It's weird to follow people who are full-time food bloggers sometimes because the lucky ones that are feeding the most content into the world get to work from home and have long forgotten the struggles the rest of us office dwellers are dealing with. These people are cooking full breakfasts every morning, forgetting what it was like to have to decide between oatmeal and yogurt for an at-desk breakfast.
Let's not even get into the packed lunch of either a sandwich, leftovers, or a salad that requires about seven small plastic containers full of ingredients to have to mix together (that's a full dishwasher load for later that's for sure).
I am one of you.
Day after day, I make my way into an over air conditioned office where I am required to be for a specific amount of hours. I make enough dinner many nights a week to take a portion to heat up in a room full of microwaves and vending machines, jockeying for space amongst other annoyed office workers. And that's why I wanted to round up several recipes that make for fantastic lunch leftovers the next day. Believe me, I actually create a lot of recipes in mind for just that reason.
Rest assured, it's not too hard to eat well even when most of your waking hours are dedicated to working in an office, which has become over the years, a place that breeds unwell habits in its workers by the insistence of higher-ups on keeping things like they were when Henry Ford invented the 40 hour workweek, despite a far different work climate and output than there was during the Industrial Revolution. Can you tell I am passionate about being dispassionate about the state of work today? If you're interested in hearing more about that, I write much more on the subject at The F-Suite! Anyways...
I've divided these leftovers recipes up into no-reheating needed (yay no need to hustle to the break room before the noon rush!), and ones that do need a blast of heat applied. You might be having a #SadDeskLunch day, but at least the lunch itself tastes freakin' fantastic.
No-Reheating Necessary
Spinach Salad with Poppyseed Vinaigrette
Harissa Falafel with Yogurt-Tahini Sauce
Re-heat It
Okra and Tomatoes with Riced Cauliflower
Vegetables with Rice and Brown Sauce
Green Curry with Tofu and Vegetables
Green Curry with Peppers and Chickpeas
I hope that among this short list (didn't want to overwhelm anyone), you're able to find a fe new lunches to introduce into your weekly rotation that'll make you smile when you go to get your lunchbox out of the overstuffed shared office fridge! Happy trails up the corporate ladder!
