We all know the feeling…you’re sitting down for lunch, scrolling through the menu and laughing with your friends. To the outside world, it’s the picture of perfection, but inside you’re facing an internal battle: to salad or to sandwich?
It’s simple really, you want the sandwich but there’s that nagging voice inside your head telling you to choose the lettuce. It’s the same voice that pops up when you want to buy $2,000 leather pants or eat ice cream in the afternoon. She’s a killjoy but she’s hard to ignore.
I face this conundrum every day. Not eating out (although that would be nice), but packing my lunch for work. No matter how cute the mason jar, some days I just don’t want a salad. And after years of the daily struggle, I think I’ve finally found the answer: wraps.
Wraps are the perfect in-between and in my eyes, they’re seriously underrated. They provide that childhood satisfaction of eating with your hands, they target your carbohydrate cravings and they can be a wholesome option. In fact, they can be just as good as a salad!
When it comes to packet wraps, the salt levels vary widely. Some have higher levels of salt than others and contain artificial preservatives so it pays to read the label. A recent study has shown that it’s best to look for wraps that contain less than 600mg of sodium per 100g and outlines which brands have artificial preservatives and which don’t.
When making my lunches, I like to use Helga’s Mixed Grain and Traditional White Wraps because they meet this criterion. The study, conducted by the University of Newcastle, compared the 22 most popular wrap products in Australia and found Helga’s to be one of only three brands that contained no artificial preservatives. Helga’s Traditional White and Mixed Grain Wraps ranked in the lower range for sodium levels with both products having 40% less sodium than the market leading wrap.
So for those days where you just can’t face a salad, have a wrap with me. Here’s what I’ll be eating.
Bianca’s Nutritious Low Salt Chicken & Hommus Wraps
“This lunchtime recipe is tasty and nutritious. I get protein from the chicken and black beans, healthy fats from the avocado and hommus and the apple and pomegranate give a hint of sweetness which helps prolong my afternoon cravings.”
Ingredients
1 x Helga’s Traditional White Wrap
¼ roasted chicken breast
¼ avocado
¼ apple
2 tablespoons pomegranate seeds
2 tablespoons corn
2 tablespoons black beans
Few sprigs of fresh coriander/cilantro
Hommus – to your heart’s content
Method
1. Take the Helga’s Traditional White Wrap and lay it on a flat surface
2. Smear it with a dollop of hommus
3. Place chicken, avocado and apple along the centre but be sure to leave a small gap either side for wrapping
4. Sprinkle with corn, black beans, pomegranate seeds and coriander/cilantro
5. Wrap it like a parcel and enjoy fresh or toasted
