If you believe that you're beyond help in the Lunch! department, we're here to do a little myth busting. Contrary to popular belief, great lunch doesn't require endless hours of effort. If your coworker who packs their own seems like a miracle worker, you can bet they have a few tricks (and good habits!) up their sleeve that make it possible.
Here at W&P, we see good lunch happen every day. Sometimes, even great lunch. And we're here to share how we make it happen, with a heaping dose of assistance from Lunch! author Olivia Mack McCool.
- Make the most of those Sunday scaries. When your chest starts to tighten, realizing Monday's just around the corner...that's when you fight back with some killer lunch prep. Blocking out a few hours every weekend for grocery shopping and bulk cooking makes all the difference.
- Assemble your lunch the night before. Chances are, you're not a morning person. Pull together each day's lunch before hitting the hay. Otherwise, we guarantee that snooze button will screw up your lunch plans.
- Stock your pantry with the essentials. The key to easy cooking is keeping tabs on your go-to ingredients. Olive oil, high-quality salt and freshly cracked pepper are a start. But as you gain new lunch skills, we guarantee you'll be keeping tahini, fish sauce, mustard, sumac and a slew of seeds—among other toppings—on hand at all times.
- A microplane and a mandolin. Yup, you're going to want these two tools. In addition to a sharp chef's knife, their grating and super-thin-slicing functions are everything you need to chop up raw ingredients in a flash.
- A dollop al desko. In addition to stocking your pantry, keep a couple essentials at your desk. From flaky salt to a funky hot sauce, a few flavorful favorites make all the difference.
- Elevate the experience. Love eating with chopsticks? Get a kick out of a classy linen napkin? Feel special when you drink seltzer? Whatever helps turn lunch into a rewarding ritual—do it. We guarantee you'll still save money (and feel more energized), just by bringing a freshly made lunch from home.
