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.

Since B is at work writing his second Page One story in two days (I know, he’s somethin) I’m testing out  a new veggie recipe here in the lovenest. My mom cut this out of the Philadelphia Inquirer for me while I was home last week and I’ve been wanting to adapt it a bit — more veggies, more flavor — so tonight’s the night. If B were here, I would’ve cooked a piece of fish alongside this — any kind, really — so my man gets his protein. But it’s just me! No one else to worry about! So you know what that means, right? While he’s hunkered down writing a follow up to this Al Gore/Al Jazeera story [feign your intrigue here] it’s time for me to live on the edge. And what says wild, crazy, sexy more than a girl home alone, in her sweaty Lululemon, oven-braising some veggies? Exactly. Best part about this recipe is that you really can’t screw it up — it’s so simple — and so healthy, too.