I don’t know about you, but lunch is always the hardest meal for me to figure out each day. I know I’m on a slightly different schedule than most of you and am craving slightly different food, but I’ll venture a guess that we all want a few of the same things out of our high-noon (or 10 a.m., 2 p.m., whatever time) feeding.
1. We want it to be healthy.
2. We want it to fill us up and be satisfying.
3. We don’t want it to weigh us down.
4. We don’t want it to cost as much as dinner.
We all on the same page? Cool. What I started doing — when I have the time on Sunday afternoon — is to make a giant portion of something I’ve wanted to make for dinner, then bring it with me to work and eat it for lunch the next few days. Granted, you have to be down with eating the same thing for lunch days in a row, which I have no problem doing. I think I ate a tuna wrap everyday for lunch my freshman year of college, but that’s a story for another time. You also have to be cool with bringing your own food to work. That means there needs to be a refrigerator, plates, utensils, etc…
Enter this farro salad with chickpeas and leeks, which fits all our criteria from above. (If you’re not familiar with farro, it’s an easy-to-make grain and a fantastic alternative to rice and quinoa.) It’s healthy, light but filling, and easy to dish out and shovel in as you type away at your desk. Add more lemon and/or chili pepper flakes to your tasting, and when your stomach starts growling halfway through the day tomorrow at lunch, you can smile knowing you have a delicious lunch waiting for you in the fridge.
