Carrot Cups

Making a lunchbox beautiful is satisfying, and it's particularly satisfying when form and function meet. Such is the case with puzzle apples that are cut to hold peanut butter (that will be for a future post), and these carrot cups. They are really a flower-shaped garnish--each piece looks like a little flower, but you can also bunch several together to make a larger flower. Because they are cup shaped, they make fantastic scoops for hummus or other dips. You can find tutorials for these on YouTube, but here is a quick how-to:

Start with straight, fairly thick carrots and a small, sturdy, sharp knife. Cut three slices off the bottom so the carrot comes to a triangular point. Then begin making cuts above the first cuts and in the same plane. This is how you form the petals. Make sure to angle the knife toward the center of the carrot so all three slices will meet in the middle; follow the cuts you made to shape the point and you'll be fine.

These photos are all taken with one hand, leaving the other hand to balance knife and carrot. Keep both hands on your project while you cut! Safety first!

Notice that the knife is held parallel to the first cut and angled toward the center of the carrot. Do not allow this cut to go down to the bottom of the petal or your flower will fall apart.

Once you have cut in, rotate the point of the knife so that the blade is cutting parallel to the edge of the flower. You are trying to make the same three cuts as before to create a point inside the carrot. If properly done, the flower will come off very easily and the petals will be intact.

Since you can't slice to the bottom of the petal in the first cut, rotate the knife blade to cut down into the point.

Here is the flower falling off the carrot. See the new point? Keep making these cuts up the carrot. One carrot is enough for several flowers.

Here is the finished lunch box. Wasn't that fun? Expect to mess up a lot before you get the hang of it. There are so many variables, such as what knife you are using and how thick/hard/straight your carrot is. I began by practicing whenever I was making vegetable soup, and all the ruined ones went into the pot. After a while, you will be able to make them fairly quickly, and your kids will love them!

Kale Taboulli

My friend Katherine was telling me yesterday that kale is a complete food, and if you could eat enough of it to satisfy your caloric needs, you would never need to eat anything else. I believe it. Kale is low in calories, strongly anti-inflammatory, high in antioxidants, has a decent protein profile, and it's packed with chlorophyll. Once you start eating kale, you crave it. As for quinoa, it is sometimes called a super grain, although it is not in the grass family and so is not a grain at all. But it is definitely a super food. Combining quinoa and raw kale into one salad, dressed with olive oil and lemon, creates a nutritional powerhouse, and it's so yummy I could eat it for lunch every day. In terms of bento, kale tabouli holds up much longer than parsley tabouli--you could easily make enough for three or four days.

Traditional tabouli is a labor intensive dish, but not this one. The great thing about substituting kale for parsley is that, while parsley does not chop well in the Cuisinart, kale stands up very well and even improves, becoming dark green and tender. You can make a big bowl of it in no time. Both have the same dark green flavor--you will be surprised that you can hardly tell the difference. Usually I chop the mint leaves in with the kale. Chop the green onions by hand so they stay clean and fluffy; they can get slimy in the food processor.

Lots of dark green kale chopped in the food processor; can of delicious Greek olive oil looms in the background.

Once you have the greens chopped--the bowl above took about 5 minutes--you add in the minced green onions, cooked quinoa and dressing, and that's it. For a real treat, include chopped tomatoes and cucumber. I read yesterday that you can freeze kale without blanching it. Really? I'm going to try freezing kale later and see how it holds up. Here is the finished salad:

Gee, a lot of the salad seems to have disappeared. Hmmmm.......

Kale Tabouli

1 big bunch of kale
1 bunch green onions (in winter use a minced white or yellow onion)
1 handful mint leaves (in winter use the contents of a mint tea bag)
1 cup dry quinoa cooked in 2 cups salted water
1 or 2 lemons, juiced
olive oil
salt to taste
1 tomato and 1 cucumber, optional

First, put the quinoa on to cook in salted water. While it's cooking, get out the food processor. Strip the kale leaves from the stalks, tear them into pieces and stuff them into the processor bowl, adding some of the mint leaves to each batch. You can pack in quite a bit. Put the lid on, being careful not to trap any leaves, and pulse it until the kale is chopped and moving freely. Process until the kale is finely chopped.

Chop the green onion by hand; use the green tops and all. (When I was a kid, we used the green and tossed the white. When I grew up, I was amazed that many people use the white part and throw away the greens!) Also dice the tomato and cucumber, if using.

When the quinoa is cooked, remove it from the heat and fluff it up to speed cooling. Once it is cooled, mix it into the salad. Dress with olive oil, lemon and salt: First, drizzle on olive oil a little at a time, tossing as you go. Stop when each leaf is lightly coated with oil. Next, add lemon juice a little at a time, tossing as you go, until it is a sour as you like. Then add salt the same way. Done!

A Week of Menus

Sometimes you don't sleep well, and you wake up tired, and you have no idea what to make for lunch. You consider taking it later, or just handing them cash and letting them buy whatever the cafeteria has to offer--but then you remember the time you visited and the children at your child's table were eating cold whole wheat tortillas topped with cold cheese; they told you it was "pizza." That's just wrong on so many levels.

So, by popular demand, here is a week of our go-to school lunches, all gluten-free, made with fresh local ingredients as much as possible. These can be mostly packed the night before; items that are packed in the morning have an asterisk.

Weekend Prep:
On Friday: Make sure lunch boxes are emptied and containers cleaned. Monday is bad enough without having to face putrescence.

Make jello cups or pudding cups or applesauce cups, enough for the week.

If you plan to bake cookies, freeze them IMMEDIATELY--out of sight, out of mind ; ) Make them the right size to fit into your containers. Cookies made with nut butter and granola can be very filling and nutritious, so even if your child eats nothing else, they won't come home starving.

Other make-ahead ingredients include pesto, boiled eggs, hummus, pasta and rice--one friend steams beets for the week and doles them out. Another friend's daughter wants pasta every day, so he cooks a couple pounds and just dresses a portion when he packs lunch. Hummus, pesto, pasta and rice can also be frozen in portions and thawed the night before. Heck, in an emergency, you can put a frozen lump of pasta and a frozen chunk of pesto in a container and instruct your diner to microwave it at school!

Spend 20 minutes planning your dinner and lunch menus; plan ahead when to cook extra for lunches. As much as possible, include lunch prep in your dinner routine. If you plan extras for lunch, put them aside right away! Have the containers chosen and ready, and while you holler "Dinner!" be packing up the lunch food before it ends up being someone's third helping.

A note on sides: For two kids, I have about twenty 4-oz lidded containers; that is a good size for most kids and adults, and you can underfill for tots. Ten are filled with jello on Sunday, and the rest are for packing sides. Have a few options, such as applesauce, cut-up fruit, cookies, edamame, dry cereal, 3-bean salad, cole slaw, steamed beets, etc.--whatever your diner likes that is easy to pack. If your child likes the cole slaw at dinner, pack a couple small containers for later in the week. Fruit is best cut up in the morning, but everything else can be packed ahead. If your child is staying after for sports, pack extra sides so they will have snacks for later.


LET THE MENUS BEGIN!

Monday: Leftover lasagne (or other leftover pasta), eaten at room temperature. Leftover green beans dressed with olive oil instead of butter so they won't be greasy when they're cold. Pack these into a sandwich box with a small ear of corn on the cob; they should fit snugly and not shift around. A little spinach or kale would be a pretty garnish.

Tuesday: Sushi rolls made with leftover short-grain rice and filled with tuna salad (or chicken salad, or vegetables). One roll per child, cut in half so it fits in the sandwich box. Fill the cracks with silicone cups of vegetables from dinner, such as steamed green beans and raw carrot slices. A bit of pickled or candied ginger is a nice addition.

Wednesday: Potato salad with other steamed roots such as golden beet, celeriac and carrot; add chopped raw celery and dress with mayo, salt and a drop of vinegar. Deviled egg. Steamed broccoli. A pickle would be good in this box.

Thursday: *Rice with sprinkles and steamed shrimp (or curry, or teriyaki). Warm the rice in the morning and let it cool while you do other things. Pack it firmly into half of the sandwich box and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and crushed nori. Top with shrimp, and fill the empty spaces with vegetables such as edamame and carrots.

Friday: Hummus (or other dip) with cut up vegetables, either raw or lightly steamed. (If your child has a sporting event soon after lunch, opt for steamed, as they are more quickly digested.) Put the hummus in a small lidded container; pack with the veggies inside a sandwich box with taller sides--this keeps the lid from popping off if the lunch is handled carelessly. Olives make a nice garnish.


Saturday: Use Vietnamese rice papers or lettuce leaves to make wraps. Layer lettuce, shredded veggies, rice noodles and/or lunch meat on the rice paper and roll it up. (Look on YouTube for instructions for doing spring rolls.) A couple wraps cut in half would fill a sandwich box. Garnish with cilantro leaves.

Sunday: Our last, and favoritest, go-to lunch: *Quesadillas! These are best made fresh. Have the cheese grated and everything else done the night before. In the morning, make the quesadillas and pack with a container of salsa and a portion of refried beans or bean salad. For super-yum factor and extra specialness, make a little layered dip with refried beans, salsa, sour cream, olives and chives, if you have those things around.

After a while, you will come up with your own "go-to" menus--anything that is easy for you to prepare and something the kids like to eat. In time, we hope they will start making their own darned lunch. Making lunch every day is a big commitment, and not always an appreciated one, but with a little planning it can be much, much easier. And without planning, there is always apples and peanut butter!

Secret Ingredient

What do you remember as your favorite foods of childhood? Was it your grandmother's turkey gravy, or the green beans you picked in your Uncle Paul's garden? Was it the pizza you had every Saturday after you played baseball? One of my favorite meals of childhood (there were many), was the homemade yogurt and Syrian bread I always had at Auntie Jeanne's; as soon as a kid walked in the door, they were proclaimed to be too skinny and told to help themselves.

Last time I wrote about the importance of having a special treat in every lunch, but the real special ingredient, the essential ingredient, is love for the person you cook for and love for the food you prepare. It comes through, and it doesn't have to be fancy, or even healthful. If you're a child and someone who adores you takes you to McDonald's as a special treat, I believe that meal will be more nourishing than a bowl of organic stir fry served by someone who resents having to cook for you.

Our goal with bento is not to kill ourselves making the most fancy lunch. The lunch you pack should make someone, even yourself, feel loved and cared for. Design your lunches around the joy of the cook as well as the joy of the diner. It can be a difficult dance at times finding foods that are packable, keep well, please a variety of diners, and are a pleasure to make. Know your limits. Mine is that I will not make more than one meal--that is to say, everyone gets the same thing! Or at least, variations of the same thing.

The point is, don't make yourself crazy. While you prepare the seared salmon or the peanut butter sandwich, think about how much you care about the person you are cooking for, and how lucky you are to have this moment to cook for them. Then take one extra second to lay the salmon neatly on the bed of noodles, or to cut the sandwich into perfect triangles, and off you go. This is your contribution to world peace.

Special Food for Special People, or, It's Only Good If They Eat It

Rice with sprinkles, teriyaki shrimp, deviled egg, marinated gigandes, cucumber, carrots and apple

Okay my special ones, here is an example of a Lock & Lock container with dividers. It has a leak-proof lid that snaps on. La Segunda can drop kick this thing across the elementary school gym, and as long as it doesn't break, her lunch items will remain separate. Cool, huh? This is one way I appease her--give her a lunch box that is "special."

This lunch is a good example of another strategy for helping a lunch that's different from everyone else's seem different in a good way: Include a small luxury item. Nothing says "don't you wish this was your lunch?" like a few shrimp. Seriously, a bag of frozen shrimp is a good investment when you only serve three at a time, and it's a great stash item. Also note the sprinkles on the rice--the sesame seeds add extra calcium and there are loads of minerals in the nori, but mainly my kids think it tastes good and makes them "cool."

The luxury item should be whatever the recipient of this box of edible love perceives as a treat: strawberries, or snap peas, or a tofu-dog cut to look like an octopus and served with catsup. The main thing to remember is that the people sitting next to your diner often influence their perception of what they are eating. Are their table mates envious, or are they grossed out? The corollary to the luxury item is NEVER pack anything that smells funny or looks like puke. Ever. It is irrelevant whether they loved it for dinner: If someone at their table says, "Eeewww!" that lunch is going in the trash, and your diner will be offered something from one of their friends' lunches. This leads to having a child come home in a funk from eating the wrong thing, or nothing at all. There are many temptations in the lunchroom, and an awesome bento makes that easier to handle.  (Case in point: See the deviled egg in the picture? My kids used to get teased because hard-boiled eggs "stink," so they threw them away. If the eggs are deviled, everyone at the table wants a piece. Go figure. And if they're deviled and shaped like a flower, well, that's a luxury item for sure!)

This lunch took about 10 minutes using stash food: leftover rice, frozen shrimp, pre-made teriyaki sauce, and fruits and veggies from the fridge. The egg was already made the night before as well. Just warm the rice and simmer shrimp in the sauce for about 3 minutes. While the rice and shrimp cool back to room temp, cut up the fruits and veggies, and assemble it all in the bento. Toss a couple cookies and a little container of applesauce into the lunch bag, and you're good to go.

A Blog About Mom-Style Bento

Salad, wings, cucumbers, apples, pasta salad. Little bear holds ranch dressing.

American Mom-style, that is. Since I find myself posting all my lunch creations on Facebook, this seemed like a good move. Hope you like it. This is a blog for people who like to bring delicious meals along with them, for whatever reason.

Bento is a Japanese-style portable meal, usually lunch. I first got interested when my kids had food restrictions, and we had to bring meals everywhere. If you can't eat wheat or corn syrup, then museum visits, car trips, plane rides, and even the daily school routine mean packing food to take with you.

Now, although we like Japanese food, we don't always pack it to take along. Bento, to me, is a mindset. I happen to like fresh food, not industrial food, so premade Gluten-Free breads and such don't appeal to me. We turned to cuisines that have used a minimum of wheat for thousands of years. I advise you to do the same, no  matter what your dietary restrictions are--look for delicious recipes that are not trying to be something else. A sandwich on gluten-free bread will always be lacking, but a well-made tamale will always delight.

There is a style of bento that emphasizes cuteness over nutrition. It includes processed cheese, food coloring, and other such gimmicks to achieve the perfect Hello-Kitty-Gets-Married or Spiderman-At-The-Beach lunchbox theme. If that is your goal, this is not the blog for you. The most important decorative element is also the quickest, cheapest, and most nutritious: an eye for color, texture and placement. I also use colorful picks, silicone muffin cups and egg molds, but these are reusable and they are also not necessary. Bento by Mom is all about walking out your front door with something nutritious and satisfying to eat in a landscape of bad food choices.

Welcome to good eating at home and abroad!