By Buy it-bring it
These days, the frozen and prepared food sections of most grocery stores offer a wealth of delicious snacks—many of them are billed as hors d’oeuvres, but they’re just as good between meals as before. Some may require a few minutes in the microwave, but no more effort than that. (If it’s a frozen snack, prepare as per package instructions while you’re getting ready for work, wrap in foil, then enjoy at room temperature later.) Some to look for:
o Mini tacos or taquitos
o Bite-size pizzas
o Chinese dumplings (shu mai) or pot stickers (gyoza)
o Wontons with soy or hoisin dipping sauce
o Mini crab cakes
o Cucumber and avocado sushi (if you go vegetarian, no need to worry about the fish going bad)
o Inari sushi (rice tucked into a tofu skin)
o Pierogis (Polish dumplings with potato filling, often with sauerkraut, ground meat, cheese or fruit)
o Little empanadas
o Bao (Asian buns filled with barbecue pork or chicken; wrap in damp paper towels and microwave them)
o Spanakopita (phyllo stuffed with feta cheese and spinach)
o Mini hot dogs in puff pastry (bring a little mustard for dipping)
o Mini quiches
o Chinese egg rolls or Vietnamese spring rolls
Wrap ’n’ roll
Cheese and crackers are always a standby duo—but why not try something new? Wrapping and rolling takes mere seconds, but makes break-time eats memorable.
o Thinly sliced roast beef wrapped around a seeded breadstick or grissino (skinny Italian breadstick)
o Ham wrapped around a “baby” cheese round
o Prosciutto wrapped around leftover asparagus stalks
o Thinly sliced turkey breast wrapped around a part-skim mozzarella stick
o Black forest ham wrapped around a cheddar stick
o Rice wrapped around salmon (To make this Japanese snack, wet your hands; scoop up a handful of warm, cooked Japanese-style rice; make a dent in the center; then add about a teaspoon of salmon—or any other filling like leftover chicken, tofu or broccoli. Form the rice into a ball and, if you like, wrap with strips of nori seaweed.)
o Roasted seaweed (available in snack-size containers at some supermarkets) wrapped around pre-seasoned tofu (also available in supermarkets, in the refrigerated section)
o Butter lettuce leaves wrapped around leftover Chinese food
o Bacon wrapped around dates (stuffed with cream cheese, if you like)
o Genoa salami rolled up with provolone cheese
o Smoked turkey rolled up with honey mustard
o Ham rolled up with cream cheese (sliced, they’re gorgeous pinwheels)
