I bring my lunch to work almost every day. In fact, I’ve been making packed lunches almost every day for the past ten years since I was in secondary school. It’s a rare occasion that I don’t arrive into the office with a lunchbox (or three) in my handbag. This mixed grain salad travels extremely well, making it ideal for batch cooking and bringing to work or college. It is a very simple meal to make as it requires very little maintenance.

My mixed grain salad is inspired by Neven Maguire‘s Bulgur Wheat Salad in his complete family cookbook. It’s vegan-friendly, dairy-free and gluten-free (be sure to check the ingredients on the vegetable stock). This recipe makes two portions.

Hope you enjoy!

Amy x

Ingredients
30g rice, uncooked
30g quinoa, uncooked
30g lentils, uncooked
1 vegetable stock cube
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 red chilli, deseeded and sliced
3 garlic cloves, sliced
1 carrot, cubed
1 onion, cubed
10 cherry tomatoes, halved
2 handfuls of spinach
50g dried apricots, cubed
30g hazelnuts, halved
20g flaked almonds

Method
Put the first 10 ingredients in a medium saucepan with enough boiling water to cover everything by 1 inch. Simmer for 25-30 minutes until everything is tender.

Remove from the heat and fold in the tomatoes, spinach, apricots and hazelnuts.

Serve with a sprinkling of flaked almonds.