Really easy tupperware recipes ... and light!

RECIPES FOR HEALTHY AND BALANCED TUPPER

When it comes to preparing meals to take to work or eating out, we have relied on the Harvard Plate Method, a new way of healthy eating that has revolutionized the way we plan meals. Why? Well, because it makes it easier for you to prepare balanced recipes without the need to count calories or weigh quantities like those in our easy-to-follow healthy weekly menu. Thus, in addition to the meals that we propose below, you can think of your own combinations without leaving any essential food or going out of line.

HOW DOES IT WORK

·Main dish. Half of the plate, and in this case the tupper, must be vegetables, raw or cooked, or both. This amount is equal to what you can fit in the palm of your hand.

·Second course. A quarter of the plate / tupper corresponds to the protein: turkey, chicken, fish, egg, tofu, etc. If you measure it by hand, it is the palm without the fingers.

·Garrison. And the remaining quarter of the plate / tupper should be occupied by carbohydrates: pasta, rice, potatoes or legumes. As before, it corresponds to the measure of the palm without the fingers.

AND FOR DESSERT?

Always opt for fresh fruit, yogurt or homemade compotes.

Citrus salad with chicken and couscous

MAIN DISH

· Avocado salad with orange. Slice a quarter of an avocado and sprinkle it with a few drops of lemon. Accompany it with slices of orange, tangerine or other citrus fruit that you like and purple onion rings.

SECOND

·Grilled chicken. If you have time, marinate it in milk or beer beforehand to make it more tender and grill it on a griddle greased with a drop of oil.

GARRISON

· Couscous with vegetables. Add salt and a little oil to 40 g of couscous and stir. Add 60 ml of boiling water and let it increase in volume. Shelling and mixing with onion and chopped peppers.

Steamed broccoli with pasta and salmon

MAIN DISH

·Steamed vegetables. Cut up sprigs of broccoli, zucchini, or other green vegetables and steam them al dente. Dress with oil and mustard powder. Accompany with some unsalted pistachios. But there are many more easy and delicious broccoli recipes.

SECOND
· Salmon and quail egg. Boil some quail eggs for 4-5 min and cut them in half. Serve with cubes of smoked salmon.

GARNISH
· Color paste. Boil some colored farfalle al dente (better if they are integral) following the instructions of the product and, after cooling them to stop cooking, add a little oil so that they do not stick.

Salad "raw" with canned sardines

MAIN DISH
· Raw vegetable salad. Slices mushrooms, red, green and zucchini. Macéralas in lemon and place them as in the photo. If you have trouble digesting raw vegetables, put them in a container suitable for the oven, drizzle with a thread of oil and bake at 200º 20-30 min.

SECOND
· Canned sardines. For protein, take some rich sardines in oil, pickled, entomated… If you want to incorporate this healthy blue fish into your diet and you don't know how, don't miss our quick and easy recipes with a can of sardines.

GARNISH
· Toasted bread. Whole wheat or rye (2-3 small slices).

Vegetarian combo: bimi with egg and lentils

MAIN DISH

· Roasted bimi. Bimi is a vegetable halfway between broccoli and asparagus, ideal for grilling. Dress with a little oil and mustard powder. Accompany with a sour fruit, such as strawberry, blueberry or raspberry.

SECOND
· Scrambled egg. Put an egg in a non-stick pan greased with oil, stir, stop and repeat until it has the correct texture. And if you want a vegan alternative, substitute a tofu burger. You can make it or make it at home preparing a sauce, adding vegetables to taste, crumbled tofu, and shaping it.

GARNISH
· Boiled lentils. They can be canned or boiled at home. Garnish with olive oil.

Red cabbage salad with turkey and seed bread

MAIN DISH

·Cabbage Salad. Julienne the cabbage, add grated carrot, a few orange wedges, radishes, and season to taste.

SECOND

· Turkey or chicken skewers. Take turkey strips or chicken breast tenderloins, thread them onto skewer sticks and grill or grill. To dress them you can a little soy sauce or mustard diluted with honey.

GARRISON

·Seed bread. Accompany with two or three small slices of whole grain bread.

Rainbow fruit and vegetables with shrimp and potatoes

MAIN DISH
· Multicolored salad. Make a rainbow by placing diced boiled beets at the base, followed by avocado, halved yellow cherry tomato, carrot cut into straw, and topping with strawberries or raspberries and grains of pomegranate or currants. You can look for alternatives to these fruits and vegetables depending on the season.

SECOND
· Seafood. Accompany with some boiled and peeled prawns, or even some mussels or clams.

GARRISON
· boiled potatoes. Put some garnish potatoes through the tap, boil them with the skin and serve divided in half.

Macedonia of fruit and vegetables with anchovies flags

MAIN DISH
· Fruit and vegetable salad. Depending on the fruit that is in season, dice the one you like the most and mix it with colored cherry tomatoes. In this case, we have mixed them with watermelon and strawberries and some fresh mint leaves.

SECOND
· Anchovy flags. Wrap an olive with a pickled anchovy fillet and hold with a toothpick.

GARNISH
· Bread toasts. Make it wholemeal or rye (2-3 small slices).

Vegetables with roast beef and colorful potatoes

MAIN DISH
· Combo of cooked and raw vegetables. Sauté some mushrooms, grill bimi on the grill and serve with raw cherry tomatoes cut in half.

SECOND
· Roast beef. Seal a piece of beef tenderloin that you will have seasoned and coated in oil before in a pan and then roast in the oven at 200º until it has the doneness you want. When warm, cut into thin slices. And if you want a more elaborate and 100% guilt-free version, don't miss our roast beef with applesauce.

GARRISON
· colored potatoes. Choose regular and purple garnish potatoes if you can find them, wash them to use on the skin, and microwave them 2-3 minutes before finishing cooking on the oven rack.

Endive and apple salad with smoked fish and quinoa

MAIN DISH
· Endive and apple salad . Make a salad with a base of green shoots, endive leaves, sour apple slices and a handful of walnuts.

SECOND
· Smoked rolls. Make roses with slices of smoked salmon and cod.

GARNISH
· Quinoa with chickpeas. Boil black quinoa and chickpeas (or use canned or pre-cooked ones).

Vegetable spaghetti with octopus and potatoes

MAIN DISH
· Assorted vegetable spaghetti. With the help of a spiralizer or a potato peeler, cut zucchini, carrots, and squash into spaghetti shapes and blanch or sauté for half a minute. Add raisins and seeds, and season with oil.

SECOND
· Boiled octopus. Cut an octopus leg into small pieces (they are sold ready-made vacuum-packed).

GARNISH
· Paprika potatoes. Cut a small potato into slices and steam it for 6-8 minutes in the microwave. Season it with oil and paprika to taste.

One of the main problems with tupperware recipes (apart from being very repetitive due to lack of ideas) is that they tend to be unbalanced and excessive. And is that the size of the tupperware is deceiving and does not help much to get an idea of what you are really eating.

To avoid this, the easiest thing to do when preparing your meals to take to work or eat out is to follow the Harvard plate method, the same one we use to make our easy-to-follow healthy weekly menu. Using a tupper like the one you have seen in our proposals (equivalent to a medium plate and with three compartments) helps a lot to follow the method. But if you don't have one of this type, no problem. You can roughly measure the amounts with your hand before transferring them to the tupper or lunch box that you are taking to work. We explain it well below:

How to calculate amounts for tupperware recipes

In the large compartment, put the vegetables. The largest part of the tupper -which corresponds to half a plate- should be used for the vegetables, either raw or cooked, or a combination of the two. If you measure it by hand, it would be the equivalent that would fit in the open palm.
In one of the little ones, protein. It would correspond to 1/4 of a plate, it must be for vegetable proteins (lentils, beans, chickpeas, peas, soybeans and derivatives …) or animals (such as fish, meat or eggs). It would be equivalent to the palm of the hand without fingers.
In another of the small ones, hydrates. This would be equivalent to a couple of slices of bread (40 g), a potato the size of a chicken egg, or a half cup of cooked rice, pasta or legume. And the same as before, if you use your hand to calculate the amount, it corresponds to the palm without fingers.

Ideas for dessert

Fruit. It is the ideal dessert. Choose a seasonal piece (two if they are small) or a cup in the case of strawberries, berries, etc.
Yogurt. If there is already fruit in your tupper or in your other meals, take yogurt (2-3 a day) or kefir, curd …
Nuts. Two or three times a week you can substitute a dessert for a handful of nuts or an ounce of chocolate.

Seasonings for garnish

Vinaigrette. Make a vinaigrette with a tablespoon of oil, one of vinegar and one of vegetable broth, and add a point of mustard or honey or crushed pulp of raspberries, grapes or other fruits that you like.
Light sauce. One of the most helpful is yogurt, which you can mix with a few drops of lemon, salt and pepper or other spices to your liking. You can also make a sauce with tahini (sesame paste) at the rate of 1 tbsp. of tahini, 1 of lemon juice, 1 of oil and 1 of water.

So that your tupperware food does not fall apart, take the vinaigrette or sauce in a separate container and add it just before eating.