If you happen to’re feeling stumped on what to meal prep for lunch, these meal prep cucumber kimchi chickpea lunch containers will add taste, texture, and selection to your routine! They function my kimchi smashed chickpea salad together with spicy marinated cucumbers, rice crackers, and greens. You possibly can benefit from the mixture of substances in a bowl or pack them up in your favourite lunch field or bento field for a conveyable meal.
For me, vegan meal prep isn’t distinctive to January, or back-to-school season, or another time of 12 months that’s related to getting organized.
Meal prep is my approach of remaining according to making and consuming home made meals by way of life’s seasons.
I am going by way of ups and downs with cooking, however due to meal prep, I handle to keep it up even after I’m unmotivated. Meal prep is such an necessary a part of my routine that I devoted a whole cookbook to it!
The Vegan Week
Embrace the enjoyment of consuming home made meals day-after-day with the hearty and healthful recipes in The Vegan Week.
Whether or not you’ve gotten three, two, and even only one hour of time to spare, The Vegan Week will present you how one can batch prepare dinner diversified, colourful, and comforting dishes over the weekend.
Irrespective of how a lot of a continuing my meal prep is, nonetheless, I like several periodic or seasonal motive to really feel re-energized and motivated with it.
The beginning of a brand new 12 months is pretty much as good a motive as any. That’s why I’m completely satisfied to be sharing these enjoyable, nutritious meal prep cucumber kimchi chickpea lunch containers with you immediately.
Discovering love for a home made lunch
I’ve mentioned it earlier than, and I’ll say it once more: I believe that lunch is a difficult meal for many people.
Most of my purchasers describe lunch as the toughest meal to be according to. It’s really a meal that a lot of them dread.
A few of my purchasers are busy professionals who don’t need to decelerate noon for meals. Others can be completely satisfied to eat, however resent having to cease and plan or take into consideration what to eat.
Consequently, lunch usually will get skipped in favor of grab-and-go snacks.
However there’s a price that comes with failing to cease for noon nourishment. The first deficit is dietary: the forfeited power and nourishment (protein, micronutrients) {that a} strong lunch can present.
There are different downsides. Skipping any meal, however particularly lunch, can contribute to all-day grazing, consuming previous the purpose of consolation at dinnertime, or feeling fixated on sweets earlier than mattress.
In all circumstances, the physique is compensating for vitamin that it wasn’t supplied earlier.
Because of this, despite the inconvenience of a noon pause, I believe that lunch is necessary.
If lunch goes to be prioritized, it would as nicely be scrumptious, proper?
One simple resolution for consuming an gratifying weekday lunch with out an excessive amount of noon effort is to depend on vegan meal prep lunches that may be remodeled the weekend, or initially of the week.
Meal prepping lunch for M-F is an effective way to cut back determination fatigue, really feel organized, and be certain that lunch occurs irrespective of how busy life turns into.
The flexibility of chickpea salads
As soon as upon a time, smashed chickpea salads combined with mayo have been form of a novelty.
Paying homage to conventional tuna or rooster salad, these salads have been standard amongst some plant-based eaters, however they weren’t widespread.
These days, I see chickpea “tuna” recipes on a regular basis, not solely in cookbooks or on-line, but in addition in sandwich outlets and eateries.
How great! Chickpeas are mighty little dietary powerhouses, full of protein, folate, and iron, in addition to dietary fiber.
Their creamy texture makes them tremendous versatile and helpful for a variety of recipes, too—immediately’s chickpea lunch containers included.
I’ve made many “traditional” variations of smashed chickpea salad that have been primarily based off of the tuna and rooster salads that I keep in mind from delis after I was rising up.
Over time, nonetheless, I’ve additionally come to understand smashed chickpea salads with totally different taste accents, corresponding to curry powder, harissa paste, or sun-dried tomatoes.
I’ve experimented with utilizing white beans for smashed salads, too, together with my garlic tahini smashed white bean salad.
Considered one of my very favourite chickpea salads to this point is my kimchi smashed chickpea salad.
Kimchi smashed chickpea salad
Kimchi smashed chickpea salad is the principle element in immediately’s chickpea lunch containers. It’s spicy and creamy, and it’s additionally the plant protein supply within the recipe.
It’s very simple to make the salad: you merely mash up chickpeas in a mixing bowl (I like to make use of a handheld potato masher for the job), then fold within the following:
- vegan kimchi (delicate or spicy, in line with your preferences)
- vegan mayonnaise (store-bought or my home made vegan mayo with cashews)
- rice vinegar
- sriracha or chili crunch
In practically an immediate, you’ll have a really flavorful combination that may be eaten on toast, in a wrap, on prime of a mattress of heat rice, or in these make-ahead chickpea lunch containers.
The right way to make meal prep cucumber kimchi chickpea lunch containers
After all, the chickpea salad isn’t the one element right here. The lunch containers additionally function greens, a chilly, marinated cucumber salad, and crackers.
Right here’s how all the components come collectively.
Step 1 (forward of time): Marinate the cucumbers
Spicy, marinated cucumbers, ready with chili crisp, sesame oil, garlic, vinegar, and soy sauce, lend freshness and crunch to the chickpea lunch containers.
To make them, you’ll begin by salting sliced cucumbers.
Subsequent, you’ll pour off any water that the cucumbers have emitted whereas soaking, pat them dry, and switch them to a storage container with an hermetic lid.
Whisk collectively a marinade, then pour it over the cucumber slices. Switch them to the fridge and allow them to marinate for 2-4 hours.
Step 2: Make the kimchi smashed cucumber salad
Subsequent, you’ll put together the kimchi smashed cucumber salad. All the particulars are in this submit, and it’s a quite simple course of.
Step 3: Assemble bowls or lunch containers
At this level, you’ll have two choices. You would merely pile all the parts—kimchi chickpea salad, marinated cucumbers, some greens, and crackers—right into a bowl or onto a plate.
If you happen to like, you can even put some lunch containers collectively.
I like to begin by layering my chickpea salad over some contemporary, crunchy greens. Add 1 / 4 every of the spicy cucumbers and rice crackers to different parts.
Step 4: Take pleasure in or retailer
Assembled lunch containers could be saved for as much as two days in hermetic containers within the fridge.
If you happen to’d wish to retailer all the things longer, for as much as 4 days, then I like to recommend protecting the parts separate—in different phrases, don’t pile the chickpea salad over the greens. This can assist to maintain the greens crispy.
When it comes time to eat, I like to scoop among the smashed chickpea salad onto my crackers and prime with the spicy, chilly cucumbers!
Ingredient notes
Just a few phrases about among the substances within the chickpea lunch containers:
Crackers
You possibly can actually use any crackers that you simply love right here. I actually like to make use of a seeded cracker, corresponding to Mary’s Gone Crackers or Crunchmaster, or common or black sesame crackers. Plain rice crackers additionally work very nicely.
Flax seed crackers, corresponding to Ella’s Flats or Flackers, are enjoyable addition.
Rather than crackers, you would use pretzel chips, pita wedges, toast factors, or crispbread.
Chickpeas
No chickpeas at house? No downside. A white bean, corresponding to navy beans, cannellini beans, or nice Northern beans, may also work nicely.
Greens
My favourite greens to make use of in these bowls are mizuna and tatsoi. Each could be a little tough to search out, nonetheless, so there are different choices if these aren’t accessible.
I like to make use of both darkish greens or fairly crispy greens, each of which can preserve nicely and resist turning soggy.
I’ve tried—and preferred—all the following:
- crispy inexperienced leaf
- child spinach
- child kale
- thinly sliced collard inexperienced ribbons
- chopped romaine
- thinly sliced Tuscan kale ribbons or chopped curly kale
You possibly can even used a chopped, steamed inexperienced vegetable, corresponding to broccoli florets, inexperienced beans, snow peas, or sugar snap peas.
Chili crisp
Many chili crisp manufacturers are inherently vegan and labeled as such. My favourite proper now’s the Sichuan chili crisp from Fly By Jing. Momofuku’s chili crunch is de facto good, too.
If you happen to don’t have chili crunch and may’t get your arms on it simply, I provide a substitute within the recipe card.
What sort of lunch field do you suggest?
As somebody who writes usually about vegan meal prep, that is one in every of my most FAQs!
Right here’s a listing of go-to containers:
In the end, I like to recommend selecting the choice that’s greatest on your house capability (storage containers could be cumbersome and take up numerous room) and your price range—the extra versatile, the higher.
I exploit my Pyrex bento containers (for compact meals like this one) and my W&P porter bowl (for giant salads or bowls) most frequently.
Extra vegan meal prep inspiration
If you happen to’re hoping to do extra vegan meal prep this 12 months, and also you’d like just a bit extra info than what I’ve shared immediately, listed below are a number of different posts that is perhaps useful:
Additionally, some particular meals that lend themselves nicely to meal prep for lunch:
And to that checklist, you possibly can add this colourful, crunchy, spicy, creamy chickpea lunch field.
Meal Prep Cucumber Kimchi Chickpea Lunch Containers
Creator –
Yields: 4 servings
- 1 medium sized or 3 mini seedless cucumbers, sliced crosswise into 1/4-inch / 6mm slices (if utilizing a daily sized seedless cucumber that’s large in diameter, you possibly can half it lengthwise earlier than slicing crosswise)
- Salt
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce or tamari
- 1 teaspoon roasted sesame oil
- 1/2 teaspoon cane or coconut sugar
- 2 teaspoons garlic, minced or grated on a microplane
- 2-3 teaspoons vegan chili crisp (substitute 1 teaspoon chili oil + a number of dashes crushed crimson pepper flakes + a pinch of toasted sesame seeds)
- 4 cups loosely packed child greens, corresponding to mizuna, tatsoi, child kale, crisp leaf, or child spinach
- 1 batch kimchi smashed chickpea salad
- 4 servings (about 40-50 crackers) black sesame, sesame rice, plain rice, or seeded crackers
-
Place the cucumber slices right into a bowl and salt them generously. Permit the slices to sit down for 10 minutes. The cucumbers will launch water. Drain this water from the bowl. Then, use tea or paper towels to pat the cucumber slices very dry. Switch the cucumbers to an hermetic storage container with a lid.
-
Whisk the vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, garlic, and chili crisp collectively till the sugar dissolves. Pour this combination over the cucumbers. Cowl the container and shake it gently to distribute the sauce. Permit the cucumbers to marinate for 2-4 hours.
-
To organize the lunch bowls/containers, distribute the greens between 4 divided storage containers or bowls. High every mound of greens with 1 / 4 of the smashed chickpea salad (alternatively, retailer the greens and chickpea salad individually in case your lunch field has as many as 4 compartments). Add 1 / 4 of the spicy cucumbers and rice crackers to every lunch field or bowl. Retailer for as much as 48 hours within the fridge, coated, or serve immediately.
A pal and I have been chatting immediately concerning the ups and downs of getting again into a daily routine after any interval of disruption: this might be journey, the vacation season, a life transition, or an sickness.
Out of the blue, the on a regular basis feels unusual.
Gratifying routines could make such a distinction in these moments of readjustment. I hope these tasty vegan lunch containers will assist you to to really feel supported as the brand new 12 months takes off.
xo
