Cottage Cheese with Avocado, Cherry Tomatoes, and Cucumbers

Ready for another protein packed, healthy, delicious option for lunch? This has been rocking my world for the last month:

So much good stuff in one bowl - low fat cottage cheese, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, slices of avocado.  I like to sprinkle just a little salt and pepper on top, too.  It is very filling and absolutely delicious!  One day I also had some cilantro I wanted to use up and tossed that in there too.  Put in whatever makes your skirt fly up! Maybe some green pepper slices? Wrap it up into lettuce leaves? You can't go wrong.  Avocado makes the world a better place. 

Hummus, Tomato, and Avocado Toasts

As I've mentioned before, I like to eat light for breakfast and lunch.  I'm not usually ravenous during the day and I like to eat well at dinner.  Eating light does NOT mean eating tasteless rice cakes.  My go-to daytime meals are often ones that I find myself craving.  This is one of my favorite lunches - it's full of protein, tastes fantastic, and is easy for me to pack and prepare in the sad kitchen at my office. 

Ingredients:

1 english muffin, split 

hummus - any flavor, but I like roasted garlic

tomato slices

avocado slices

Lightly toast muffin and spread with hummus - I like it sort of thick.  Add a slice of tomato and slices of avocado.  Eat far away from judgmental co-workers, as it's sort of messy.  But yuuuummmmmy!

Spinach, Chicken, and Bean Quesadillas

Found another winner on Pinterest! While this is a little labor intensive, you can make the filling ahead of time and then grill up a quesadilla when you're ready.  This is super filling and extremely tasty.  I can get several quesadillas out of this, so I'm very happy that the filling keeps in the fridge.

Many thanks to the Other Side of Fifty for sharing this gem!!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 -2 cups seasoned, cooked and diced chicken breast meat
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 C. diced onion
1 C. diced red bell pepper
a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
salt and pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
1 heaping Tbsp. all purpose flour
3/4 cup chicken broth
4 cups fresh baby spinach, stems removed, coarsely chopped
1 (15.5 ounce) can of cannellini beans/chickpeas, drained and rinsed

Cooking spray
Flour tortillas
Shredded cheddar cheese
Avocados, diced
Sour cream

In a large skillet heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and red bell pepper. Season with the crushed red pepper flakes and salt and pepper. Saute until veggies have softened, 6-8 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for another minute or two. Sprinkle the flour over the veggies and stir to combine. Cook while stirring for several minutes so that the flour loses its raw taste. Whisk in the chicken broth and stir until bubbly and smooth. Add the baby spinach and continue cooking for another minute or two or until spinach has wilted. Stir in the cooked chicken and beans and remove from heat.

Spray a large skillet or griddle with cooking spray. Heat over medium to medium-high heat. Place one tortilla on griddle and spread cheese over tortilla. Spread chicken, bean and spinach mixture over one half of the tortilla. Check underside of tortilla and when browned a bit, flip the half with just cheese over the half with the chicken. Remove from heat and cut into slices. Top with diced avocado and sour cream.  (Sometimes I put a little taco sauce on, too)