Need ideas for lunch special sandwiches & entrees

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You could try individual lasagna rolls or jumbo stuffed shells.

Israeli couscous is always good for the "wow" factor and is fabulous with some simple roasted tomatoes, roasted garlic and a bit of parm. But it could really be dressed up with a million different flavors.

Do you make soups? Because when I used to do lunch I was always a fan of soup and half a sandwich. =) It made me feel virtuous somehow. And soups have the added bonus of usually being unfussy to prepare.
 
It sounds like you need a quick turn around time. There are so many things you can make that are healthy and different. You got so many ideas already and I am sure you can use some of them. Here are a few more:

I had shared a recipe on Allrecipes for a thai noodle salad that could work for you. Lots of fresh veggies - cabbage, carrots, bell peppers and you can also add shrimp or chicken to it. Use egg noodles with that or anything that is thin and you can break it up, cook and reserve.

Sauce is made with soy, sugar, sesame oil, peanut butter, tahini, lime juice. You can change that and add whatever you like the taste of (keep it more asian). You have the dressing ready and you mix it with the veggies and cooked chicken as the orders come, sprinkle with sesame seeds (black), fresh cilantro, green onions, chopped peanuts (if people have peanut allergy then they won't order) and serve.

Pocket Pita's are great and can be stuffed with all sorts of ingredients, you can make them vegetarian (garden, falafel, baba ghanoush, tofu/oriental etc.) or non veg (chicken tikka, creole type shrimp, kebabs or shwarma etc.).

Finally salads are great. Not your standard ones but differet salads made with beans - so garbanzo salad, lentil salad, sprouted moong bean salad. I have so many of these recipes, it's hard to post them all but given I eat a lot of beans that's the first thing that comes to my mind. Chickpeas can be given a middle eastern twist in one salad and an indian twist in another one and same for the lentils and moong beans. You can serve them as a side to a sandwich or people can choose for assorted salad paired with some type of bread.
 
How about offering some quiches or tortas or whatever you want to call them. Prebaked and presliced...just toss in the micro.
Eggs are great protein.

What about instant Oatmeal with your choice of protein powder and a few topping options for the early crowd. (I like the cookies and cream flavor in mine and some trail mix)

My favorite wrap is grilled b/s chicken,red onion,julienne carrot,red leaf lettuce,cucumber and an asian dressing.

Homemade protein bars might sell well too.
 
My favorite is a grilled sandwich at a local Italian place, They use their homemade thick cut Italian bread and brush it with olive oil and fill it with turkey, provalone, lettuce, tomato, hot peppers and mayo, and then they grill it to perfection. I get it with a cup of the chicken pastine, and have a fab lunch for about 7 bucks with a drink. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it.
 
Zereh said:
You could try individual lasagna rolls or jumbo stuffed shells.

Israeli couscous is always good for the "wow" factor and is fabulous with some simple roasted tomatoes, roasted garlic and a bit of parm. But it could really be dressed up with a million different flavors.

Do you make soups? Because when I used to do lunch I was always a fan of soup and half a sandwich. =) It made me feel virtuous somehow. And soups have the added bonus of usually being unfussy to prepare.
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We have 2 soups daily. Mostly all the traditional ones around here:Chicken wild rice, Veg. Bf., Fresh tomato basil, potato & ham, chicken tortilla, clam chowder, chicken dumpling, chicken noodle & frsh vegetable bisque. The isreli coucous sounds very interesting. Please elaborate. We cater alot of soups for clinics & hospitals too.
 
betterthanabox said:
My favorite is a grilled sandwich at a local Italian place, They use their homemade thick cut Italian bread and brush it with olive oil and fill it with turkey, provalone, lettuce, tomato, hot peppers and mayo, and then they grill it to perfection. I get it with a cup of the chicken pastine, and have a fab lunch for about 7 bucks with a drink. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it.
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Sounds like a great sandwich. I would love to hear more about the chicken pastine.
 
4meandthem said:
How about offering some quiches or tortas or whatever you want to call them. Prebaked and presliced...just toss in the micro.
Eggs are great protein.

What about instant Oatmeal with your choice of protein powder and a few topping options for the early crowd. (I like the cookies and cream flavor in mine and some trail mix)

My favorite wrap is grilled b/s chicken,red onion,julienne carrot,red leaf lettuce,cucumber and an asian dressing.

Homemade protein bars might sell well too.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your input. We offer ham & swiss or italian sausage & sundried tomato quiche on on our regular menu. We also offer a bacon 3 cheese egg bake that has no carb.'s.
We make oatmeal to order & top with raisins, walnuts & brown sugar. I also do acouple different breakfast wraps & a breafast sandwich, grilled, onour made from scratch honey wheat bread.
The wrap sounds good. I would love to hear more about the asian dressing.
We have a special k bar available. Probably high in sugar & fat but we did the math with the peanut butter & there's 10 grams of protein per bar. It's kind of as standing joke about being to healthy but we sell alot of them. We also have a blended whey protein shake. 44 grams of protein, Fresh/frozen fruit blended with skim milk, crushed ice & protein powder.
 
Yakuta said:
It sounds like you need a quick turn around time. There are so many things you can make that are healthy and different. You got so many ideas already and I am sure you can use some of them. Here are a few more:

I had shared a recipe on Allrecipes for a thai noodle salad that could work for you. Lots of fresh veggies - cabbage, carrots, bell peppers and you can also add shrimp or chicken to it. Use egg noodles with that or anything that is thin and you can break it up, cook and reserve.

Sauce is made with soy, sugar, sesame oil, peanut butter, tahini, lime juice. You can change that and add whatever you like the taste of (keep it more asian). You have the dressing ready and you mix it with the veggies and cooked chicken as the orders come, sprinkle with sesame seeds (black), fresh cilantro, green onions, chopped peanuts (if people have peanut allergy then they won't order) and serve.

Pocket Pita's are great and can be stuffed with all sorts of ingredients, you can make them vegetarian (garden, falafel, baba ghanoush, tofu/oriental etc.) or non veg (chicken tikka, creole type shrimp, kebabs or shwarma etc.).

Finally salads are great. Not your standard ones but differet salads made with beans - so garbanzo salad, lentil salad, sprouted moong bean salad. I have so many of these recipes, it's hard to post them all but given I eat a lot of beans that's the first thing that comes to my mind. Chickpeas can be given a middle eastern twist in one salad and an indian twist in another one and same for the lentils and moong beans. You can serve them as a side to a sandwich or people can choose for assorted salad paired with some type of bread.
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I like the idea withj the asian sauce. As a matter of fact I'm doing a asian chicken stir fry on special tommorrow. what is tahini?
Anything with cabbage & beans is a hard sell for lunch. Personally I love it .Alot of the customers have to right back to the office. Alot of our clientelle is doctors, lawyers, financial consultants & brokers.

We do some pita specials occasionaly but they are,nt huge sellers.
Thanks for your input.
We do a few pita's but they are,nt a huge seller.
 
Cheese and Nacho Cheese soups...those are good. I love Nacho Cheese soup with Chicken Taquitos.
 
3 tablespoons pulled white meat chicken cooked in verde sauce and rolled into the 6 inch corn tortillas, deep fry (or pan fry) until crisp. I always served 2 taquitos with a 12 oz bowl of Nacho Cheese soup.
 
PrincessFiona60 said:
3 tablespoons pulled white meat chicken cooked in verde sauce and rolled into the 6 inch corn tortillas, deep fry (or pan fry) until crisp. I always served 2 taquitos with a 12 oz bowl of Nacho Cheese soup.
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Sounds good.
 
simonbaker said:
Sounds like a great sandwich. I would love to hear more about the chicken pastine.
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Their pastine is great. It is in a wonderfully flavored chicken stock that is homemade for sure. There is plenty of pasta, and always some carrots and celery thrown in. It also has fresh parsley over the top.I can't remember if there is chicken in it, to my memory it is only in a chicken stock but I can't be sure. It reminds me of a soup I used to get when I was a kid with my mom at our favorite sandwich shop. The soup is fantastic. They sell it by the gallon which I am almost tempted to get!
 
When I was in college, our student center had a deli in the basement and while their sandwiches were ok, it was the spinach pesto spread they used that was to die for. I am a mayo fanatic but with the spread, you didn't need anything else. When I asked how they made it, they said it was just pesto made with spinach instead if basil. I make it periodically to add to our lunches when we need a change. Might be a healthy addition /option to any of your sandwiches.
 
JMediger said:
When I was in college, our student center had a deli in the basement and while their sandwiches were ok, it was the spinach pesto spread they used that was to die for. I am a mayo fanatic but with the spread, you didn't need anything else. When I asked how they made it, they said it was just pesto made with spinach instead if basil. I make it periodically to add to our lunches when we need a change. Might be a healthy addition /option to any of your sandwiches.
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Wonderful idea, thank you! Love spinach and the oil should be a better choice than mayo! Last better in a Bento, too!:)
 
betterthanabox said:
Their pastine is great. It is in a wonderfully flavored chicken stock that is homemade for sure. There is plenty of pasta, and always some carrots and celery thrown in. It also has fresh parsley over the top.I can't remember if there is chicken in it, to my memory it is only in a chicken stock but I can't be sure. It reminds me of a soup I used to get when I was a kid with my mom at our favorite sandwich shop. The soup is fantastic. They sell it by the gallon which I am almost tempted to get!
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Can you tell what it's seasoned with? Garlic, rosemary or thyme. Is it a little spicey at all?
 
Tahini is ground sesame seeds ~ so think almond, cashew or peanut butter ~ used in hummus. (And I'm sure other things as well that I'm unaware of!)

Here's my all time favorite Israeli couscous recipe:

Israeli Couscous
from Whole Grain Gourmet

2 teaspoons butter
2 1/4 cups pearl (Israeli) couscous (12 oz)
1 3/4 cups chicken broth (14 fl oz)
1 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 garlic cloves, peeled
2 tablespoons fresh parsley
1/2 one lemon zested
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup parmagiano reggiano cheese, grated
1 tablespoon olive oil
1+ cup grape tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350.

On a small pan pour the olive oil and arrange the garlic cloves and the grape tomatoes. Roast until tomatoes start to burst, about 20-25 min. Mash garlic cloves to a paste.

Meanwhile on the stove melt the butter and toast the couscous until golden brown almost all over. Keep a close eye on it. Add broth, water, and salt and simmer, covered, until liquid is absorbed and couscous is al dente, 10 to 12 minutes.

Remove from heat and add the mashed garlic and let stand, covered, 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes and olive oil, stir. Toss in parsley, zest and the lemon juice. Let sit for 5 min off the heat then toss parmigiano and serve.
 
simonbaker said:
Can you tell what it's seasoned with? Garlic, rosemary or thyme. Is it a little spicey at all?
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I think just the parsley, celery and carrots and maybe a little garlic. It is the stock that is what makes the soup. It is fantastic. I am pretty sure that they must have some root veggies in their stock, it just doesn't make it into the bowl.
 
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