Eating lunch is a highlight of the day. Making lunch, though, is complicated.
Along with the decision making, shopping, cooking and cleaning that come with making a meal, work and school lunches must be easy to transport, use few utensils and vessels, and fill you up but not slow you down. Ideally, they don’t take a long time to eat, make a mess or stink up the place.
With all of that to consider, you could just buy lunch or snack until dinner. But making your own lunch can be cheaper, healthier and — with these few principles — easy.
Here’s how to be a better bring-your-lunch person.
Make a Big Batch Ahead
When you have an hour, cook a big batch of a recipe that won’t get dull or soggy after a few days in the refrigerator. Then pack lunches into servings you can grab as you’re running out the door each morning.
If you think boredom may set in toward week’s end, vary the meals slightly when packing them. Use a different mix of vegetables or toppings: olives here, feta there, fennel and citrus in a tinned-fish hand roll, celery and wasabi in another. (And if you’re worried about the smell of tinned fish, you could always swap it out for avocado.)
Or add sparkle with a stash of condiments at the office, like hot sauce, vinegar, hot honey, Tajín, everything bagel seasoning and furikake.
Include an Element You’ll Dream About All Morning
Lunch is your midday treat, so cook it as such. When ordering out is an option, make sure whatever you bring with you is something you’ll really want to eat. What is it about the takeout pulled pork sandwich, spicy noodles or burrito that draws you in? Incorporate those elements into your homemade lunch so that you’ll be so excited to eat it, you’ll crack open your lunch box at 11:15 a.m. Maybe it’s a slab of salty feta, a crunchy pickle, guacamole, a chewy noodle, a nice piece of cut fruit or some salami!
Skip the Office Microwave
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To avoid eating cold food, pretend your work lunch is an indoor picnic and bring something that’s great right from the fridge or at room temperature. (That includes chicken tenders and thinly sliced steak.)
Be Flexible
One strategy for handling lunch is to double or triple dinner, but there is a snag: Dinner might not travel well, and then you’re eating an inferior version of something you ate a mere 16 hours before.
Instead, use lunch to repurpose leftovers and stray produce by making meals with flexible formats, such as bowls with various components, salads and hand rolls.
So What Do I Make?
— Sturdy, already-dressed salads. A separate jar of dressing will spill in your tote, so make an easy chicken salad (find this and other recipes on NYTCooking.com), kimchi bibim guksu, a roasted squash and bacon salad or a quinoa and broccoli spoon salad.
— Bowls with a mix of grains, vegetables, protein and big-flavor flourishes, like sabich bowls, grain bowls with sauce moyo, sweet chili grain bowl with tofu, or millet with corn, mango and shrimp.
— Hand rolls or other rice-and-nori dishes, such as kimbap, salmon onigiri or soy-glazed salmon hand rolls.
— Snack plates with protein-packed dips (include your favorite sandwich’s fillings and avoid soggy bread on a days-old sandwich). A few ideas: an herby cottage cheese dip, an everything bagel smoked salmon dip, a white bean dip with cumin-chile oil or an avocado, edamame and yuzu dip with furikake.
Spinach and feta lentil bowl. Lunch is your midday treat, so cook it as such. Food styled by Michelle Gatton. (Mark Weinberg/The New York Times)Recipe: Spinach and Feta Lentil Bowls
These satisfying bowls are heaped with silky greens, spicy lentils, jammy eggs and salty feta. The fact that all of the components are cooked in the same pot and can be refrigerated for the week is nice, too. The greens are cooked like horta, a Greek dish of boiled wild greens often finished with olive oil and lemon. Using a mix of spinach and bitter greens, like kale or mustard greens, creates a juicy and bittersweet combination. The lentils, dressed with oregano and crushed red pepper, provide a tender base for the toppings, but grains would work, too. And feel free to embellish further with sliced raw fennel or carrots, toasted nuts or a dollop of cottage cheese.
By Ali Slagle
Yield: 4 servings
Total time: 45 minutes
Ingredients:
Salt 1 pound bitter greens, such as kale, mustard greens or escarole, tough stems removed, leaves sliced 1 inch thick (2 medium bunches or 1 large bunch, or use prechopped) 4 large eggs 1 pound mature spinach, stems removed, leaves sliced 1-inch thick (or use baby spinach) 1 1/2 cups green or black lentils 2 teaspoons dried oregano, plus more for serving 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper, plus more for serving 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for serving 1 lemon, halved 6 to 8 ounces fetaPreparation:
1. Bring a very large pot of salted water to a boil. (The water should taste salty.) Add the bitter greens and eggs and boil for 4 minutes, then add the spinach. Continue to cook until the greens are softened and dark green, 2 more minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the greens and eggs to a fine-mesh sieve to cool and drain; reserve the boiling water.
2. To the boiling water, add the lentils. Reduce heat and simmer until tender but not mushy, 10 to 20 minutes. When the lentils are just about done, transfer the eggs to a cutting board. Squeeze and press the greens to remove excess water, then transfer them to a bowl and set aside.
3. Drain the lentils in the fine-mesh sieve. Rinse the lentils under cold water and shake to dry. Right in the sieve, stir the oregano and crushed red pepper into the lentils; add more salt and crushed red pepper until the lentils are punchy.
4. Add the olive oil to the greens and stir to combine. Squeeze half the lemon over the greens and stir to combine. Season to taste with salt. Quarter the remaining lemon half for serving and slice or crumble the feta. If eating right away, peel the eggs.
5. Divide the lentils, greens, feta, eggs and lemon wedges among 4 bowls or airtight containers. Drizzle with oil, oregano and crushed red pepper. Serve immediately, or refrigerate in airtight containers for up to 4 days.
Tinned fish hand rolls. If you think boredom may set in toward week’s end, vary the meals slightly when packing them. Food styled by Michelle Gatton. (Mark Weinberg/The New York Times)Recipe: Tinned Fish Hand Rolls
With tinned fish, tender rice and mixed vegetables, these meal-worthy hand rolls are all at once rich, fresh, crunchy and tender. They’re also pantry-friendly and customizable: Crack open a tin of any assertively-flavored fish (save the canned tuna for spicy tuna) and slice any mix of crunchy vegetables. (Pro tip: Baby carrots stay juicier in lunchboxes than regular carrots.) Clementines may be a surprising addition, but sweet citrus and oily fish are a common duo in Persian, Mediterranean and Mexican dishes. Try to use toasted nori sheets if you can; nori snack sheets are more brittle.
By Ali Slagle
Yield: 4 servings
Total time: 45 minutes
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups sushi rice, rinsed well 1/4 cup seasoned rice vinegar 1 tablespoon finely chopped ginger 4 roasted sushi nori sheets, quartered 4 tins of fish (about 4 ounces each), such as mackerel or sardines Any combination of sliced cucumbers, radishes, baby carrots, clementines and scallions Soy sauce or ponzu, for servingPreparation:
1. In a medium saucepan, bring the rice and 2 cups of water to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low and cook until tender, 18 to 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit, covered, for 10 minutes. (This is a good time to slice your toppings.)
2. When the rice is ready, drizzle with vinegar and top with ginger. Stir with a spoon to combine. (The rice, as well as the sliced toppings, can be transferred to airtight containers, covered with damp towels and refrigerated for up to 3 days. Bring the rice to room temperature before eating, or warm in the microwave.)
3. To build hand rolls, top nori with some rice, fish and any of the raw toppings. Drizzle with soy sauce or ponzu, wrap and enjoy.
Tortellini pasta salad. All that stands between you and a hot, homemade lunch is a zap in the office microwave but in reality, a free five minutes might be elusive. Food styled by Michelle Gatton. (Mark Weinberg/The New York Times)Recipe: Tortellini Pasta Salad
Italian sandwiches don’t hold up well, but pasta salads do, so transform your go-to deli order into a make-ahead pasta salad that’s hearty, punchy and not at all soggy. Instead of regular pasta, this recipe uses cheese-filled tortellini for soft, creamy bites. There’s plenty of salami, too, of course, along with sweet and sharp roasted red peppers, balsamic vinegar, red onion and arugula. But it’s adaptable depending on your personal preferences: Add more vegetables, such as frozen corn or cauliflower, or briny olives or capers; skip the greenery, or make a grain salad by swapping the pasta for farro.
By Ali Slagle
Yield: 4 servings
Total time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
Salt and black pepper About 20 ounces cheese tortellini 1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced 1 (10- to 12-ounce) jar sliced roasted red peppers, drained 2 ounces salami or soppressata, cut into bite-size pieces 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar Crushed red pepper 3 big handfuls baby arugulaPreparation:
1. In a pot of heavily salted water, boil the tortellini according to package directions. Drain into a colander and shake dry. Add the red onion to the colander and rinse the pasta and onion under cold water until the pasta is cool. Shake dry. Dry the pot and return the tortellini and onion to it.
2. Add the peppers, salami, oil and vinegar and stir to combine. Season to taste with salt, black pepper and crushed red pepper until the salad is flavorful. Stir in the arugula. (If making ahead, pack the arugula on top of the pasta in an airtight container, refrigerate for up to 3 days, then stir to combine.)
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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