Good lunch food besides sandwiches to put in cooler?

Question

I need to know of good lunch foods that I can put in my boyfriend's cooler besides sandwiches. He's sick sick sick of sandwiches, but works outside so he can't just bring hot food to work or it will spoil. He only has a cooler, no access to fridge or microwave. Any suggestions?

WOW these are great suggestions guys, thanks!

Answer 1

salad? wraps? my kids LOVE cold left over chicken cutlets

Answer 2

If he likes hotdogs here's an idea... get a thermos tall enough for hotdogs. Boil water in the morning, place a hotdog or 2 into the thermos and pour the hotwater over it. By lunch time he will just need to drain the water and the hotdogs will be nice and hot. Pack a couple peices of bread or buns in a zipperbag and you're all set! Just make sure you get the pre-cooked style hotdogs, not the kind from a meat counter. This method gets them hot thru but does not actually COOK them

Answer 3

What about a nice pasta salad, or instead of bread, try Pitta breads or Tortilla filled and rolled.
You could put in a Pasty or a Pie, sausage rolls, all of which can be eaten cold.
What about a selection of cheeses, some pickles and some crackers or crusty bread (ploughmans lunch)Or hows about some cold chicken portions and a mixed salad, or coleslaw and potato salad if he's adverse to salad lol.

Answer 4

Any kind of grain salad is good. Add tomatoes, corn, green peppers, green onion to rice, barley, couscous, or bulgur wheat, along with his favorite salad dressing, or just oil and vinegar or lemon juice. If he wants meat, throw in some chopped chicken and a little bacon.

How about some canned tuna with olives, artichoke hearts, hearts of palm, roasted peppers, capers, cherry tomatoes? Add a little dried basil and oil and vinegar.

Answer 5

My hubby is the same way. He loves this and you send some tortilla chips to go with it.


NO COOK MEXICAN CHICKEN SALAD



3 cups cooked cubed chicken
15 oz. can corn, drained
15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1 cup thick and chunky salsa
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
3/4 cup oil and vinegar salad dressing
PREPARATION:
Combine all ingredients except salsa, cilantro and salad dressing and toss gently. Combine salsa, cilantro and salad dressing in small bowl and drizzle over chicken mixture. Toss to coat. Cover and chill for 1-3 hours to blend flavors

Answer 6

Have you thought about purchasing a wide-mouth stainless steel vacuum insulated bottle (Thermos bottle)? You could then send along hot soup, chili or stew on those cooler days. You could even pack a serving of home made casserole.

Answer 7

Fried chicken, leftover and kept cool should be fine. A large green salad with eggs and sliced ham, lots of protein added to greens with dressing, Kept cool of course, A large pasta salad with ham and cheese, packages of smoked tuna, hard boiled eggs, peeled of course, deviled eggs, cheese cut into sticks, a big bunch of grapes, Some times i GET AN ALREADY MADE GARDEN SALAD TAKE-OUT AND FIX BAGGIES FULL OF EXTRAS TO GO WITH IT.

Answer 8

Jerky
Fried chicken is good cold
Fruits
Vegetables
Nuts
Dunno how good tacos might be cold, but you could try them.
Meatloaf makes good sandwiches, why not by itself?
Granola bars, or equivalent.

Answer 9

cottage cheese
apple sauce
pasta salad
potato salad
watermelon
cucumber and onion salad
chef salad
chicken salad
cheese and crackers

Answer 10

Salads... tuna, chicken, pasta...etc.


This link gives tons of sandwhich and wrap recipes: http://homecooking.about.com/library/archive/blsandwich.htm

This link has good ideas:
http://www.cooks.com/rec/search/0,1-0,cold_picnic_foods,FF.html