Whether you’re back in the office, or working from home, bringing nutrition and variety in your lunches is essential to maintaining your energy throughout the day.
Many people see seafood as too difficult a protein to enjoy as a work lunch, but there are plenty of simple recipes that are truly easy to achieve at work, or pre-prepare and take with you, as long as you store them correctly!
Check out this list for some inspiration.
Prawn Rice Paper Rolls
Recipe here
Vietnamese rice paper rolls, known as goi cuon or bánh tráng, are fantastic for a quick and healthy work lunch - they are made to be eaten with your hands, and the rice paper keeps the filling fresh and crunchy until you’re ready to eat.
Prawns not only add a satisfying texture, but look beautiful too… Order them pre-peeled to save yourself fuss. Rice paper rolls traditionally also contain strips of cooked lean pork belly, so add some if you like.
Get yourself a small airtight container for a tasty sweet chilli or satay dipping sauce (you can even re-use the ones that come with your next takeaway), and you’re in business!
Flathead Pitas with Tzatziki and Cherry Tomato Salad
Recipe here
These fish pita pockets make a great work lunch (especially if you often get stuck eating at your desk) as they are designed to be hand-held.
We recommend is storing the salad, pita, and Flathead separately (just wrap them individually in cling-wrap if you don’t want to carry more than one container), and putting the pockets together at work, to avoid the pita becoming soggy.
If you’re on a budget, Morwong or Ling would also work beautifully in this recipe, and are usually a little cheaper than Flathead.
Prawn Salad with Chilli, Cucumber & Watercress
Recipe here
This is one of our favourite prawn salads. The delicious Asian dressing really brings out the sweetness of the prawns, and dials the dish up from the usual sad iceberg lettuce affair that you tend to see in the lunchroom.
Again, very few people want to be peeling prawns between shifts, so buy them pre-peeled if you tend to be short on time. Also make sure to store the dressing separately, so the herbs don’t get soggy throughout the day.
Smoked Salmon Frittata
Recipe here
This recipe is a winner for its versatility: you can serve it hot or cold, for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Our favourite way to work this into the week’s rotation is to make it on Sunday and keep it covered in the fridge – that way you’ve always got a last-minute meal to hand should you get busy throughout the work week.
Adding a salad on the side helps to balance out the meal, but if you can’t be bothered, it is just as delicious all on its own. We also have another Frittata recipe on our website, using crab, if you want to try that too! Recipe here.
Salade Niçoise (Provençal Tuna Salad)
Recipe here
Our modern adaptation of the classical southern French salad, Salade Nicoise, replaces the more traditional canned Tuna with fresh… although – fun fact – the original Salade Niçoise didn’t contain any seafood, only vegetables!
You are completely welcome to revert back to canned Tuna if that makes this dish easier for you to enjoy at work or on the go. For those curious, SeafoodSource states that Fish 4 Ever and Safcol are the most sustainable and environmentally-friendly brands of canned Tuna you can choose, followed by the Coles and John West brands.
