Vegan lunch options can be hard to find at restaurants and cafeterias; you're better off making your own. Sandwiches with cold cuts might be out of the picture, but you still have plenty of options, from wraps to salads. And a peanut butter and jelly sandwich is 100 percent vegan.
Sandwiches
Sandwiches don't have to be based around meat, cheese or eggs to provide a healthy meal at lunchtime. Cold roasted vegetables dressed with a dash of vinaigrette on a baguette or Italian roll makes for the perfect vegan hoagie. Hummus or bean dip can be used as a spread, then pile on sprouts and sliced vegetables. Take a page from Vietnamese cuisine and add pickled carrots and daikon shreds with sliced tofu, cilantro, hot peppers if you like, plus soy sauce. Or try almond butter and sliced peaches; peanut butter and banana; or cashew butter and sliced apple with honey.
Wraps and Rolls
Fold a vegan-friendly flour tortilla around any sort of filling, and you have an instant lunch wrap. Filling options are nearly endless. Try beans and salsa with or without avocado, chopped vegetable salad or cold roasted vegetables, sliced grilled mushrooms, hummus with shredded cucumber and carrot. Use rice paper to wrap up a cold spring roll. Fill it with sliced tofu and shredded cabbage or lettuce, and pack a small container of peanut sauce to dip. You can also use lettuce leaves to wrap portions of noodle salad or other fillings.
Salads
A leafy green salad may seem too insubstantial for a main course lunch entree. Beef it up, so to speak, with nuts or sunflower seeds and perhaps some dried fruit. Add a whole-wheat roll on the side. Choose a cold salad that's built around ingredients other than lettuce. Try a Southwestern corn and bean combo with diced bell peppers and red onion, or a pasta salad loaded with veggies.
Beans and Rice
The amino acids in beans plus rice equal a complete protein, making for a healthy lunch that's completely free of animal products. You can dress up this basic duo in dozens of ways. Try Cuban-style black beans and rice with tomato and green peppers. Add a cup of salsa for a Mexican flavor. Or make up a batch of Louisiana red beans and rice with hot sauce and smoked tofu or tempeh.
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