Recipes for Stay-at-Home Cyclists – Simple Lunches

By Jiri Kaloc

Home cooking is the best way to ensure a healthy diet. Now that we all have some extra time to spend at home, we might as well use it to improve our culinary skills. Let’s start this series with two simple lunches that are easy to make yet very nutritious and tasty.

Chicken with sweet potatoes and basil pesto

All you need for this recipe is a steamer! It makes your job in the kitchen easy and also allows all the veggies to retain more nutrients than other cooking methods. It’s a meal full of protein, slow carbs, and plenty of vitamins. It will work as a regular lunch or dinner as well as a post-ride refuel meal. If you like it and start making it more often, you can perfect it so that the total prep time is less than 30 minutes. This recipe will net you two medium-sized portions.

Macros per one serving – 37 g carbs, 34 g protein, 12 g fat, 8 g fibre, 393 kcal

Ingredients

250 g boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 carrot, diced
1 sweet potato, diced
1 beetroot, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
tablespoon basil pesto
tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
a pinch of coarse salt

Directions

1. Cover the chicken breast in minced garlic and let sit.
2. Dice the carrot and beetroot. Put in the steamer and let steam for 10 minutes.
3. Dice the sweet potato and add it with the chicken breast to the other ingredients in the steamer. Gently salt and continue steaming for another 10 minutes.
4. Cover the chicken breast in basil pesto and serve with vegetables and a drizzle of olive oil.

Vegetarian risotto

If you are looking for a vegetarian- or vegan-friendly alternative to the previous meal that’s just as nutritious, then this risotto is an ideal choice. It’s full of plant protein from tempeh and peas. It also delivers plenty of complex carbs from rice and healthy fats from almond milk and olive oil. It packs a punch when it comes to fibre, vitamins, and antioxidants thanks to all the veggies and spices. It is a little bit more carb heavy so it’s ideal after a home-training session. Don’t be intimidated by the name risotto, just follow our video recipe and you will see this version is easy to make even for beginners in the kitchen. The ingredients in this recipe will yield one large serving.

Macros per one serving – 91 g carbs, 27 g protein, 20 g fat, 17 g fibre, 662 kcal

Ingredients

70 g rice
100 g chopped carrot
70 g green peas
70 g tempeh
50 g chopped zucchini
½ onion
30 ml almond milk
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp curry spice
1 tsp ground pepper
1 tsp coarse salt
Celery leaves

Directions

1. Place rice in a saucepan with double the amount of water and a little salt and stir once. Bring to boil, then turn down the heat and cook for 10-15 mins with a lid over the pan.
2. Lightly brown a diced onion in olive oil in a different pan. Add curry, salt, chopped carrot, and zucchini and stir. Continue stirring for about 5 minutes and gradually add sliced tempeh, green peas, and ground pepper.
3. Add the cooked rice and almond milk to the stir-fried vegetables and stir for a couple more minutes.
4. Serve dressed with celery leaves.