smooth texture.

Season to taste and serve sprinkled with the pumpkin seeds and a little drizzle of oil.

Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Place all the ingredients in a large bowl, mix well and bread on a small baking tray lined with baking paper – not too thinly or the mixture may burn.

Bake for 15-20 min minutes, stirring occasionally, until toasted and golden.

Allow to cool completely on the tray. Store in an airtight container for up to a week.

Chop the onion, red pepper and tomato and fry until soft.

Add the spinach, and wilt down, then remove from heat.

Break the eggs into a large bowl, then add the milk, paprika, chilli, salt and pepper. Mix well with a fork.

Mix in the vegetables.

Grease a muffin tin and divide the mixture between the cups. Bake for 15-20 mins until they are cooked through.

Preheat your oven to 190°C. Get all your ingredients together, and line two baking sheets with greaseproof paper.

Combine all the dry ingredients, including one of the optional flavourings if you are using them, and stir well.

Mix the maple syrup, coconut oil and water together in a measuring cup. Add to the dry ingredients and mix very well, until everything is completely soaked and the mixture becomes very thick.

Divide between the two lined trays and even out a bit, then put another piece of greaseproof on top. Use a rolling pin to roll out the mixture until it is about 1⁄2cm thick.

Take the top layer of greaseproof off and use the tip of a sharp knife to score the mixture into rectangles.

Bake the crackers for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and flip the sheet over, then peel off the greaseproof to expose the underside of the crackers. Put back into the oven for another 20 minutes. They are ready when they are firm and golden round the edges.

Allow to cool, then break along the lines where they have been scored.

Make the dressing by mixing the lemon juice with the tomato sauce provided with the mackerel.

Add and the ingredients together and combine. Simple.

Zest the lemon. Cut the tomatoes into 1cm cubes. Drain the tuna oil.

Peel the avocado and cut into 1.5cm pieces. Season with the juice of a lemon.

Cook the pasta in an abundant amount of salted water, following the package’s timing instructions for al dente. Cool in running water.

Add all ingredients, season with salt, ground black pepper, lemon zest, oregano and extra virgin olive oil.

In a non-stick pan add the rapeseed oil and fry the red onion until soft and translucent, then add the chopped garlic and stir.

Add the bulgur wheat and stir again. Add the stock to just about covering the ingredients and stir. Keep adding the stock as the bulgur wheat absorbs the liquid, if it needs more liquid then top up with water.

When the bulgur wheat is soft but not fully cooked add the chopped tenderstem broccoli stems to cook for about a minute until bright green. Take off the heat.

Stir in the knob of butter, artichoke hearts, zest and juice of a lemon, parsley, salt and pepper and leave to cool.

In a separate pan, fry the chicken slices in 1 tbsp of rapeseed oil until golden brown. Either fold into the bulgur wheat mix or chop into small pieces. Thoroughly cool and leave in your fresh box in the fridge for the next day.

To reheat add 2 tbsp of water to the fresh box and loosely cover the lid and microwave for 2-3mins or until piping hot.