November 15^th is the American Diabetes Association’s National Healthy Lunch Day. There is tremendous confusion about what to eat—what's healthful and what's not. Often the foods choices people make are full of calories, yet lack the nutritional value the body needs. In order to promote the importance of good nutrition as part of a healthy lifestyle, and to help people make better food choices, let’s start by doing lunch – a healthy lunch! Below you will find recipes to inspire you for National Healthy Lunch Day and days thereafter.

4 EASY LUNCH RECIPES

RECIPE 1:

Chicken Kale Salad with Fresh Ginger Dressing

Serves 4

Serving Size: 2 cups salad, 3 ounces cooked chicken, and 3 tablespoons dressing

Ingredients

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast

8 cups packed spinach with baby kale greens

¾ cup light raspberry salad dressing, such as Newman’s Own

2 to 3 teaspoons grated gingerroot

Directions

1.     Heat a grill or grill pan over medium-high heat. Coat the chicken with cooking spray, spring with ¼ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper, if desired. Cook 6 minutes on each side or until no longer pink in center. Let cool and thinly slice.

2.     Place equal amounts of the greens and chicken on four dinner plates. Whisk together the salad dressing and ginger until well blended. Spoon equal amounts over all.

Per Serving: Calories 230, Total Carbohydrate 6 g (Fiber 2 g, Sugars 3g), Protein 28 g, Total Fat 10g (Saturated Fat 1.3 g), Cholesterol 85 mg, Sodium 440 mg, Potassium 760 mg

Choices/Exchanges: 1 vegetable, 3 ½ lean protein, 1 fat

From The 4-Ingredient Diabetes Cookbook by Nancy S. Hughes

RECIPE 2:

Feta’d Tuna with Greens

Serves 4

Serving Size: 1 ½ cups

Ingredients

6 cups from Boston Bibb lettuce, red leaf lettuce, or spring greens

3 tablespoons fat-free Caesar salad dressing

2 ounces crumbled, reduced-fat-, sun-dried tomato and basil feta cheese

1 (6.4-ounce) packet tuna, broken in large chunks

Directions

1.     Place the lettuce and salad dressing in a large bowl and toes gently , yet thoroughly, to coast completely

2.     Place 1 ½ cups of lettuce on each of 4 salad plates. Sprinkle each salad with 1 tablespoon feta and lightly flake equal amounts of tuna in the center of each serving. If desired, add a small amount of dressing (such as fat-free Caesar) to the lettuce.

Cook’s Tip

Don’t understand the importance of tossing the lettuce and dressing together first – it balances the recipe’s flavors. The tuna packet works better in this recipe than canned tuna would – the packet tuna flakes perfectly over the well-dressed salad.

Per Serving: Calories 80, Total Carbohydrate 3 g (Fiber 2 g, Sugars 1 g), Protein 15 g, Fat 2.0 g (Saturated Fat 1.2 g), Cholesterol 25 mg, Sodium 360 mg, Potassium 310 mg

Choices/Exchanges: 2 Lean Protein

From The 4-Ingredient Diabetes Cookbook by Nancy S. Hughes

RECIPE 3:

Green Pepper Skillet Chili

4 Servings

Serving Size: ¾ Cup

Ingredients

1 pound 93% lean ground beef

1 large green bell pepper, chopped (about 1 ½ cups total)

1 (14.5-ounce) can stewed no-added-salt tomatoes with liquid

1 (1.25-ounce) packet chili seasoning mix

¾ cup water

Directions

1.     Place a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Coat the skillet with nonstick cooking spray, add the beef, and cook until no longer pink, stirring frequently. Set aside on a separate plate.

2.     Recoat the skillet with nonstick cooking spray, add the peppers,  and cook 5 minutes or until the edges begin to brown, stirring frequently.

3.     Add the remaining ingredients to the skillet and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover tightly, and simmer 15 minutes or until peppers are very tender, stirring occasionally, using the back of a spoon to crush the tomatoes while cooking.

4.     Remove from the heat and let stand 10 minutes to develop flavors.

Cook’s Tip

Be sure to use the stewed variety of tomatoes in this recipe – their sweetness cuts the acidity of the tomatoes and provides additional flavor.

Calories 150, Fat 5.0 g, Saturated Fat 1.6 g, Carbohydrate 16g, Fiber 3g, Sugars 7g, Cholesterol 35 mg, Sodium 390 mg, Potassium 620 mg, Protein 13 g, Phosphorus 135 mg

Choices/Exchanges: ½ Carbohydrate, 2 Nonstarchy Vegetable, 1 Lean Protein, ½ Fat

From The 4-Ingredient Diabetes Cookbook by Nancy S. Hughes

RECIPE 4:

Hurried Hummus Wraps

4 Servings

Serving size: 2 halves

Ingredients

4 whole-wheat flour tortillas

½ cup prepared hummus

6 cups packed mixed greens or spring greens

2 ounces crumbled reduced-fat feta or reduced-fat blue cheese

Instructions

1.     Warm tortillas according to package directions

2.     Top each with 2 tablespoons hummus, 1 ½ cups lettuce, and 2 tablespoons cheese, roll tightly and cut in half

Calories 210, Total Carbohydrate 28 g (Fiber 4 g, Sugars 1 g), Protein 8 g, Fat 14 g (Saturated Fat 2.7 g), Cholesterol 5 mg, Sodium 420 mg, Potassium 385 mg

Choices/Exchanges: 1 Vegetable, 1 ½ Starch, 2 Fat

From The 4-Ingredient Diabetes Cookbook by Nancy S. Hughes

© 2016 American Diabetes Association