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.

Crunchy Cilantro Salad over Farro Grains
This hearty salad is packed with crunch and flavor. Farro adds another layer of texture, flavor and filling power while the cilantro adds that perfect zing.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 3 1x
- Category: Lunch
- Cuisine: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 1 Cup of Cooked Farro Grains
- 1 Chopped Red Bell Pepper
- 1 Cup of Shredded Carrots
- 1½ Cups of Shaved Brussels Sprouts
- ½ Cup of Sunflower Seeds
- 2 Tbsp of Chopped Cilantro
Instructions
- 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
Your Turn:
What’s your favorite lunch?
Do you pack a lunch or go out to eat more often?