Even though lunch for some can feel like a figment of your imagination some days, it's much easier to prepare a meal ahead when it isn't laden with a giant list of ingredients. When we're 75% still asleep, attempting to wolf down breakfast before we sprint out the door, the last thing we need in preparation for lunch is actual work!

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• Make-Ahead Lunch Template: Pasta Salad with Veggies, Cheese, and Greens: This is one of our favorite ways to put together a lunch! Not only is it fast and inexpensive, but there's so many different ways to put ingredients together you'll never feel lack-luster to lunch again!

• Inspiration: The Single Beet Lunch: It's easy to get caught up in standard lunch scenarios. A cup of soup, a sandwich, a salad... you know the drill. This single roasted beet when paired with some great goat cheese is the perfect lunch with only 5 ingredients (and that's if you count the salt, pepper and olive oil for roasting). Pretty pink perfection!

• Improvised Lunch: Asparagus-Bean Salad Over Arugula: Some of the best lunches we've ever eaten have been those we've thrown together with ingredients we didn't really think we had at all. This recipe was inspired by a bare pantry and a need to eat and the results were healthy and delicious!

• Simple Pleasures: Cheese and Onion Sandwich Recipe: On a rough day when the boss has you against the wall and a pile of deadlines, sometimes a quick sandwich that doesn't need reheating is just what the doctor ordered. If you're worried about soggy bread, try keeping your mixture in a zip top bag until you're ready to eat.

• Recipe: Quick Lunch Pasta with Greens, Mushrooms and Meats: This recipe is super forgiving and works well with any meat or green you happen to have on hand. It's a great one to clean out the leftovers in your fridge and still feel new and fresh, plus it's great for those rainy Spring afternoons when summer still feels far away.

• Related: Treat Yourself To A Ploughman's Lunch!

(Image: As linked above)