Best Lunch Box Ever (11 page)

MAKE-AHEAD NOTES:
can be made a day ahead and stored in the refrigerator. Be sure to give your child instructions for tossing the dressing with the salad at lunchtime.

THERE WILL FOREVER BE A PLACE
in the school lunch for traditional sandwiches. But the bread aisle is packed with many options beyond the standard sliced loaf that are worth exploring. Consider lavash, the Middle Eastern flatbread that can be rolled around practically any filling and sliced into pinwheels, or pita bread, which makes a killer pizza crust with practically no effort. Tortillas open up even more possibilities, from a veggie-stuffed quesadilla to a rolled-up BLT.

One of the upsides of these alternative sandwich wrappers is that they aren't as bulky as bread can be, so the flavors on the inside really come through. Plus, healthful ingredients such as chopped fruits and sliced vegetables are easy to package up into flatbread or tuck into a tortilla. Yum!

5
PINWHEELS, PIZZAS, WRAPS, AND ROLL-UPS

THE TASTY DUO
of cream cheese and dates on a sandwich is an old-fashioned one. Rolling it up in lavash and cutting it into pinwheels makes it more modern. Kids will love the creamy, slightly sweet filling and crunch of the celery so much that the spinach may just go unnoticed. While nourishing, this wrap is a little light in the protein department, so include a protein-rich side such as nuts or yogurt. Feel free to substitute a large, whole-wheat flour tortilla for the lavash.

MAKES 1 OR 2 SERVINGS

1 whole-wheat lavash (7
¹
/
₂
by 10 inches)

¹
/
₄
cup whipped cream cheese

6 medium pitted Medjool dates, finely chopped

1 stalk celery, finely chopped

¹
/
₃
cup loosely packed baby spinach

Cut the lavash in half crosswise. Spread both halves of lavash with the cream cheese all the way to the edge. Scatter the dates and celery over the cream cheese, pressing down gently. Lay the spinach on top.

With the shorter edge of the lavash toward you, roll up the wrap. Repeat with the remaining lavash. Using a serrated knife, cut each roll into four pinwheels.

Store the pinwheels in one or two snug containers, or reassemble the log shape and roll in parchment paper, twisting the ends so it looks like a big Tootsie Roll.

MAKE-AHEAD NOTES:
can be made a day ahead and stored in the refrigerator, but best made the morning before school.

THIS PLAYFUL TWIST ON THE CLASSIC PB&J
relies on lavash instead of standard sandwich bread. It gets wrapped around peanut butter, chopped apples, and granola, giving the whole thing great flavor, crunch, and plenty of nutrition. Get this into your kids' hands in the morning and it will fill them up for breakfast, too.

MAKES 2 SERVINGS

1 whole-wheat lavash (7
¹
/
₂
by 10 inches)

¹
/
₄
cup natural unsweetened creamy peanut butter or other nut or seed butter

2 teaspoons honey

²
/
₃
cup chopped unpeeled apple

2 tablespoons granola

Cut the lavash in half crosswise. Spread both halves of lavash with the peanut butter all the way to the edge. Drizzle with honey and scatter the apple and granola over the peanut butter, pressing down gently.

With the shorter edge of the lavash toward you, roll up the wrap. Repeat with the remaining lavash. Using a serrated knife, cut each roll into four pinwheels.

Store the pinwheels in snug containers, or reassemble the log shapes and roll in parchment paper, twisting the ends so it looks like two big Tootsie Rolls.

MAKE-AHEAD NOTES:
can be made a day ahead and stored in the refrigerator, but best made the morning before school.

A Better Butter

What's the most healthful nut butter for kids? They're all a little different, and they're all good. I usually rotate two or three options for variety of flavor and nutrients. Here are a few things to keep in mind when considering your choices:

Peanuts, tree nuts, and seeds have somewhat different nutritional profiles, but all have benefits. Almonds, for example, are high in vitamin E, walnuts are a good source of omega-3 fatty acids, and peanuts supply a healthy dose of folate.

All nut and seed butters are rich in both protein and fat, which is one reason to feed them to kids: They are slow to digest and thus can keep hunger at bay.

Keeping less-processed nut butters in the fridge may prevent the oil from separating from the solids. Store jars upside down so you don't have to wade through an oil field when you are ready to make your sandwiches.

Avoid nut butters with either partially hydrogenated oil (a source of trans fat) or fully hydrogenated oil or palm oil (a source of saturated fat). Also, keep an eye out for added sugars. Even nut butters marked “natural” sometimes contain sweeteners, so read the label carefully.

Consider organic options, particularly when it comes to peanut butter, which can be high in pesticide residues.

While most of the fat in nut butters is the “good” kind (i.e., unsaturated), it does make them calorically dense, roughly 90 to 100 calories a tablespoon. So enjoy, but keep portions in check.

Bento a Go-Go

Although the bento box has been around for centuries in Japan, it's relatively new to the United States. This clever approach to packing lunch, whereby different foods are arranged in a compartmentalized box, lends itself to endless variations.
See page 150
for a list of favorite bento-style containers. Here are six ideas for lunch-box bentos created around ethnic themes.