The way we eat today calls for no rules – just fresh, healthy ingredients and innovative combinations that taste as good for breakfast and lunch as they do for dinner.

Sure, you’ve had quinoa, rice and bulgur, but not like this.

Shop your fridge! We bet you already have many of the ingredients for killer appetisers. Combine those staples in fresh, creative ways for fun and festive new tastes. Prep a bunch for a gathering, or throw together a few for a different kind of weeknight dinner.

Two secret flavour-boosting ingredients are exciting chefs these days: coffee and tea. The perks? A robustness and complexity that makes your dishes daring and delicious. Plus, the brews’ antioxidants are mega-healthy. Here, inspired recipes that will shake up – and wake up – your palate.

This quick and easy style of homemade soup is genius: Place vegetables, noodles or grains, protein and seasonings in a glass jar, take it to work, stash it in the fridge, and at lunchtime add boiling water. The result is a hearty and healthy midday meal that’s ready in minutes. Elana Karp, head chef for the meal-kit company Plated and a co-author of the new Plated cookbook, shares three versions you’ll want to spoon up.

Does your midday meal look like it belongs on saddesklunch.com? (Yes, it actually exists.) Add these delish dishes to your repertoire to reclaim your lunchbreak.