Communal Salads and Homemade Croutons

As a defiant response to Sad Desk Lunches, the Food52 team works to keep our midday meals both interesting and pretty -- even if they're eaten while our eyes are on the screen. Each week, we'll be sharing our happiest desk lunches -- and we want to see yours, too.

Today, Assistant Editor Marian Bull explains how the editorial team throws together communal salads, and makes the case for homemade croutons.

Here's how our editorial team makes lunch almost every day: we bring in any produce from our kitchens that needs using, we chop it and slice it, someone makes a dressing, and everything goes into a large bowl et voila, salad. We add bulk with beans or cheese or grains to avoid 3 PM crankiness. Sure, we have sharp knives and fancy vinegars at Food52 HQ, but you can easily do this with your coworkers. Just find the people in your office who eat vegetables and make friends with them.

Pro tip: whether or not you have an oven in your office, you should be making your own croutons. Tear stale bread into chunks, massage with smashed garlic and olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and broil them until crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. Make them at home, bring them to work, and watch as your salad quality multiplies by infinity.