The Perfect 5-Minute Weekday Lunch I Eat on Repeat (Not Bagged Salad!)

Lunch is tricky. In my opinion, lunch is the squirreliest of the three meals to figure out. Should it be a full meal, or something light? You want to be satiated, but not so full that you immediately want to take a nap. I feel like lunch should be hearty, but also relatively healthy-ish. It also has to be quickly acquired or prepared, because it’s right smack in the middle of the day. It’s a tough needle to thread.

I’m here for the contingent of people out there who, like me, are constantly on the hunt for lunch solutions. Not recipes, but solutions to how to feed themselves without too much bother. I don’t want to eat bagged salad for lunch just because it’s easy. In my household, when I don’t have last night’s dinner leftovers to turn to, my go-to lunch has always been a rice bowl. I usually fry up some tofu and/or chickpeas and toss those with greens and a quick little sauce. It takes about 10 minutes and is wildly satisfying. Recently, though, I’ve ascended to a new level of speed and ease with my daily lunch bowl so it’s even quicker and arguably more delicious — and it’s all thanks to tinned fish. 

I am a tinned fish pusher at this point, and I can’t go more than a few days without having some. Despite the many, many ways you can use it, by far my favorite is in a lunch bowl with rice and greens. The flavorful oil that the fish is packed in doubles as a dressing or sauce, which makes it a lunch you can pull together lightning quick that feels like so much more than it is.

I love all kinds of tinned fish, but for this you want something with a little flavor (preferably packed in oil or sauce, not water). One of my favorites is the spicy yellowfin tuna fillets from Natural Catch, which are packed in spicy, flavorful extra-virgin olive oil that is delightful when mixed with the rice and greens.

1. Drain the oil from the fish into a large-ish bowl (you want to have space to toss everything together).
2. Add a few scoops of cooked warm rice (I almost always have some on hand, and if I don’t I just throw some in a rice cooker in the morning) and a few handfuls of greens to the bowl and toss until the rice and greens are well-coated in the oil.
3. Top with the fish fillets and enjoy your absolutely delicious 5-minute lunch.

• Look for fish with some extra flavor. Because the liquid the fish is packed in is your dressing, you want to opt for something with something a little extra; even something smoked will add a ton of oomph to the bowl. Some personal favorites of mine are Cole’s smoked rainbow trout, Tonnino smoked jalapeño yellowfin tuna, and Jose Gourmet sardines with lemon and olive oil (TBH every fish I’ve tasted in their roster is terrific, and I’m not the only fan amongst our editors).
• Make it your way. This is a great lunch with just three ingredients, but it’s also a great vehicle for additional flavors. Swirl in a little lemon with the flavorful oil, stir in some fresh herbs, or top the whole thing with cucumbers or avocado. 
• Try it with different grains. I like this best with white rice, but it’s also great with brown rice, couscous, or bulgur. Use what you’ve got — that’s what a quick lunch is all about.

This post originally appeared on The Kitchn. See it there: The Perfect 5-Minute Weekday Lunch I Eat on Repeat (Not Bagged Salad!)