I love fried egg sandwiches but I guess that's not really very light. Zaru soba sounds really good right now (cold buckwheat noodles served with cold dashi broth on the side and sometimes scallions and carrots) or maybe curry noodle soup. You could get the ingredients for either one at any Asian market and TJ's might even have dashi.

How about a winter greens salad with a poached egg and some crumbled bacon on top? Or a wilted spinach salad with a poached egg. I'm sure the internet has a ton of recipes but I use the one from BH&G's cookbook.

If you feel like baking, whip up a batch of popovers and stuff them with chicken salad. It requires more time, though. They say to serve them immediately but I love them whenever. whisk together 1 C milk, 2 eggs and 1 tbsp oil until combined, add 1 C flour and 1/4 tsp salt, whisk until smooth. Cook them in muffin tins, popover tins or even custard cups but only fill the cups half full! Bake for 40 minutes in a 400 degree F oven and pierce them to let the steam out as soon as they're done. (this is the BH&G recipe)

left over Malaysian curry with fluffy white rice!

Lunches this week are all about using what's already in the fridge or pantry.
Sunday I made a bean soup using a package of dried beans from Goya (seven bean blend) that had been in the pantry for ages. I used leftover New Year's ham, some celery frozen from the farmer's market this summer, and carrots. Simple and delicious.
Today I'll be using up the salad greens from dinner last night, topping them off with odds and ends that, again, are already in the fridge: pine nuts, hard-boiled egg, mushrooms, onions, little bit of olive oil and balsamic. Nothing too creative, but light and inexpensive!

leftover Malaysian curry with white rice!

Made a bean soup Sunday night which lasted hubby and I through yesterday. Today it will be salad using up whatever's in the fridge.

As I'm currently unemployed, I have a chance to make time-intensive but inexpensive meals that I can't make when working full time. So today it's homemade refried beans for some bean and rice burritos.

I just made the best bean, quinoa, beet & avocado salad -- perfect for lunch & very healthy for the new year. I just put the recipe up on my blog if you want to check it out. It was adapted from the Rancho Gordo bean book.
http://poeticappetite.blogspot.com/

The LA Times ran an article full of packed lunch ideas. My favorite was a mini cheese platter. Honey, grapes, almonds, half a baguette and a little bit of stinky cheese. Sounds like heaven.

Lol - I just have to mention this as well. My sister works at the Museum of Tolerance and there are a large amount of elderly people there. She constantly amazed at their lunches. My favorite was half an apple (the other half is left to brown in the kitchen, just in case someone else wants to eat it), a hardboiled egg and a babybel cheese. Sometimes it's saltines and a hardboiled egg. I guess you don't need much food when you get to be really old.

Lentil soup (without the bacon and with vegetable stock)

Beans & rice

For the beans, I sauteed 4 cloves minced garlic, 1 diced onion, 2 diced bell peppers, and some diced chiles in 1 Tbs oil. Then I stirred in 2 cans of black beans and salt, pepper, and cumin. Heat through and serve over rice (I cooked packaged yellow rice that cooked in my rice cooker while I prepared the beans). Easy, tasty, and filling. Made 5 generous servings. For my lunch box, I included a small bowl of fresh veggies to dip in homemade guacamole.

Leftover black beans and rice (a side dish for last night's huevos rancheros, a la smitten kitchen), topped with fresh salsa and cheddar cheese.

http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/07/huevos-rancheros/

Leftover black beans and brown rice (a side dish for last night's huevos rancheros, a la smitten kitchen), topped with fresh salsa and cheddar cheese.

http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/07/huevos-rancheros/

quesadillas, paninis, pasta salads...those are some of the things I usually do for lunch.

Leftover black beans and brown rice (a side dish for last night's huevos rancheros, a la smitten kitchen), topped with fresh salsa and cheddar cheese.

http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/07/huevos-rancheros/

PS: Thanks for the tip about the LA Times, chusmabilly--this looks like a great article. Here's the link for anyone else who is interested.

http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-lunchbox7-2009jan07,0,5320210,print.story

Cauliflower puree with cheddar; quinoa pilaf with mushrooms, leeks, and currants; and roasted parsnips and sweet potatoes (dusted with sweet and smoked spanish paprika before roasting).

I just started reading 'Food Matters', the new Mark Bittman book, and have been really inspired. There are some great recipes in it (a good supplement to his 'How to Cook Everything Vegetarian', which I use daily), and I love the 4 weeks of menu plans/ideas. We already eat pretty well, but it's always nice to find a book that reinspires me.

a can of black beans, rinsed
1 chopped tomato (and it’s juices)
A small handful cilantro, chopped
Half a jalapeno, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
Dash cumin
juice of half a lime

Mix all together in a bowl. Place a few leaves of fresh spinach on tortilla, top spinach with some bean mixture, top that with cheese, if you like, and roll up tortilla, burrito style and nuke for another minute.

I like to top with some fresh avocado slices. Makes 2 filling wraps.

The same can be done with canned red kidney beans too.
Or can be served at room temp over a salad, sans tortilla.

For variety I change bean types, use different fresh herbs and different greens.

With extra planning, use leftover cooked dried beans to make it more economical and lower sodium.

For New Years I used canned black-eyed peas, minced red onion, red peppers and Italian parsley with ricotta salata cheese :)

a can of black beans, rinsed
1 chopped tomato (and it’s juices)
A small handful cilantro, chopped
Half a jalapeno, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
Dash cumin
juice of half a lime

Mix all together in a bowl. Place a few leaves of fresh spinach on tortilla, top spinach with some bean mixture, top that with cheese, if you like, and roll up tortilla, burrito style and nuke for another minute.

I like to top with some fresh avocado slices. Makes 2 filling wraps.

The same can be done with canned red kidney beans too.
Or can be served at room temp over a salad, sans tortilla.

For variety I change bean types, use different fresh herbs and different greens.

With extra planning, use leftover cooked dried beans to make it more economical and lower sodium.

For New Years I used canned black-eyed peas, minced red onion, red peppers and Italian parsley with ricotta salata cheese :)

I made some cream of celery root and leek soup earlier in the week and it's been my lunch at work twice. I had two weeks off over the holidays and I am having trouble getting into the swing of things to make lunches this last week and have been eating things off of the coffee truck... So much for eating healthier and trying to spend less :S Oh well there's always next week :D

I love these posts! I'm dieting this week and have no money so I'm having the same lunch every day: organic spring mix with 1 cup chick peas that were sauteed in chicken broth with garlic, cayenne and paprika, 1/2 cup quinoa and 2 tbsp. olive oil and lemon juice salad dressing. I put all this stuff in a big tupperware and shake it around so the dressing coats everything and it is so yummy and, I feel, very good for me.

Stir-fried beef and brussels sprouts on brown rice.

While everyone is looking for light and portion-controlled foods, the cold and snow have me searching for hearty foods instead. I think there will be a big meaty braise come the weekend.

Matilda - You should try roasting the chickpeas (375-400F). Toss them in a little olive oil, pepper, and nutritional yeast. Roast until they're dark golden brown. They'd be great on your salad. :)

Today it was a burrito made from leftover ingredients from an earlier "mexican food" night during the week: veggie refried beans, ground turkey meat, avocado, spinach and salsa. For the most part I am all about leftovers so earlier this week was turkey noodle soup and stewed lentils/tomatoes.

Leftover roasted chicken (shredded), whole wheat couscous, kalamata olives, sun-dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts and feta cheese tossed with a lemon vinaigrette.

The olives, tomatoes and artichoke hearts were all jarred from Trader Joes. This can be eaten cold or warm.

Today's lunch was a slice of a Mexican-style casserole on top of some of Tuesday's brown rice and topped with queso fresco. I made the casserole last month, and froze most of it in individual pieces for days like today, when I've got no time for lunch out, and no leftovers from the night before.

(Basic recipe is here: http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/chilaquiles.html - I tweak it depending on mood and ingredients on hand each time)

Tuna packed in olive oil mixed with various different veggies - I like black olives, chickpeas, diced red onion, celery, and parsley. I just toss it with some lemon juice. Its great stuffed in tomatoes or in a pita sandwich. I've also put in avocado, artichokes, or anything else you have around. Takes 5 minutes to make!

Ate what I had for dinner last night, which was Alu Chole with some flatbread crackers at work. Recreating different dinner menus from the night before is an excellent way of saving money and having something tasty for lunch the next day. Winter salads (especially since you get to go home) are excellent. Try heating up some olive oil, add some garlic and a couple of veggies and then pouring the whole mixture over spinach, arugula, mustard greens, chard - whatever green you can think of that's tougher than lettuce and eat up. The wilted greens get just cooked enough and pack a better nutritional punch then boiling them to death.

One of my go-tos is a quinoa salad. Cook some quinoa, toss in a can of rinsed beans (garbanzo, black, cannelini). Toss in some steamed or raw veggies (frozen peas that will defrost in the salad, steamed broccoli, steamed or raw grated carrot, diced cucumber, diced celery, diced bell pepper, whatever needs to be used). Add the appropriate fresh spices if you have them around (cilantro for black bean, Italian parsley for garbanzo). Make a dressing with a bunch of lemon juice, a Tb. or two of tahini, salt and pepper, and olive oil and dried herbs if you didn't have fresh (I love dill, mint, tarragon, oregano). Delish either hot or cold.

Black beans seem to be a common theme!

Salads are probably the easiest, quickest, healthiest way to go - and you can make them with just about anything. One of my favorites is mixed greens with mandarin oranges, almonds/pecans/walnuts, feta/gorgonzola cheese, grape tomatoes and balsalmic vinaigrette. This week I made one with pears, pistachios and feta cheese, SO good. Throw in some chicken or turkey for a little heartier salad.

Quesadillas are also a pretty versatile dish. One of my favorite (if not super light) snacks is a "peanut butter taco," i.e. tortilla rolled up with peanut butter. That plus an apple, a twist on classic grade school lunch!