My go-to lunch when I'm working from home are these super-simple (and super-healthy!) flat bread sandwiches with a spicy avocado spread and whatever veggies I have on hand. These are inspired by the amazingly delicious avocado toasts at Cafe Gitane–lightly toasted whole grain bread spread with a bright green mash of ripe avocados, lemon juice, chili flakes, salt, and olive oil. I am obsessed with these toasts, so I decided to make my own version at home.

These are so easy to make (10 minutes prep max) and they're full of vitamins and minerals from all the vegetables, and–thanks to the avocado–you won't end up hungry an hour later. In my opinion, this equals a perfect lunch. If you want to make this to take to your office, just make as a regular sandwich with the avocado spread and the vegetables between the two pieces of bread. I figure at this time of year, with all the holiday parties, decadent dinners, and baking marathons, a simple, light lunch is just what the doctor ordered.

OPEN-FACED SANDWICHES WITH AVOCADO SPREAD AND SALADServes 2

Avocado Spread:

1 ripe avocado

Juice of 1/2 lemon

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Extra-virgin olive oil

Open-Faced Sandwich:

Two round thin-style buns*

Assorted veggies: arugula, grated carrots, grated zucchini, grated red cabbage, sliced radishes, etc.

Extra-virgin olive oil

Lemon wedge

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Cut the avocado in half, remove the pit, and scoop out the flesh with a spoon onto a cutting board. Dice the avocado and dump into a bowl. Add the lemon juice (make sure no seeds fall in), red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper to taste. Mash the mixture up with a fork until chunky, but smooth enough to spread. Drizzle with a bit of olive oil and mash that in as well. Taste to see if you need additional salt or red pepper flakes (depends on how spicy you want it!).

Split the buns in two and toast them until golden brown. Spread each half with 1/4 of the avocado mixture. Top each half with a mixture of assorted veggies–I love buying carrots, zucchini, and red cabbage pre-grated at the Whole Foods salad bar, but of course you can easily grate them at home. I love making this as colorful as possible, with arugula, the grated veggies I mentioned above, and thinly sliced radishes. (If you don't want this to be vegetarian, you can easily add some roasted chicken or strips of grilled steak.)

Season each sandwich with a drizzle of olive oil, a squeeze of lemon, and a bit of salt and pepper.

*I use Ozery Bakery's wholegrain ONE buns, which you can buy in the bread section of the grocery store. You can substitute any sort of whole grain bread, flat bread, or pita.