This $4 Salad Kit Might Be Your New Favorite Work Lunch
I work from home, and have for the past few years. When this comes up in polite conversation, people either respond by listing all of the reasons why they couldn’t do it (“Don’t you, like, just want to do laundry all the time?” one woman recently asked me. No. No, I do not.) or by telling me how lucky I am not to be in an office. There are benefits, no doubt. My morning commute is about 15 feet long, and I never have to circle the block to find a parking space, but I do still have the same pile of deadlines and workday requirements as my colleagues who sit in on-site cubicles.
“Mmm, I bet you eat so well,” a total stranger told me at a baby shower. “You have so much time to cook.” That’s also not exactly true. At lunchtime, I’m usually debating between dipping my biggest spoon into the peanut butter jar or downing half a box of Cheez-Its, depending on which one is easier and quicker to eat at my desk.
After a busy few weeks which have involved skipping lunch more often than not, I’m trying to get better about planning ahead. Trader Joe’s has been great for that, because I love the variety of its frozen food section, and I can usually force myself to stop long enough to microwave something slightly better for me. I also like its prepared foods — the poke bowls and marinated chicken breasts are current faves — and I’m going to pick up one of these organic Mediterranean-style salad kits the next time I hit the store.
Trader Joe’s recently added these kits to its salad lineup and I’m not going to say I’m excited (I’m not normally a big salad person), but I’ve begrudgingly started to admit that it’s hard to beat a salad kit when it comes to easy meal prep. This one, with its romaine and radicchio base, seasoned flatbread strips, and roasted chickpeas, seems perfect for customization. The dried tomatoes, feta, and oil and vinegar dressing will pair well with some of my beloved pre-cooked chicken or tuna and black olives. Or you could hold the feta and really dress it up with some grilled halloumi.
Plus, it’s $3.99 — only a quarter more than a box of Cheez-Its — and I can still inhale it while I sit at my desk. Double win!