I was told that one can eat anything for breakfast and not worry about gaining weight. Here, in Central Asia we eat a light breakfast and a heavy lunch that usually consists of 3 courses: salad, soup and one of our magical main dishes. Ok, we eat a good breakfast too and our dinners are to die for. We are food-centric, we are Central Asians afteral. When I don't feel like samosas, pilafs, soups, and salads though, I prefer cottage cheese for lunch. We are blessed to have amazing quality cottage cheese in this part of the world. Here is how I make it:

http://www.tablefull.com/2013/01/uzbek-kaleidoscope.html

Most Sundays I make a big salad that will last for lunches for the week. Usually a mix of grains, greens and another veg, it's how I make it through the work week.
My latest for lunch this week is a Rutabaga, Barley, Arugula & Hazelnut salad (http://kaleeats.blogspot.ca/2013/03/arugula-rutabaga-barley-salad-with.html)
My other favourite this winter has been a cauliflower, lentil and veg mix that stores well for a few days. http://kaleeats.blogspot.ca/2012/12/winter-vegetable-lentil-salad-with.html

As a stay at home mom (mostly), lunch KILLS me. Breakfast I'm good. Dinner I made for us all nightly, but lunch is HARD. I need to find a way to get vegies and protien into myself without a ton of prep or work and (dare I dream) perhaps get the kids to eat it too (and take into account my son's nut/peanut allergies). I eat a multigrain bagel with subutter WAY.TOO.OFTEN. REALLY looking forward to this week's posts!

I have a bunch of toddler-friendly sammies and other lunchtime options on my blog! My son loves my quesadillas!

Http://www.bitesforbabies.com/pesto-chicken-mozzarella-quesadilla/

Oops! Here's the link again:

Http://www.bitesforbabies.com/chicken-pesto-mozzarella-quesadilla/

I'm always looking for healthy, affordable dishes that I can can make in big batches and bring to work for lunch each day. It's important that the entire dish can be dumped into one container and heated up (or not) - carrying around multiple components on my commute is a pain. Any recipes appreciated!

I work at a culinary school where we can have lunch every day. Sounds great but the problem is the class that cooks lunch is Classic French Cuisine and I just can't allow myself to eat like that every day! My main priority for packing my lunch is to bring something yummy enough that I won't be tempted to let it go bad in the work fridge while I grab some beef bourguignon instead!

Lunch is hard! It doesn't seem to matter whether I'm working at home or working at an office (currently the former), I really suck at coming up with something tasty and nutritious. I agree with RBAYLOR - it has to be yummy enough to tempt me away from my work and then away from less-balanced options (like last night's dessert).

Lunch goes in cycles for me. Mostly, I bring leftovers, which works well. But then there are weeks when I had a busy weekend and didn't cook much, or when I've got mostly soup and don't like to travel with it, etc. I need fallback stuff--is there such a thing as a pantry sandwich? I can always put together dinner from the whatever I've got in the freezer or pantry, but to quickly assemble a lunch when I wasn't planning on it? That stumps me.

I would love to see a post on portable, non-smelly, gluten-free meals.

As a graduate student, I eat lunch with my classmates, most of whom eat high sugar, high sodium packaged 'food' for lunch. When I open my tupperware, it's usually extremely aromatic (I think my roasted veggies, kale salad, pulled pork, etc. smell wonderful. They beg to differ). And so, I am extremely conscious of the smell of my food, the look of it (okay, leftovers are the most beautiful the next day, especially when I cut it all into bite-sized pieces for easy eating), and how loud it is, even! Neurotic, I know. But I was always the kid teased at lunch for having weird items.

So, I'd love to see some portable, easy, gluten-free meals!

I tend to go for the left overs route - I tend to make a big thing of soup or red lentil dhal on Sunday night and then eat that for lunch everyday. I don't care about variety. I just need something that I can quickly put together in the morning. I think my mum packed too many bologna sandwiches as a kid so to this day I cannot bring myself to eat a sandwich for lunch.

We have reached the stage of our lives (50 something) when we prefer to eat a bigger filling lunch (meat, potato & veg) and then a lighter dinner, like soups and salads.

Lunch is my biggest meal of my day, too! I teach preschool, so come lunchtime, I've worked up a big appetite! I typically pack leftovers, which works well for me.

I'm a big fan of open-faced sandwiches, most recently I've been making a broccoli rabe, ricotta and egg sandwich which is pretty delicious. You can make everything ahead of time too. http://www.myfoodandotherstuff.com/2013/01/broccoli-rabe-egg-and-ricotta-sandwich.html

I try to find new recipes that I can make using leftovers, like making Mexican flautas with leftover rib meat or chicken soup from leftover roasted chicken. Honey-Mustard Pork is always our go-to when we can't decide on something or having breakfast for dinner/lunch like Mexican eggs and chorizo.

Roast Chicken: http://chocolate-coveredlove.blogspot.com/2013/02/easy-roast-chicken-with-accordion.html
Honey-Mustard Pork: http://chocolate-coveredlove.blogspot.com/2013/01/honey-mustard-pork.html
Eggs and Chorizo: http://chocolate-coveredlove.blogspot.com/2012/12/eggs-and-chorizo-tacos-two-ways.html

My easiest lunch whether at home or work is to make a black bean spread on Sunday from a can of organic black beans that I mash up with onions and garlic sauteed in a little bit of bacon drippings. I buy fresh salsa. At home in the mornign I spread 3 corn tortillas with the beans and some grated cheese and wrap them up and carry them to work with a container of salsa and two pieces of fruit. I warm the tortillas in the microwave at lunchtime and top with salsa. I never tire of this lunch! The bean spread is such a delicious base. Sometimes I add quinoa or avocado. Very nutritious and satisfying, portable and super-fast to make.