Lunch: Lamb Kebab Quinoa Bowls
This week, we're having quinoa bowls with minted lamb kebabs and a rainbow of fresh veggies. These sorts of lunches (where you throw together whatever is in the fridge) have been our go to option ever since we started making more of an effort to save money by bringing our lunches from home.
Since they often follow the same general equation of meat (or veggie alternative) + vegetables + greens + rice/quinoa, we tend to let the special offers section determine the specifics for us. This week, Tesco's minted lamb kebabs were on sale so we thought they'd make a nice addition even though we hadn't tried them before. Luckily, we were right! I know it's a bit of a cheat to buy ready made kebabs but I really think that shortcuts like this help when meal prepping for a whole week.
This week we decided to keep our veggies raw since the weather lately has been pretty warm here in London. So this dish ended up being more a of lamb quinoa salad with raw red cabbage, spring greens, cucumber and three colors of bell pepper. When we're further into fall and winter, I'll swap raw veggies for lightly sautéed and leave out the cucumber. I always add my green element in raw since the steam in the microwave wilts it without any effort.
When we decided to get serious about meal prepping and taking our lunches, we knew we had to upgrade our tupperware too if we wanted to be successful. These Sistema bowls have been perfect for us. We bought two different sizes with Matt taking the slightly larger "noodle bowl" to work with him while I use the "breakfast bowl" size for my lunches. I really like that they have a steam valve for microwaving since it keeps your food from splattering everywhere! We also decided to pick up two packages of the dressing containers (below) and they've been incredibly useful!
This week we decided to use these little containers for Greek Yogurt and a simple mix of balsamic vinegar and olive oil. To put the lunches together, I layered the quinoa, veggies and lamb in the bowls and then gave them a quick mix to so that everything was spread out equally. I then topped with some sliced spring greens, a few sliced black olives, and one of each of the dressing pots. When it's time for lunch, I just take the small containers out and then microwave the rest for about a minute and a half just to take the chill off. Then just mix in the yogurt and dressing and you're all set!
I've been loving quinoa lunches for a while now but I've only recently worked out how to actually cook it properly! The technique detailed below with the five minutes of final steam time has been such a game changer and leaves the quinoa so nice and fluffy. Plus, the stock cube adds extra flavor so it's dramatically improved my quinoa experience!
Prep Time: 10 min
Cook Time: 30 min
Serves: 8-10
Ingredients:
10 Minted Lamb Kebabs
1.5 cups Quinoa, rinsed
1 stock cube
1/2 to a whole cucumber
3 bell peppers (we used red, orange and yellow)
1/2 a red cabbage
Sliced black olives
Sliced spring greens
Method:
Preheat the oven and then pop in the lamb kebabs according to the package instructions. While the kebabs are cooking, get the quinoa started.
Rinse one and a half cups of quinoa and then add it to a medium sized pot along with three cups of water and the stock cube (broken up into smaller pieces). Bring to a boil and then lower to a simmer. Leave uncovered and let it simmer until the water has been absorbed. This should take between fifteen and twenty minutes but might vary depending on your pot. After the water has been absorbed, take the pot off the heat and cover for five minutes. This allows the quinoa to continue steaming and helps to keep it from sticking together. After five minutes, fluff the quinoa with a fork. Finally, place a paper towel between the pot and the lid and set aside.
Chop the cucumber, bell peppers and red cabbage and set aside.
Once the kebabs have cooked, chop them into bite sized pieces and then get ready to assemble your lunches. Measure out 1/2 cup of quinoa into your containers and add one kebab to each. Sprinkle with the cucumber, bell peppers, red cabbage, olives and greens.
Add in a small container of your dressing of choice and you're all set for a healthy and tasty week!
Enjoy!
