A good lunch is often the first thing to disappear from a busy week. The fix is not a stack of identical containers of the same meal, which gets dull by Wednesday, but a few building blocks you can combine differently every day.
The one-hour prep
Set aside an hour on the weekend and make five things:
- A grain. A big pot of farro, brown rice or quinoa.
- A tray of roasted vegetables. Carrots, sweet potato, broccoli or cauliflower, tossed with oil and salt and roasted at 425°F (220°C) until browned.
- A protein. Roasted chicken thighs, a pot of chickpeas, a few hard-boiled eggs or a block of baked tofu.
- A sauce. Something punchy, like a lemon and tahini dressing or a green herb sauce.
- Something fresh. Washed and dried greens, sliced cucumber or quick-pickled onions.
Store each one in its own container. Keeping them separate means nothing gets soggy, and you decide the combination each morning.
Five lunches from the same building blocks
- Grain bowl. Grain, vegetables, chicken and greens, with tahini dressing.
- Big salad. Greens topped with roasted vegetables, chickpeas and a hard-boiled egg.
- Pasta salad. Short pasta tossed with roasted vegetables, herb sauce and a little cheese.
- Wrap. A warm tortilla with chicken, greens, pickled onions and sauce.
- Soup. Simmer leftover vegetables and grain in stock for a few minutes and pack it in an insulated jar.
Packing tips
Pack the dressing in a small jar and add it just before eating. Put sturdy ingredients at the bottom of the container and delicate greens on top. A squeeze of lemon or a handful of toasted seeds right before lunch makes leftovers taste freshly made.
How long things keep
Cooked grains, roasted vegetables and cooked chicken are best eaten within three to four days of cooking if kept in the fridge. If you prep on Sunday, plan to use the chicken by Wednesday and freeze anything you will not get to.
A little time on the weekend buys you a week of lunches you will actually look forward to.
