at work and at home, it's so easy to reach for the takeout menu or the candy bowl, and then of course, you wish you hadn't.

Fortunately I have some great tips for you and some easy grab and go lunch recipes like these to help you get out of that rut.

Herbed Farro Salad with Walnuts, Feta and Spinach, Asian Chicken Wrap, and Buffalo Chicken Salad.

That's happening right now on Ellie's Real Good Food.

(upbeat Spanish guitar strumming) - [Voiceover] Funding for this series has been provided by.

- [Voiceover] Hi you've reached Emma.

I'm out of the office right now but will get back to you just as soon as I possibly can.

For Discover at Sea experiences, Princess Cruises, come back new.

- [Voiceover] Luvo, full servings of fruits and veggies, nutritious whole grains and lean proteins seasoned with bold herbs and spices.

Chef created meals ready-made for you in your grocer's freezer.

Luvo, the next generation of frozen food.

(light guitar strumming) - [Voiceover] Grapes from California.

Grown by families for families.

- [Voiceover] And by the Natural Gourmet Institute for health and culinary arts.

Additional funding provided by the generous support of our Kickstarter donors.

A complete list is available at ElliesRealGoodFood.com.

- Hi I'm Ellie Krieger.

Welcome to Ellie's Real Good Food.

We've all been there, there's a deadline, and it's right next to that box of donuts.

We know what happens then right?

Well just ask Jeff, who decided to fight back by taking pictures of all the junk food at his office that he had said no to.

Jeff and his colleagues haven't had an easy time of it because like most offices, there's a vending machine with a siren call.

And someone's always bringing in leftover sweets from home for celebrating something, anything.

Even if it's a Wednesday, let's celebrate that.

Like most work places, they definitely needed strategies to get themselves on track.

So I'm here with Jeff, and I just love what you did with your I didn't eat it list, I mean this is genius.

- Thanks for coming.

- Oh I'm so happy to be here.

- Yeah.

- And I have so many great ideas for you that I think it's not just about what not to eat, right, which of course, you know, you got a handle on that, but it's what you should be eating.

- Sort of, yeah.

- We still need to energize ourselves, right.

- Absolutely.

- How about this for tempting.

Here's amazing oatmeal bar that can be setup in any office situation, so you can get instant oatmeal.

Just get the plain one, and so I made some for you here.

- Yeah, smells good.

- It does smell good.

- Yeah it really does.

- It's like very comforting.

- Yeah.

- [Ellie] So here's yours.

- [Jeff] Okay.

- [Ellie] And look here's all kinds of different seasonings and toppings and lots of kind of proteins and dried fruit and nuts and seeds, you know, let's have fun with it.

- Okay.

- Let's see what you do, I'm gonna do some raisins.

- And the coconut's legit, the coconut's okay.

- [Ellie] It's all legit, coconut.

- [Jeff] Yeah okay.

- So I think this would be fun for pretty much anyone, you know.

- Can I get some almonds?

- Yeah go for it.

- Okay.

- So that's great for healthy fat and protein as well.

- [Jeff] Yeah.

- [Ellie] And then we have some milk to add.

- Okay.

- And I'm gonna do maple syrup too.

- And almond milk.

- Almond milk, yeah, so you can have.

- I'm gonna put some almond milk on my almonds how about that.

- That sounds like a good combination.

- Yeah, all right.

- So the thing is, it doesn't have to be boring to eat well.

- Yup.

- You want to be fueled and you want to be inspired by what you're eating.

Especially at work, you know, when you need a little, you definitely need that brain power and food gives you that.

- And it burns slow too, right?

- Exactly, it gives you that long lasting energy, want a little maple syrup?

- I'm good, yeah.

- All right, that's good, so we have our oatmeal all set to go.

- I can try it?

- Yeah, let's eat.

- [Jeff] All right, cheers.

- Mm, so good.

- Mm-hmm.

- If you had in front of you a rubbery bagel or this, what would you pick?

- I'd probably pick this.

- [Ellie] I know you would.

- Yeah.

- And I think because you want to not because you have to.

- Well I've had my fill of rubbery bagels at this point.

- All right I have another great idea for you.

- Okay.

- Check this out.

- [Jeff] Okay.

- A beautiful vegetable platter.

And the thing is people think vegetables are a pain to have at the office because maybe you have to cut and wash and prep, but all of these, you don't have to cook 'em.

- Yeah.

- You basically just have to wash them, and there are great dips here, and they all have a lot of protein in them.

So there's hummus, this is a Tzatziki dip, which is like a yogurt dip and a bean dip, so it gives you long lasting energy.

And so there's green beans, these come already trimmed.

You can buy 'em in the store like that in the bag.

- Yeah, right.

- Cherry tomatoes, just pop 'em in your mouth.

- I've never tried one of these Tzatziki.

- Oh it's good.

- Yeah.

- And I love these mini cucumbers because you can just eat the whole cucumber.

- Mm-hmm.

- And then this to me is the biggest leaper.

My daughter loves these.

- Okay.

- [Ellie] Snap peas.

- Right.

- They're so crunchy and sweet and again.

- And they're not even cooked right?

- You don't even to do anything.

- Mm-hmm this is yummy.

- You like it?

- Uh-huh.

- I'm gonna try this, so you can buy these in any store.

These are things that are so easy to have at the office.

And if you're doing a kind of afternoon conference, put this out instead of a bunch of disgusting pastries.

- Yup.

- And I think you'll actually get a better performance out of people too.

- Yeah rather than the sugar crash that happens after the candy.

- [Ellie] Exactly.

- Mm-hmm.

- And speaking of candy, chocolate, I'm not living my life without chocolate, so there's no reason you can't have chocolate in the afternoons sometimes you want to have a little something with your coffee, right.

- Yeah.

- This is a great solution for a chocolate fix.

Instead of having a 250 calorie chocolate bar from the vending machine.

- Yeah.

- That's not even very good chocolate actually at all.

- Yeah.

- You can get these little individually wrapped chocolate bites.

- [Jeff] Yeah.

- [Ellie] And essentially each one of these is like 35 calories, you can have a couple.

- [Jeff] Yeah.

- [Ellie] Really savor them.

- And it looks like they have dark chocolate which I don't know, fills me up more than, right?

- Yeah it's super satisfying.

- Yeah.

- And I have something for you that you absolutely can't have just one or two.

- All right.

- Grapes, a beautiful bowl of grapes is one of the most enticing things, and you can put 'em out any time of the day.

- Yeah.

- Everyone loves grapes.

- Yeah.

- You can't go wrong.

And they're sweet and juicy and so you get that great pick me up without a lot of calories, you know, because just 90 calories in three quarters of a cup, so you can munch on them, they're super easy.

You just give 'em a quick rinse.

You don't have to do anything to them.

- Yeah.

- Or fuss.

- Yeah.

- And I love to have lots of different colors here, help yourself, I like to have lots of different colors out because each of has its own little nuance, taste.

- Mm-hmm.

- And all of the different colors of grapes have those amazing antioxidants and polyphenols.

Not just red 'cause you often think of them, about red wine.

- Yes.

- But all of the colors have those polyphenols.

So you get all the great nutrition.

You get that great pick me up.

So you have it all, but here, I have something really special to share with you.

Have you ever had a frozen grape before?

- I have not, can I try one?

- [Ellie] Yes, I'm inviting you to try one.

- Yeah okay, mm.

- Aren't they good?

- They seem to have almost more flavor to them.

- I think they taste almost like little orbs of sorbet, kind of.

- Yeah.

- So it's just another way to enjoy them.

- Yeah.

- Maybe it's hot out and you really need to cool off and you want a frosty treat.

- Right, delish, can I have another.

- Can't go wrong, yeah please.

[Ellie] Okay.

- Thank you.

- So I challenge you Jeff.

- Uh-huh.

- I want to see a new pictures series.

- Okay.

- Of what I did eat.

- Okay.

- Because there are so many great options.

- All right, you're on.

- Thank you so much for having me.

- Thanks for coming.

- And you know even at the office, at work, you can hit the sweet spot where delicious and healthy meet.

(smooth upbeat jazz) I have three amazing lunch recipes for you that are all grab and go, easy to pack and bring to work or wherever you're going.

And they all have one ingredient in common, and that's this right here, a rotisserie chicken.

You can roast it yourself of course, but it's one of those things that you can also easily buy just about anywhere these days.

Just great to have in the fridge, and I have fantastic ideas for how to make the most of it that can just help keep your lunches delicious, healthy, and also easily packable, so who doesn't need that?

So basically I just toasted up some walnuts there 'till they're nice and fragrant just three to five minutes in a nonstick skillet on high, and this is all going into this Herbed Farro Salad and you're saying, herbed what, herbed what salad?

Herbed Farro, so I'm just, just chopped up this spinach here, but I wanted to show you Farro if you haven't seen it before.

This is what it looks like cooked 'cause I already cooked it up, and cooled it here.

But this is what it looks like when it's uncooked and basically it's so incredibly easy to cook.

All you do is you boil it.

You boil it water and then drain it.

And it's just an ancient grain.

It's a form of wheat, it's a whole grain.

It's incredibly nutritious full of fiber.

What I love about it, is the incredibly nutty and chewy and just delightful and it stands up beautiful in salads.

But you can also serve it hot.

I like to serve it with like stews instead of rice kind of do a nice base for a Mediterranean style stew for example.

But my favorite way to use it is in salads like this one.

So that's Farro, and if you don't know it yet, you want to get to know it, trust me.

I'm just chopping this spinach, which is gonna go into the salad.

So this whole salad has a really nice kind of almost Greek, Mediterranean vibe to it.

It's gonna get some spinach in there and also some cucumber.

I like to use an English cucumber, it's also called a European cucumber, they come in the plastic wrap, so they're not waxed on the outside.

And it makes them great to, you can eat the skin, and the skin has so many nutrients in it.

And it has fewer seeds, so you don't have to really worry about seeding it.

So I'm just gonna chop that up.

That's ready to go in the salad.

Then just a couple of herbs, I got some fresh dill, and this is kind of something that helps the Greek vibe along, is that this combination of parsley and dill and scallion is found typically in these Mediterranean dishes.

Just the right amount, maybe a tablespoon or so here.

And a scallion or green onion.

Using both the light green part and white part as well as the dark green part there.

So this is all ready to go.

It's extremely easy salad, simple salad to make, but has so many wonderful complex flavors.

So I'll just put it all together now.

So Farro goes in.

May be my new favorite grain honestly.

Spinach, cucumber, the herbs.

Forget about that parsley.

And then this of course gives it a real Greek flair to put in some Feta cheese.

Just some crumbled Feta and walnuts.

And so what's nice about this is because it has the walnuts and Feta in it, it really can be a main course for a vegetarian.

But I love to add the chicken 'cause I like to get extra protein in there.

So the wonderful thing about this salad too it can last in the refrigerator for four days and it almost gets better over time.

So you can make this on a Sunday and then you have your lunch, you can take as much as you want.

It could be a great snack as well.

And I'm just doing a quarter teaspoon of salt in here because the Feta has salt in it and so that, you don't have to overdo the saltiness.

Two tablespoons of olive oil.

Extra virgin olive oil.

Another thing that makes Mediterranean And two tablespoons of fresh lemon juice, and that's pretty much all there is to it.

So the walnuts, besides adding protein of course, they really bring out that nutty flavor in the grain.

Mm, it's really perfect.

Mm, so satisfying, and it's light but still hardy.

So you can just keep it in the bowl like this and serve it at a part if you want.

It's really kind of nice enough for company in that way.

But for an everyday lunch this is great.

You can put it in jars like this.

Kind of pile it in there.

I'll do two of 'em here.

One for today, one for tomorrow.

And then I like to layer it with some chicken.

Some rotisserie chicken.

So maybe you know on a typical weeknight, I'll have a rotisserie chicken in the fridge, and I'll use the legs and thighs for dinner.

Save the breast to kind of shred up like this and take to work the next day.

I think it looks great with chicken layered in the middle and the salad on top too.

Now this is the kind of lunch that you really look forward to.

One that can make a work day that much better.

(upbeat music) Jeff is gonna love this Asian Chicken Wrap and you are gonna love it 'cause it's just perfect.

It's a great lunch to bring to work or wherever you're going.

And I'm starting off here just making this amazing sauce that goes on it.

It's all these great Asian flavors and it's a creamy sauce.

And my big trick for creamy sauce is for making them healthier is to use a little bit of mayo, two tablespoons, and then cut that with three tablespoons of Greek yogurt, so you get that real creaminess, you get that body, you get the volume that you want without having too much fat, and you're also adding a lot of nutrition there because you're getting calcium and protein.

So that that, I'm gonna just fill that with great Asian flavor, which is sweet, spicy, salty, so a little bit of brown sugar.

Some mustard, you can use Chinese mustard here if you want or you can just use Dijon.

Some lower sodium soy sauce, a tablespoon.

Sesame oil, I mean to me this is like a quintessential luxuriously delicious Asian flavor.

And a little chili garlic sauce or a lot depending on how spicy you like things.

Just gonna whisk that together.

And the sauce is ready.

And this stuff I mean it's amazingly delicious.

You can just this on just about anything.

It'll make it better.

It's a great condiment.

And you can keep it in the refrigerator for at least a week I'd say.

So you can make it ahead.

So you can put it on lots of things, but it is really good and meant to be on this delicious wrap sandwich.

Sauce is done.

Now I'm just gonna get the rest of the ingredients ready.

I have my sliced chicken here, which is from my rotisserie chicken, but you know what, you can use chicken from anywhere.

Any previous mean if it's a just a grilled chicken would work terrifically here.

So next time you're grilling up chicken just make an extra breast or two.

I'm gonna slice up some pepper, you know, I'm just gonna make one here, one sandwich, but this is enough to make four.

I'll just make one to show you.

So a whole grain wrap bread around eight or nine inches in diameter, some of the wrap breads are like literally the size of a manhole cover.

Like don't pick that one.

(laughs) It's a little too much for lunch.

But this is a perfect size.

And then Napa cabbage.

So I don't know if you're familiar with Napa cabbage, but this is what it looks like.

And it's really mild tasting.

And it has a thinner leaf than the regular green cabbage, so I'm just gonna pry a leaf off of there.

Well I take off the outer leaves actually.

And then use one of the more tender inner leaves.

And the thing that's great about Napa cabbage, is that it really stands up, so some lettuces will get wilted when you're bringing them to work and I tested this recipe in a cooler pack, I really did.

I tested it in a cooler pack for six hours and it stands up beautifully, so when you're ready to eat it, you don't want it to be wilted and lame and sort of the wah wah lunch, you want it to be a really good exciting lunch.

And having a sturdier lettuce like a Napa cabbage here really helps make that happen.

So I want to break the spine of it so it doesn't interfere with me folding the wrap.

Then a couple pieces of sliced chicken.

Some peppers, another one that stands up really well to the test of a cooler pack or the refrigerator so even if your meeting's going late, your lunch is still gonna be good when you're ready for it.

And then a little drizzle of that amazing sauce.

And this of course makes it.

Brings it all together, this sauce, so good, it smells so good.

Sesame oil, that's what does it, so aromatic.

And then I put another little bit of lettuce on top.

And that's another great trick for packing a sandwich for work.

Is that if you don't let the sauce touch the bread so much, the bread won't get soggy.

So then I just wrap it up like that like a burrito style.

I'll put it in some foil.

Or eat it right there.

Ready to go.

(upbeat jazz) Buffalo Chicken Salad, oh boy is this good.

It has all the great flavors of buffalo chicken wings, but of course it's healthy and it's in salad form.

And I'm starting off with this great creamy dressing just like the other one, I'm cutting the mayo with a little bit of Greek yogurt here.

And then just one more ingredient and this is what makes it really buffalo flavor.

It's cayenne pepper sauce.

I need three tablespoons.

You can use a little less if you wanted less of a kick.

But with all the other ingredients in this salad, this doesn't make it too too spicy.

You can always add more.

Gives it that great brilliant color.

And it doesn't need salt because pepper sauce, any kind of real hot sauce, does have sodium already in it so you're really getting a lot when you just put the sauce in.

You're getting the pepper and you're getting the salt.

Okay, it smells like buffalo.

Not the city, silly, it smells like buffalo wings.

Okay this is ready.

Then I'm just gonna get my other ingredients ready, So what else goes on a typical buffalo wings platter?

Celery of course 'cause you need something to cool your mouth as you eat that fiery sauce.

So here I'm just using the more tender inner part of the head of the celery, and I like to keep the leaves on.

You know this is a really underrated part of the celery, these leaves, so if you've been chopping them off, mm, they have so much beautiful celery flavor.

If you've been chopping them off and throwing them away, you've been missing out, so don't do that anymore.

And here definitely putting them into the salad, so I just, I'm gonna cut this thinly on the bias, just no reason except that it looks really pretty like that.

And sometimes just cutting something a little bit differently gives it that flair.

It doesn't take any extra effort.

It makes all the difference in the eating.

I'll just toss this in as I go.

So most people think you know they'll put a little celery in their salad, but this salad is essentially mostly celery.

That's the main vegetable in this salad.

It sort of highlights how we underutilize this maybe ordinary vegetable, but you can use it in a more extraordinary way.

And celery holds up incredibly well, so it's not something that you have to worry about wilting and so on, so it's perfect when you want to make a salad and you want to keep around for a couple days.

Like this one's perfect to make ahead and put it in the refrigerator or to bring to work.

You guessed it.

So in there are also some scallions.

Which I'm also gonna cut on the bias because that seems to be the theme here with my veggies.

And four cups of chicken, so this is already precooked chicken that's been cooled and again you can get this chicken from a rotisserie chicken, it'd be about two big chicken breasts, you can also use thigh meat or leg meat if you want, and basically just dice it or chop it up.

You can also use grilled chicken for this or poached.

And this is the main salad.

And this is really great to bring to, I don't know, potluck, it will be a, definitely a favor that will go fast.

You have the crispiness from the celery, those great celery leaves in there.

That nice spicy kick from the sauce, it's a beautiful color, I like to serve it over a bed of whole romaine leaves, so again, another crispy factor here.

So what you can do if you're bringing this to work is you put it in a container, and then you bring some pre-washed leaves, whole leaves, so you know they're not gonna turn brown and wilt, and so it really helps keep it really nice and fresh for when you're ready to eat.

So for now, I'm gonna put this on the platter like so as if I'm serving a crowd 'cause sometimes you are.

Comes in handy to have something you can make ahead this special.

And final touch is some blue cheese 'cause that goes with buffalo wings too.

Well typically you dip in blue cheese dressing, so we have that creaminess and now we want the blue cheesiness of that.

Mm-mm, this is a good one.

Okay Jeff, you're gonna love this for lunch.

You got your snacks all set.

Now I want you to take pictures of things that you do eat 'cause I know that's a way to turn it around to the positive and a way to find a sweet spot where delicious and healthy meet.

- That means close up on that olive yeah.

Okay you watching it?

Okay here it is.

Keep your eye on it, there it is.

- [Ellie] Oh.

- Thanks for coming.

- And now it shows up as a.

Because there's so many great options.

- Like.

- That, help you hit the sweet spot where delicious and healthy meet.

I don't know it just came out like that.

(laughter) It just came out like that okay.

(French accent) Maybe I will say something different this time.

That is a little bit ridiculous.

(laughter) - [Voiceover] For these recipes and much more, go to ElliesRealGoodFood.com.

Also connect with Ellie on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.

Funding for this series has been provided by.

- [Voiceover] Luvo, full servings of fruits and veggies, nutritious whole grains and lean proteins, seasoned with bold herbs and spices.

Chef created meals ready-made for you in your grocer's freezer.

Luvo, the next generation of frozen food.

- [Voiceover] Hi you've reached Emma.

I'm out of the office right now but will get back to you just as soon as I possibly can.

- [Voiceover] For Discovery at Sea experiences, Princess Cruises, come back new.

(pleasant guitar strumming) - [Voiceover] Grapes from California.

Grown by families for families.

- [Voiceover] And by the Natural Gourmet Institute for health and culinary arts.

Additional funding provided by the generous support of our Kickstarter donors.

A complete list is available at ElliesRealGoodFood.com.

Ellie's kitchen is provided by Clarke, New England's Sub-zero and Wolf Show Room and Test Kitchen.

(flute flutter)