My dream is to become a Highly Successful Minimalist Person, the kind who has a five-piece wardrobe and eats the same thing for breakfast and lunch every daylike Barack Obama. HSMPs have a streamlined life that frees up their brains to think about other things. I, meanwhile, have to shoehorn my closet closed, and walk through grocery store aisles totally unhinged, picking up whatever looks remotely good to me in the moment.
I'm here to brag, though, that even I, a Moderately Successful Disorganized Person, have managed to master a lunch routine. It's not the same lunch every day—MSDPs require variety!—but it is a lunchformula. And the beauty of the formula is that it reins in the decision making, but still allows for variety. Here's how it works.
5 Key Components
My lunches consist of three to five key components—three are required categories, two are optional. I think about these categories every time I grocery shop.
I like to buy two types of greens and alternate them in my lunches throughout the week. Usually I get one softer green like arugula or butter lettuce, and one heartier, leafier green like kale. (The kale is nice because you can use it in category 2 as well.)
People who batch cook can easilyroasta ton of vegetables on Sunday night. But I simply stick a sheet tray of vegetables in the oven while I'm making dinner the night before. Sometimes I'm evennextoveringthe vegetables—that is, eating some for dinner, and eating the rest for lunch.
I use canned beans because they're faster and easier, but to make them taste better I employ my colleagueAnya's trick of simmering them in lots of olive oil, or I stick them on the roasting tray with whatever vegetables I'm cooking (that gets them nice and crispy).
When I want a heartier lunch, I cook a batch of grains like farro, rice, or even pasta. I do this the night before with a rice cooker, but you could do this in a big Sunday batch as well.
The "extra treat" part of my lunch. This is where I'll let myself make an impulse buy—some fat olives, or a smoky cheese, or a ripe avocado, or a bunch of fresh herbs. Sometimes it's a delicious pickle-y thing that looks good. Sometimes it's crunchy, roasted nuts. I try to limit myself to only a couple per grocery trip.
Once I have all my components, I can start making lunches. All of these lunches are salads orbowls, but they're all a little different from each other. If, for example, I buyfrom category 1.arugula and kale;from category 2.bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, an onion, a sweet potato, and mushrooms; andfrom category 3.white beans and chickpeas, my bowls might look like this:
Monday:An arugula salad with simmered white beans and roasted peppers. Then, for some excitement, a sprinkling of za'atar and some fresh basil.
Tuesday:Kale (massaged with lemon andchopped into small pieces!) with roasted onion and sweet potato. Add canned chickpeas that have been crisped up on the baking sheet and seasoned with some garam masala, cumin, and salt. Toss in half an avocado for pleasure's sake.
Wednesday:A grain bowl with: Arugula again! Crispy chickpeas again! And cherry tomatoes that have been roasted on a sheet pan until they're bursting. Plenty of farro, feta, and more za'atar.
Thursday:Arugula. Cripsy chickpeas (seasoned with smoked paprika and salt this time). Roasted onion and tomato. Some torn fresh basil and nice olives.
Friday:Simmered white beans. Roasted mushrooms and kale. Some campanelle (inexplicably my favorite pasta shape) and more of that good feta.
Repetitive? Sort of. Identical? Nope. And that's exactly how they should be. This way, I can shop efficiently and reuse ingredients like a can of beans until they're gone. But my lunches are also never exactly the same, which means less monotony.
Of course, there a many ways a master lunch plan can go. Want protein? Roast a chicken on Sunday or Monday night, shred it, and add it to bowls throughout the week. Need a sauce? I keep a bottle of olive oil, hot sauce, and vinegar at my desk, as well asa small container of flaky saltand some chili flakes. But you could makebig batches of a sauce like pesto. Or you could throw together aquick yogurt sauce. Maybe your formula is like 1. Roasted Vegetable 2. Animal Protein 3. Sauce. etc. After all, you don't need to use my exact categories. To each Highly Successful Minimalist Person his or her own.
