Lunch

With a few strategies, a bit of planning, and a little sea salt in your cubicle, weekday lunch can be as delicious and exciting as any meal of the week. Here’s how to rethink the way you brown-bag it

This bracing dish offers a taste of China's Sichuan Province and needs no reheating or additional prep at lunchtime.

“I could eat this twist on a classic any day, any meal.” –Brad Leone, test kitchen manager

The dressing for this salad is on the less acidic side: Once the tart pickled vegetables are in the mix, it will be perfectly balanced.

When ramps are in season, stock up and make this for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Swap in any soft cheese you like: Try ricotta, cream cheese, or an oozy burrata.

“Hot, cold, or room temperature, I love the briny bite of the capers and anchovies against the creamy eggs.” —Dawn Perry, senior web editor

Selling skeptics on the idea of a vegetarian dinner is easy when it’s in pie form. Maitake mushrooms add heft.

Add these addictive spicy chickpeas to your lunch bowl for a protein boost.

Heart-healthy coconut oil adds delightfully nutty, aromatic flavor to this creamy, sweet soup. If you can't find harissa to garnish with, drizzle it with hot sauce or sprinkle with a pinch of chili flakes instead.

This warm, buttery, pull-apart bread is easy to throw together (just five ingredients) and crazy versatile.

It might sound radical, but adding water to the pan makes total sense: The steam will help cook the burger through, while preserving moisture at the same time.

As if an oyster po’boy and a BLT had a baby; this appropriately messy sandwich achieves the ideal texture-and-temperature contrast when the oysters are still warm from the fryer.

If you can’t find freekeh, use another whole grain, like spelt or rye berries.

In addition to being deliciously nutty, quinoa is a complete protein—but you knew that already, right? If you can’t find red, the white variety will work just as well in this tangy, wilted salad.

At designer Lela Rose's Catskills retreat, snowball fights and lunch by ABC Kitchen's Dan Kluger are the order of the day

This will make more pulled pork than you’ll need, but who would be sad about that? Use the leftovers to make tacos, pulled pork sandwiches, pork stew—whatever your heart desires, really

We want to know everything about how you eat at work, from whether you bring or buy to your thoughts on food trucks to your office-eating pet peeves

Mujadarra is a popular Middle Eastern side dish comprised of lentils and rice. Here, it's perfumed with cumin and finished with yogurt. Serve along side roasted chicken or with a fried egg as a meal on its own.

To make ahead, freeze the cut-out biscuits in plastic bags. Bake frozen, increasing cooking time to 45–55 minutes. Get the full fried chicken biscuit sandwich recipe served at Pies-N-Thighs restaurant in Brooklyn, New York, here!

A virtuous, herby grain salad with a heart of indulgent butterfat. We love the white-on-white effect of using barley, but it’s delicious with basically any whole grain; try wheat berries or spelt.

“The fresh herbs and scallion might seem strange, but they work. And the hot sauce? Makes anything better.” —Carla Lalli Music, food and features editor

The broccoli can be cooked early in the day, but toast the bread just before assembling so it doesn’t dry out. Learn how to make this recipe and more in our online cooking class with Sur la Table.

Grain salads, like this herb-spiked one made with smoky freekeh, come together instantly with leftovers—reason enough to cook off a batch on Sundays.

Fried chicken on a hot buttered biscuit—what’s not to like?