I also really love brown bagging. During my four years working at Target’s corporate headquarters in Minneapolis, I packed my lunch almost every single day, despite the fact that the office has a stellar cafeteria and was within walking distance of every fast food destination you can imagine. The less-than-glamorous truth is, while I look forward to going out for date night dinners and happy hours, lunch is a meal that I’ve always preferred to prepare for myself, even when it meant carrying it in a lunch box. I save my extra pennies and splurges for dinners and drinks. Nearly every weekend of my corporate career, I would lunch prep by making a big pot of grains like quinoa and a batch of roasted seasonal vegetables. Then, throughout the week, I mixed them with different nuts and proteins to make healthy salads that were tasty, easy to pack, and filling enough to power me through long afternoons of meetings. Quinoa and sweet potatoes are a tasty combo in so many of my favorite recipes, like Sweet Potato Salad with Bacon and my Slow Cooker Turkey Chili recipe.
A Desk-Worthy Sweet Potato Quinoa Salad
This healthy sweet potato quinoa black bean salad is exactly the sort of meal that I can spend all morning looking forward to at my desk. It’s nutritious, offers a pleasing contrast of textures between the creamy sweet potatoes (which also star in this vegetarian Mexican Salad) and crisp bell peppers, and has enough protein and fiber from the beans and quinoa to keep me full for hours. The zippy dressing—a tantalizing blend of honey and lime—never fails to perk me right up, even when the weekend still feels far away. Just like this Quinoa Chickpea Salad, this recipe is quick and easy to prepare and yields enough for several lunches. It’s also a perfect party side dish, because it can be made ahead and tastes great both cold and at room temperature. Now that I work from home, I don’t need to pack my lunch, but I still looked forward to this sweet potato quinoa black bean salad every day that it was in the refrigerator. Try it mixed with greens with a handful of pepitas and avocado for lunch, warmed inside a tortilla with cheese for dinner, or simply as it is.
More Satisfying Salad Recipes
Chickpea Tuna SaladChicken Caesar Pasta SaladIsraeli Couscous Salad with Feta and MintAsian Noodle Salad with Creamy Peanut DressingSouthwest Farro Salad with Corn and Tomatoes
Recommended Tools to Make This Recipe
Metal measuring cups and measuring spoonsStacking mixing bowlsMason jar (for shaking dressing)
