Hello everyone! And welcome to the second instalment of our mini-series The Health Hub Sessions – here to help you get fitter, stronger and healthier as we slowly ease out of lockdown. Running out of lunch ideas to feed the family at home? Today, Jemma Thomas – fitness expert, personal trainer, mum of two and founder of online fitness community for women – Jemma’s Health Hub – is here to provide some much-needed tasty inspiration for you. Read on for her healthy summer lunches to enjoy with the family!
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As summer hits we all want to find some tasty, healthy and light lunches to enjoy in the hot weather – which can be very difficult, particularly pleasing all parties! However, here is my list of five health summer lunch options to enjoy with the family that are affordable and delicious
One Pan Vibrant Green Pasta
I love the nutty flavour of the wholewheat pasta in this – it’s full of fibre and goes so well with the freshness of the ricotta and lemon sauce. It feels very ‘treat’ like but is still low in fat and nice and healthy. The added bonus is, you get two of your five a day too!
Ingredients – serves 2
Wholewheat penne pasta
1 courgette sliced
Handful of basil
Large handful of kale
Mug of frozen peas
2 tablespoons of ricotta cheese
1 garlic clove crushed
½ lemon juice and zest
Salt and pepper to taste
How to
Cook the pasta as directed. Grab a large frying pan and in some olive oil, fry the garlic, courgette and frozen peas (the peas will cook her without needing to be boiled).
Fry on a low heat for 6-7 minutes, stirring continuously so it doesn’t stick.
Add the kale and fry for a further 4 minutes.
Once the pasta is cooked, drain and tip into the frying pan and mix with the rest of the greens.
Stir in the ricotta, lemon juice and zest then season with black pepper.
Halloumi Wrap
When it comes to healthy summer lunches, halloumi wraps are a really great alternative to sandwiches. They are still filling but wraps give you less of that bloating feeling that often comes with bread.
Ingredients – serves 1
1 whole album tortilla wrap
½ block halloumi
Olives
1 tablespoon of hummus
Cucumber chunks
3 cherry tomatoes
Handful of spinach
How to
Spread the hummus across the wrap.
Dry fry or grill the halloumi until browned.
Chop the olives, cucumber and tomato and add to the wrap.
Add the halloumi once ready.
Wrap it up and you’re good to go!
Tuna Nicoise Salad
This is a really refreshing salad that’s packed with protein!
Ingredients – serves 1
1 can of tuna
1 egg
A handful of green beans
¼ red onion
5 cherry tomatoes
A handful of olives, green or black
2 large handfuls of mixed salad leaves
How to
Bring a pan of water to the boil and while you’re hard-boiling the egg, throw the green beans in to cook too.
Pop the salad leaves in a bowl and add the drained tuna.
Chop the cherry tomatoes and onion and add.
Cut the egg into quarters and add to the salad along with the green beans.
Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic.
Chickpea, Sweet Potato and Spinach Curry
This is one of my favourites healthy summer lunches to eat instead of a takeaway! So wholesome and filling.
Ingredients – serves 2
1 large sweet potato cut into small chunks
1 red onion finely chopped
1 garlic clove crushed
1 teaspoon of each – cumin, garam masala, ginger and chilli flakes.
1 can of chickpeas
1 can of coconut milk
1 can of chopped tomatoes
6 cherry tomatoes – halved
Large handful of spinach
Pouch of microwaveable brown rice
Coriander (if you’re a fan!)
How to
In a large pan, fry the onion, garlic and spices for a few minutes.
Add the chickpeas and sweet potatoes and fry for another 6 minutes.
Add the tinned tomatoes and coconut milk and simmer down so the liquid thickens for about 25-30 minutes and check that the sweet potato is cooked.
And the spinach and tomatoes and cook for a further few minutes while you pop the brown rice in the microwave.
Serve with yoghurt and chopped coriander.
Chicken Satay Nuggets / Tofu with Brown Rice, Charred Peppers and Onion
This is a yummy take on a classic Thai dish. It’s super quick and easy to throw together making it one of my favourite healthy summer lunches.
Ingredients – serves 1
½ garlic clove crushed
2 teaspoons of peanut butter
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
Sprinkle of red chilli flakes
½ lime juice
1 large chicken breast sliced or 4-5 mini chicken fillets or ½ block of tofu
½ pack of microwaveable brown rice
1 yellow or red pepper chopped
½ red onion
How to
Preheat the over to 190°C
Firstly, make up the satay sauce. Put the garlic, peanut butter, soy sauce, chilli flakes and lime juice into a bowl and mix well.
Add the chicken strips or tofu and if you have time, marinade in the fridge for an hour. If not, you can pop it straight in the over as below.
Add a few sprays of oil to a baking tray and add the chicken or tofu to one side and the onions and peppers to the other and cook at the same time for 25 minutes. Check that the chicken is cooked through.
Service with ½ pouch of microwave brown rice.
We hope you enjoyed Jemma’s suggestion of healthy summer lunches. Which of the above do you think you’d like to try first?
About Jemma Thomas
Jemma Thomas is a Personal Trainer and owner of Jemma’s Health Hub, an online fitness community for women established in 2015. She is Mum to two lively boys – Jude, 8, and Buddy, 4.
Membership to Jemma’s Health Hub is £29 per month and for that you receive three or four workouts a week taking place on facebook live at 6.30am. (Monday – leg day, Wednesday – arm day, Friday – cardio day, and kettlebells thrown in for good measure!). However, if you can’t make the 6.30am wake up call, you can log in and do it when it suits you.
You also receive a downloadable ‘How To’ guide including over 35 wholesome recipes to try out, as well as a downloadable ‘tick chart’ for you to print up every 4 weeks and stick to the fridge so you can see your progress. But, most importantly, it gives you an amazing support network and an instructor who will be there for you, helping you feel supported and mentally stronger as time goes on.
For more information visit www.jemmashealthhub.com and connect with Jemma on Instagram.
These all look so good. I love how simple they are in addition to being so healthy.
That vibrant green pasta looks like something my entire family would enjoy. One pot makes it even better.
What you call lunch i would call dinner, they are satisfying dinner meals for our family. I loved that penne pasta and whole wheat is so nice.
Really liked all the recipes, we try to include fresh veggies in our family meals and really enjoyed the balance of each one of the recipes. Great post!
I can’t even pick a favourite out of all these delicious looking dishes. I am already prepping to start trying them out, one after the other.
These lunches sound absolutely delicious! I ‘d love the chickpea curry and the chicken satay!
Tuna Nicoise Salads are my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE and I am actually making a recipe for a rendition tomorrow!
These all look delicious, especially for summer. Going to try the wraps first.
All these dishes look soooo delicious! Especially that One Pan Vibrant Green Pasta. My wife will love that, for sure!
Everything looks really delicious and look so easy to make. I will def try one meal recipe everyday for my family. Thank you!
These all look like very good meals for summer time dinners with the family!
I love eating cold food in summer. Here in the south the heat gets to be unbearable, these are all great ideas.
All of these look delicious. They sure are great ones for the summer. I especially love cold salads in the summer.
I have never heard of Halloumi but would like to try because I’m a huge fan of wraps!
Oh gosh these all sound absolutely delicious – I wouldn’t know which one to start with one, but I have to admit I do love halloumi so the wrap is a must!
You are killing me here. These each look amazing. I have yet to try halloumi and keep thinking I should check it out. Also the satay looks perfect. I need to step outside my comfort zone and try some of these lunches.