Do you have a tag or links to recipes that can keep out of the fridge? I wanna start packing lunch but steamed veggies and pb&j only take me so far lol preferably meat or egg dishes? For protein
Food that keeps at room temperature for many days:
- Whole veggies: potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic, cucumber, eggplant, tomatoes
- Whole Fruit: Apple, Pears, Plums, Tomatoes, Avocado, Mangoes, Citruses, Papaya, etc.
- Bread products. Loafs, croissant, bagel, buns, Pita bread, baguettes. Chips and Crackers.
- Some Sauces : Soy Sauce, Oyster or Fish sauce, Vinegars, Most Oils, Ketchup, Mustard, Vinegar-based salad dressings, vinegar-based hot sauce, Peanut butter, Honey.
- Hard cheese like Cheddar, Gruyere, Machego, Parmesan
- Dried fruits and Nuts. I have a big bag of dried cranberries and almonds that I snack on throughout the day.
-Dry noodles. Can you bring an electric kettle to use during lunch? Do you have access to a microwave or super-hot water from a coffee maker? You can cook noodles.
-Single Packets of tuna or precooked chicken in sauce, like this:
Food that is perishable, but is fine to let sit at room temperature for 4-6 hours between when you take it out of your fridge in the morning, and leave it at your desk all day before eating:
Literally anything if you have an insulated lunch box ($10-$20) and a regular bottle of water that you froze overnight and stuck on top of the other food. Portable refrigeration, plus you have a drink included by the time it thaws.
If you want to be extra safe, you can pack your lunch the night before, leave it in the fridge overnight, and then pack it with the ice-bottle into your insulated lunchbox when you leave. Put the more-perishable stuff like dairy or meat products up against the bottle for maximum chill.
Then eat whatever cold dishes you want. Salads, deli meat and cheese, egg salad, tuna salad, Lemony potatoes, coleslaw, pies, marinated veggies, rice, chopped fruit, veggies with dip, Hummus or Tzatziki with bread, Guacamole, cold pastas, hard boiled eggs, etc. There are ENDLESS cold 'Salads' that are just various combinations of pastas with vegetables or fruit and different seasonings.
You mentioned 'steamed veggies' so if you have a microwave available, then prepare literally anything you want, pack it cold in your lunchbox, and heat it up on-site.