For the past two years, I’ve had the pleasure of working from home.
When it was time for lunch, it was a matter of slipping into the kitchen and reheating leftovers, frying up some gyoza, or defrosting a spoonful of pesto and spreading it on a grilled cheese. There was lots of grilled cheese.
But I realize that lots of people have to actually leave their home to go to work (OMG this is going to be me soon – more on that later), and there is nothing worse than the sad desk lunch. You know, the type of limp lettuce and turkey sandwich you inhale over your keyboard while responding to “Please advise” emails.
I refuse to allow the people I love to eat sad desk lunches (I’m looking at you, Jason). That’s why I am a big fan of preparing far-too-large salads for dinner—the type that hold up for a couple of days—in order to transform them into happy-eat-outside-while-the-sun-is-shining lunches.
This would be one of those. Crisp fennel, cucumber, radishes, celery, and onions and paired with artichokes, herbs, and Parmesan cheese. Everything is sliced thin and doused in a lemon dressing that seeps into the different components as it sits and only becomes more delicious.
So eat a small portion as a first course before your dinner or load it up for lunch as your entree. But no more sad desk lunches, please.
- 2 Persian cucumbers (about 5 oz), sliced thin
- 1 medium bulb fennel (about 10 oz), trimmed, cored, and sliced thin
- ¼ medium red onion, sliced thin
- 2 celery stalks, sliced thin
- 4 large radishes (about 2 oz), sliced thin
- 12 oz frozen artichoke hearts, thawed
- ¼ cup mint, minced
- ¼ cup parsley, minced
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
- In a large bowl, combine cucumbers, fennel, red onion, celery, radishes, artichokes, mint, and parsley. Mix well.
- In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar, and salt. Pour over dressing and toss to coat. Add Parmesan cheese and mix well. Adjust salt to taste.
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