How 5 KS Employees Think About Their Work Week Lunches, Part 3

Whether your ghosts of lunches past are haunting the company fridge, you’re pinching pennies on weekends to save up for lunch fund, or you’ve got your week prepped and packed by Monday morning—when it comes to work week lunches, there’s a consensus—it’s time to put an end to the #saddesklunch.

Every week this month, we’re asking 5 Kitchen Stories employees what they ate for lunch, what stops them from prepping their own lunches more often, plus the most packable KS recipes!

Xueci Cheng, Editor

What did you have for lunch today? Japanese chicken curry with rice and pickled daikon radish.

What do you usually do for lunch during the work week? My lunch normally consists of rice, veggies, and some sort of protein. In an ideal world, I would cook a big batch of food the evening before and bring the leftovers to lunch. But life isn't always ideal, as I get lazy or eat out, so sometimes I sneak around the test kitchen to hunt for some food or join the team delivery order—if there is one.

What’s your biggest obstacle when it comes to lunch prep? Planning and diversifying what I’m eating so that I don't end up eating chicken curry for three days.

Xueci's perfect pack

10 min

vegetarian

61.9k

Chinese fried rice

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Natalie Friedrich, Account Manager

What did you have for lunch today? Olives, artichoke spread, and some of a baguette.

What do you usually do for lunch during the work week? I usually meal prep throughout the week. I cook almost every night after work, and try to double the portions so I can bring some of it to work. Since I don’t like having the same thing too often, I try to stick to basic recipes that I can change or vary when I have it for both dinner and lunch. For example, I could make a one-pot pasta for dinner and bring sun-dried tomatoes or olives to work the next day, so I can "pimp" it.

What’s your biggest obstacle when it comes to lunch prep? Time! I hardly find the time to cook everyday, so if I don’t meal prep one day, then I probably won’t for several days—so I kind of have to force myself to throw something together everyday.

Natalie's perfect pack

20 min

vegetarian

12.3k

Orecchiette with green beans and pistachio pesto

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Dominik Goldberg, Android Engineer

What did you have for lunch today? Pork ragout from the canteen near our office.

What do you usually do for lunch during the work week? Two days per week on average, I'll bring my own food for lunch. On other days, lunch will usually be in the canteen. If I do bring food, it's usually leftovers from dinner the night before. I purposely make more so that I can bring it for lunch. I prefer things that don’t require any preparation other than heating in the microwave and are easy to transport in a single piece of tupperware. Most of the time, this means simple stir-fries or curries with rice.

What’s your biggest obstacle when it comes to lunch prep? Grocery shopping is the worst, and I struggle with planning ahead, so I usually end up just making the same things every week.

Dominik’s perfect pack:

45 min

165.6k

Butter chicken in mildly spiced tomato sauce

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Lisa Schölzel, Editor

What did you have for lunch today? Leftover rotolo made with spinach, sweet potato, mushrooms, and ricotta. It's a pasta dish inspired by Jamie Oliver that’s a bit time-consuming to prep, but also a bit exciting to unpack for lunch the next day.

What do you usually do for lunch during the work week? I am usually bad when it comes to planning my lunch. Some days I eat from our test kitchen or join our office lunch parties. Other days, my only goal is to use up leftover vegetables. I try to always have my pantry packed with ingredients that I can easily combine without too much cooking and that I can just throw in my bag in the morning to assemble the next day.

What’s your biggest obstacle when it comes to lunch prep? Definitely buying groceries after work or in a rush––I hate it. And remembering to cook one big portion of lentils, rice, or pasta at the start of the week to use as a base for the following days.

Lisa’s perfect pack:

20 min

40.9k

Gnocchi with peas and Parmesan

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Lenja Marten, Content Operations Manager

What did you have for lunch today? Leftover vegetable skewers and Turkish flatbread from a BBQ I had over the weekend.

What do you usually do for lunch during the work week? I think I can count the times I’ve ordered takeout this year on one hand, because I have a hard time coming to terms with all that packaging waste. I try to cook a little more for dinner so I can take the leftovers with me, or create a new dish based on parts of the dinner, so that it doesn’t get boring. Grains, pasta, or rice are so versatile, it's easy to combine them in endless variations. If I went out for dinner (or “accidentally” ate the extra portion I made), I take slices of my homemade sourdough, grab tomatoes or avocado on the way to work, and have bruschetta or avo toast for lunch. Another one of my go-to options is watermelon feta salad with mint and salty almonds because it's easy to prepare in the morning or during the lunch break, and is so refreshing during the summer months!

What’s your biggest obstacle when it comes to lunch prep? For me, there isn’t really an obstacle other than keeping my tupperware collection together.

Lenja’s perfect pack:

15 min

vegetarian

8.1k

Egg salad sandwich with avocado

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