The schoolyear is here! It begins on Sunday. With all the joy and the preparation comes, for some of us, the concern over what we’ll be eating throughout our academic days. Cafeterias abound, but one not always has time to sit through an entire meal, when a hefty tome can be read in one’s office while snacking.
The usual answer to this problem is the quintessential sandwich, sold at every cafeteria on campus. But what will those of us with wheat allergies do? I can’t possibly have a sandwich every day; crime, in this respect, doesn’t pay. Therefore, I have to get creative about my snacking habits.
Here are some ideas for sandwich substitutes I’ve come up with. Usually, if I stick to them, they keep me happy until the end of the day.
Microwaved Potato
Microwaving a potato takes five to six minutes, and can be done during your morning cup of tea. They are very easy to pack, and can be filled with various sandwichlike stuff, like pesto, cheese, and cooked vegetables from yesterday meal. Pack in foil or in a ziplock bag and enjoy.
Squares of Cheese
Nice hard goat cheese keeps me happy in a way vegetable sticks never can. Simply cut out squares and stick in a bag (better on cold days, of course).
Vegetable Sticks
The trick: pack them in a plastic box with a little bit of water. Keeps them from becoming shrivelled, dry and unappetizing. Want this to be more satisfying and less masochistic? Take with you a small container of tchina or eggplant salad.
Organic Soup Packages
If there’s a hot water machine at the office, you can have yourself an instant cup of soup. Somehow, soup feels more filling than tea, perhaps because we tend to categorize it as “food” rather than “drink”. Better yet, keep a bag of miso and a block of tofu at the office and get instant miso soup.
After the beginning-of-the-year-stress, we’ll be back cooking and writing about it. Good luck with school, and everything else!
6 Comments
You can get cornflour-based tortillas for burrito wraps that keep nicely throughout the day, or gluten-free pitot too. I make rice biscuits with dates that are quite filling too.
Of course, corn tortillas! How could I forget the corn tortillas?
Hi, Ralph!
Hey there, I just wanted to introduce myself because I’m a Jewish, gluten-free food blogger and it was great to see this entry.
I don’t make sandwiches much, but when I do there are plenty of gluten-free breads on the market here or one can make their own in a bread machine… Or I use tortillas. Some people make lettuce wraps instead.
Hi, Bythebay! Thanks for stopping by!
Gluten-free breads are always a great option for folks who are sensitive to gluten; some of us, however, are sensitive to other components of wheat, and must therefore avoid even gluten-free breads (which is very sad for us bread lovers).
Hi Hadar! My favorite lunch right now is this: Chunks of mango and avocado and cucumber and papaya, seasoned with green onion and lime juice and flax and sea salt. This salad is really good wrapped up in romaine leaves, or red cabbage cups. It gets messy in the cabbage cups, but if you make sure to cut up all the ingredients pretty small, you can have impeccable table manners while spooning the salad mix onto romaine leaves and rolling them up.
It’s soooo good!
Yum, Eden!
I love lettuce and cabbage wraps with interesting salads in them.