This High-Protein Vegetarian Lunch Is Endlessly Adaptable—and I’m Making It on Repeat

This High-Protein Vegetarian Lunch Is Endlessly Adaptable—and I’m Making It on Repeat

This High-Protein Vegetarian Lunch Is Endlessly Adaptableand Im Making It on Repeat-url

Reviewed by Dietitian Annie Nguyen, M.A., RD

For me, it’s all about the filling. Give me a samosa and I’ll dig through the flaky pastry to get to the potatoes. Give me a burrito and I’ll turn it into a bowl with whatever is inside it. That’s where the gold is! Which is why, when I develop a recipe for a wrap, I make sure the wrap itself is top-notch. This recipe, the Greek Salad Omelet Wrap, tucks a summery Greek salad into a high-protein wrap, optimizing calories and skewing the balance of my plate toward protein. 

The wrap is made with egg whites and a little almond flour to give it better structure. But you could also make it with two whole eggs sans the almond flour if you prefer. It’s done in a jiffy and, as a bonus, is also gluten-free. You won’t miss the refined carbohydrates that come with a regular flour tortilla – this one is nutrient-dense and boasts approximately 10 grams of protein per wrap! You are now free to focus on the filling, i.e., what matters! Making it with egg whites also reduces saturated fat and frees up some room for you to add some cheese in that filling, if you are so minded. 

In my cookbook, I was inspired by the Indian kathi roll and filled the omelet with a delectable cauliflower shawarma. What is a kathi roll, you ask? You are probably familiar with the Indian roti (flatbread) or its buttery sibling, the paratha. Well, a kathi roll just wraps up the filling inside the roti or paratha, akin to a burrito or wrap. The goal is to get the bread and the filling, plus usually some tangy chutneys, in one delicious bite. In New York City, where I live, there is a famous joint called The Kati Roll Company in the West Village that boasts long lines and offers a multitude of Indian-style fillings, such as chana masala, spiced potato, paneer and so on. 

But this omelet wrap is so versatile that you could fill it with anything. In warmer weather, I turn to refreshing salads, like this Tomato and Onion Salad with Crispy Tofu, a mix of buttery Castelvetrano olives, juicy tomatoes and Parmesan-crusted tofu. While we’re on the subject of tofu, why not try this speedy Tofu and Vegetable Scramble? Make it your own with the vegetables of your choice. I love using tofu in this wrap because it really ramps up the protein. For an Indian-style tofu filling, try this Easy Tofu Curry

Not a fan of tofu? No problem. This creamy Spiced Chickpea Confit may be right up your alley. Eggs and beans are such a winning combination. Eggs are nutrient-dense and provide complete protein while beans bring the fiber, making the meal gut-friendly and adding a nontrivial boost of protein. Try this Fiber-Packed Spicy White Bean and Spinach Salad that uses ras el hanout for a twist but also adds just the right amount of sweetness with golden raisins.

Sometimes you really just want to pack in the vegetables. I like this Use-All-The-Broccoli Stir-Fry that not only uses the florets but unexpectedly spiralizes the stems for an interesting interplay of texture. Or try this Easy Eggplant Stir-Fry that cooks the eggplant in batches to get an even sear and silky texture. For a somewhat unusual combination, turn to okra. Hear me out. When you cook okra on high heat, as in this Bhindi Masala recipe, the sliminess disappears. Coated in Indian spices, this okra is delicious and will make a worthy filling.

This omelet wrap also lends itself well to meal planning. Note that I’m not a huge fan of conventional meal prep, which usually entails the dreary act of chopping vegetables on the weekend and storing them in labeled containers, only to find limp vegetables waiting for me on Wednesday night. But meal planning, on the other hand, I can easily get behind. To me, meal planning implies the strategic thinking behind my weeknight meals, so that I can shop intentionally and waste less produce, prepare a few components like sauces or breads (such as this wrap) on the weekend and creatively reuse leftovers for lunch. 

Maybe I make the Tofu and Vegetable Scramble for a speedy weeknight dinner and then tuck it inside the omelet wrap for a work-from-home lunch the next day. Or I make a bhindi masala kathi roll in the omelet wrap for dinner and then pair the leftover bhindi masala with soft-boiled eggs and a bean salad for lunch. See what I mean? 

As a recipe developer, my meals are often a random assortment of leftovers from recipe testing, and I find that this omelet wrap makes a great vehicle to deliver many of them. I hope that you now have a bunch of ideas and inspiration to easily incorporate this versatile wrap into your lunch and dinner rotation and solve your “What do I eat today?” problem a couple of times a week.

 

This article was written by Vasudha Viswanath from EatingWell and was legally licensed through the DiveMarketplace by Industry Dive. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@industrydive.com.

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