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!

Lunch Simplified

Hey, it's a new school year! Sorry I have not been posting pictures, but there should be some next week.

Today's post is about how to use your freezer to make mornings less hectic. Remember the cute little square silicone cupcake liners that you separate food with? Well, I don't use them for baking because they discolor, but they work great for freezing 1/2-cup portions. So for instance, if you make hummus, make a lot. Line up your silicone cupcake liners on a cookie sheet, then fill them with hummus. You can adjust the portions by how much you fill the cups; you can even mound it up. Freeze overnight, then peel away the liners and store the hummus-sicles in a ziplock bag.

This strategy would work great for runny foods that you might serve with rice, such as curries, teriyaki, chili, thick stews, or whatever. You could even do it with beans for salads. Thaw them overnight and, if appropriate, warm them in the morning before you pack them.

Layout Fun

Hummus, grape leaves, celery, apples. GF pretzels and sliced mango not shown.

We eat a lot of hummus. It's delicious, nutritious, easy to make ahead, easy to transport, and is a great vehicle for increasing consumption of raw vegetables and fruits, plus it's quickly made from ingredients on hand. You can't go wrong. So, how do we keep it interesting? We change up the dippers; besides obvious ones like carrots, celery and pepper strips, there are peeled broccoli stems, mild radishes or turnips, or snap peas, to name just a few. It gets a bit thin in winter, but come spring the variety is endless. And, of course, we love the sweet-tart-crispiness of apple slices.

There were not many dipper options on hand this morning; luckily there was a can of grape leaves on the shelf. To make it interesting I laid out the components in a pattern of perpendicular stripes; I put the celery next to the grape leaves since they are sometimes oily, which is not bad for celery, but not great for apples. Apple slices cut in eighths look nice laid out this way, and you can fit more of them into the box. (In fact, if you are packing a container with an entire apple--that is, eight pieces--try cutting both a red and a green apple so you can alternate red and green stripes.) Little touches like these are fun for the packer and for the diner, and they take only a few more seconds.

Silicone Cups and Sun Chokes

Even Nikola Tesla wants a bite of this: Hummus with carrots, celery, tangerine, sun chokes and gluten-free pretzels.

Now that you have yourself a sandwich box, the next thing you need is silicone muffin liners. They are flexible and can hold a variety of foods, soft or hard. For soft foods, make sure the liner is tall enough. Notice how the green cup holding the hummus is slightly taller than the sides of the container? Once the lid is on, it touches the top of the liner and helps hold it in place. Don't put in anything wet or runny, but thick dips are fine, and juicy pickles won't leak all over everything else.

Silicone cups also keep dry foods from getting soggy--for a while, anyway. Eventually, these pretzels would soften from being in the same container with the moist vegetables, but not before lunchtime. (If you're going on a long plane trip and your lunch might get jostled around, definitely put the pretzels in a separate container.) The silicone cup is able to stretch to accommodate the long shape of the pretzels.

Hummus is a frequent player in our lunches, so I try to change up the vegetables. Apples are good, and carrots or celery are a no-brainer, but if you have anything else crispy, like jicama or sun chokes, that adds interest. The kids dug these red sun chokes in the garden. If you like them, plant a few in a part of the yard where the kids can dig, and where their spreading habit won't be a bother. You'll be rewarded with tall sunflowers in summer and tasty tubers through the fall, winter and spring. 

Night-Before Middle Eastern Bento

Hummus with olive oil and paprika, deviled eggs with saffron, broccoli, baby carrots, mint tea, tangerine, cookies

Most of the bentos you find online, as well as most of the books, feature Japanese food. And, of course that makes sense, because the bento originated there. But there is no rule that says bento has to be made with Japanese-style food. Sure, the Japanese have elevated lunch to an art and you'll find many great ideas, especially for the gluten-free among us, but if you search a bit, you'll also find bentos with enchiladas, tamales, calzones, blintzes--any food that can be packed neatly and tastes good at room temperature.

This is a nice Middle-Eastern bento, and it's a frequent favorite because the kids like it and I can make the whole thing the night before. Keep the ingredients on hand so that as soon as your daughter tells you, "Oh, yeah, you have to braid my hair in the morning to go with the Artemis costume for my social studies project," you can pack everyone's lunch after dinner.

Hummus is tasty with lots of different vegetables like carrots, turnips, celery, cucumbers, radishes, cherry tomatoes, jicama, or even apple slices. (Apple slices, or anything that might turn brown, are best cut in the morning.) You can also add olives, pickles, crackers, pretzels or any number of shelf-stable foods to round it out.  Make it more on the stiff side so it travels better--runny hummus can be a mess. Another easy addition to this bento would be canned grape leaves--I usually keep some in my stash for emergencies; they're not too expensive and they seem like a special treat. Sub grape leaves for the egg to make a vegan bento.

Hummus Recipe

Before I write the recipe, you must know that what separates good hummus from "just okay" hummus is the ingredients, particularly the freshness of the tahini and the texture of the beans. Sesame paste goes rancid fairly easily--keep it in the fridge, and if there is any bitterness or rancidity, toss it. As for beans, they must blend up creamy, not gritty. Sometimes beans cooked from scratch are fine, and other times they don't have good texture. My favorite canned beans are the Al Wadi brand: One 15-oz can makes enough hummus for 3 or 4 lunches, depending on what you pack.

1-15oz can of chickpeas, drained and brine reserved
~1/2 cup of tahini (two big blobs)
~1/2 clove garlic, or to taste
juice of one lemon
salt to taste
ground cumin to taste

Put the chickpeas, tahini, lemon, and garlic into a food processor and blend well. Add the brine a bit at a time to make it smooth but not runny. Add salt and cumin to taste. Put it into silicone cups or lidded containers; drizzle with olive oil and a shake of paprika. Serve with cut up vegetables and apple slices.

Apple Slices for Bento

Cut the cold apples into quarters or eights, depending on your purpose. Put them into a bowl of cold water for a few minutes. (Some people add salt or vinegar to the water, but I don't.) This keeps them from turning brown for a few hours. Try cutting one red and one green apple, and packing the slices in alternating colors!