Ideas for Easy, Filling, Delicious & Meatless Monday Lunches for Work

This Farro Salad with Cucumbers, Tomatoes, Olives, Chickpeas and Lettuce happens to be vegan, easy to make, delicious, perfect for Meatless Monday and a great lunch to bring to work.

The other great thing about this salad is that you can make it Sunday night and bring to work at least for three days in a row. It could probably last an entire week, but I haven't tested that hypothesis.

Instead of a recipe, I'll just give you a template/formula:

grain + vegetables + protein + olive oil + acid + herbs

In this case, grain is farro, vegetables are cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuce; protein is chickpeas, acid is lemon juice, and herbs are cilantro.

Note that cooking chickpeas at home is incredibly easy and adds a great flavor to your salad, but if you don't have the time, go for the canned ones.

Variations:
grain: brown rice, wheat berries, freekeh
vegetables: peppers, zucchini, celery (although I'm not a fan), mushrooms
protein: tofu, chicken (clearly this will no longer qualify as Meatless Monday or vegan), hard boiled eggs (will no longer be vegan)
acid: lime juice, vinegar
herbs: parsley, basil, dill (!!!)

Notes: you may want to add herbs each day instead of adding all of them at once just to make sure they don't wilt. Also, make sure not to overdress the salad: you can always add more olive oil and lemon juice, but you really don't want your vegetables to be swimming in the dressing.

What do you like to make on Sunday to bring for lunch to work?
{Stay tuned for a recipe you can make on Sunday and eat for breakfast the rest of the week!}