Let’s talk about lunch. Oh poor, poor lunch. I wouldn’t say lunch has a bad reputation, just a non-reputation. No one hates lunch because um, hello it’s food, but no one’s like “omg I could eat lunch for every meal.” Or “oops lunch for breakfast…AGAIN… tee hee hee.” You’ll never see that. Never.
But despite getting zero hype or fanfare in the meal community, lunch shows up every damn day, even when our excuse for lunch is some sad pile of crappy snacks, or a Tupperware full of mystery leftovers from who knows when. Occasionally we’ll throw lunch a bone and go to Sweetgreen, but then we’ll proceed to throw lunch under the bus and blame poor lunch for the fact that we just spent 11 DOLLARS FOR A SALAD?! FOR LUNCH?!
But who am I to talk? I’m just as complicit in this anti-lunch society. Wasn’t it I who for years had “passionate about breakfast” as my personal twitter bio? Isn’t it I who 9 times out of 10 will eat my lunch at my computer not even paying attention to how hard lunch is working to keep me from being a hangry troll at work.
On the weekends? We dismiss lunch all together and call it brunch. How must that feel for lunch? His moment in the sun. He thinks he has a chance because it’s noon and we haven’t eaten yet, so we MUST be hungry for something great… for lunch. But no, we go out for breakfast and call in BRunch. And does anyone reaaallly ever get the “unch” part of brunch? No. The answer is no.
Ok, ok, you’re probably either laughing at or with me at right now, so I’ll get to my point. Lunch deserves a little extra love and attention. So to honor this underrated meal, I whipped up this 3 serving batch of crunchy, flavorful veggie and grain salad. That means you make it on Sunday and have a delicious lunch worth getting excited over for 3 full days! Huzzah. And if you’re not a lonely *eh hem* I mean single gal, you could totally double this recipe and have 2 people excited about lunch. That’s 2 more people excited about lunch than ever before. You’re making history.
- 1 Cup of Cooked Farro Grains
- 1 Chopped Red Bell Pepper
- 1 Cup of Shredded Carrots
- 1 1/2 Cups of Shaved Brussels Sprouts
- 1/2 Cup of Sunflower Seeds
- 2 Tbsp of Chopped Cilantro
- Cook 1 cup of farro grains according to package instructions, when cooked pour into medium sized mixing bowl
- Chop red bell pepper and and toss into bowl
- Add pepper, shredded carrots, brussels sprouts, sunflower seeds and cilantro into bowl and mix until well combined
- Serve with your favorite dressing or olive oil and salt and pepper
[Tweet “Don’t fall victim to another sad lunch again – this ballin’ salad is here to save you!”]
Your Turn:
What’s your favorite lunch?
Do you pack a lunch or go out to eat more often?
1
This was the greatest commentary about lunch ever and frankly it made my morning.
Aww yay! I might have had a little too much fun writing it
Oh yummy! I am all about big salads or a big egg scramble with lots of veggies and avocado. Lunch is my least favorite meal and definitely a meal I just don’t care for…weird I know, but breakfast is my jam. Dinner I love too, because it is the end of the day and my time to finally unwind. 🙂
Right? Lunch is usually just a way for me to be less hangry. I try to packs some fun snacks but often it’s just leftovers
I get so lazy when it comes to lunch and usually stick to some type of burrito bowl, sandwich, or salad. I would much rather make myself a nice breakfast or a nice dinner, so I guess lunch usually does get pushed to the back burner for me. But, with this salad, I could definitely make my lunches 10x better!
It’s so tough when you’re busy to make time for a good lunch. Salads and burrito bowls are solid go-to’s though!
Nourish & power bowls like this are always on my agenda. Thanks for the recipe!
Your welcome! I love adding those grains to make it feel heartier/more satisfying
Oh my, lunch is definitely my most lazy meal haha. I’m usually at home for lunch (90% of the time anyway), so I cook some chicken and make a salad or I have egg on toast with some other stuff 🙂 When I’m at work, I tend to pack easy stuff like overnight oats and chia seed puddings. I seem to be obsessed with those things lately. I definitely don’t give lunch the love it deserves though!
I don’t go out to eat (usually). My ‘go to’ is sushi if I’m by myself, but I seem to be taking a few lunch dates recently. If I’m on a date I always get a coffee and whatever I feel like. The other day I felt like french toast, so I had that for lunch. No regrets.
Mmm sushi? French toast? I think we need to go on a lunch date 😀
I am a leftovers lover, but a yummy crunchy salad like this, maybe even with a hard-boiled egg tossed in sounds great-Loved this too true commentary. Thanks for the rescue recipe! No more SLS
Haha glad you enjoyed my musing on lunch 😉
This salad looks GREAT. And I totally feel ya on the lunch bit. It is kind of a funny little meal isn’t it? I almost ALWAYS pack, unless I literally have zero food in the house and haven’t been to the store 😉
Same, I prefer packing a lunch because I just hate spending any extra money on it. But breakfast? I’d happily go out for breakfast or buy a coffee. I don’t get my logic sometimes
hahahah Georgie everything you said about lunch is sooo accurate. Personally i pack my lunch every day which already puts it at a disadvantages (eating on plates over containers any day please!), but i never would agree with $11 on a salad. yikes!
Right? I was traveling in the city last week and my lunches added up so fast. Brown bag might not be glamorous but it can be way cheaper and often healthier
This salad just might make me give raw brussels sprouts another try…
My favorite lunch is…. wait for it…. cold frittata or quiche (clearly a breakfast food) so yeah, lunch is definitely the forgotten meal in my life!
Mmm that actually sounds delicious. I feel like my life is just a series of me trying to get away with eating breakfast foods at all hours.