Summer Lunch Strategies

What to pack for lunch when it's so danged hot out? It's the eternal summer question, right after "Mom, where's my swimming suit?" (Actually, the two most-asked questions are "Who left the door open?" and "Were you raised in a barn?")

If the lunch is kept in a climate-controlled room or in a cooler, proceed as usual, of course. If the lunch will be kept outside, you need strategies. Even the best lightweight insulated lunch bag with an icepack in it will only keep for cool for so long. If the food is well-chilled, if there are a few frozen components like frozen nuts or peas, and if there is a frozen juice or water bottle inside, the lunch will stay nice for three or four hours in the shade, depending on the heat. That might be enough for most circumstances. However, if it's super hot, or your diner is likely to leave the lunch bag in the sun, you need a new strategy.

In some conditions, you may want to use a small, hard-sided cooler with both an icepack and a frozen beverage inside. Rigid coolers insulate much longer, but they're heavy; you could send it to day camp, but not on a hike. This setup would allow you to pack most of the foods you have been using all year.

My strategy for hot days is raw produce, and not very much of it. Anyone who is not in a climate-controlled environment will be too hot to eat anyway. Pack cut-up fruit, crispy vegetables, dried fruit and nuts, and dried seaweed, if your kids like it. A few chips or crackers can be good, too. None of these foods will spoil easily. Cheese and jello melt, so don't even try. Boiled eggs are usually fine, but save deviled eggs for more temperate weather.

It is prudent to send along some wipes, or a small bottle of hand sanitizer, or even a few individually-wrapped alcohol swabs. Outdoors facilities are notoriously scarce and/or unpleasant; it's handy to be able to wash up before a meal without having to hike around. Wipes, swabs and hand sanitizer are also very useful for the following hot-weather tip, sure to become a seasonal favorite:


Bento Mom's Fail-Safe, Field-Tested, Pit Purification Protocol

If one is out and about in warm weather and discovers more fragrance coming from the shirt region than is socially acceptable, simply retire to the nearest restroom and use hand sanitizer or alcohol swabs to wipe the offending area. Repeat periodically as necessary. Bacteria is often the culprit in these situations, and Bento Mom's protocol knocks them out. This is a good tip for the preteens and teens among us who are not only more fragrant, with sharper senses, than we adults, but also still care what other people think. A few alcohol wipes or a small bottle of hand sanitizer are easy to carry discreetly.

Summer Lunch

Black-eyed pea salad, olives, carrots, broccoli. Blueberry gelatin, Trader Joe's meringue cookie plus a few TJ's chocolate pomegranate seeds.

Summer is here--time for lunches that are more vegetable-y and refreshing. Black-eyed peas make a nice salad because they're tasty, they cook fast, and they're small. There are several recipes on the internet for bean salads. I tend to make some variation of tabouli, substituting the beans for the bulgar wheat, but you could easily make something Italian, Greek, Mexican, or whatever seasonings you enjoy. This salad was made with minced herbs--cilantro, mint, scallions, basil--and dressed with olive oil and white balsamic vinegar. Toss in some carrots for color and a shake of salt.

Summer is the time to take shrimp off the menu, or any food that gets stinky when it's warm--remember, you're going to have to clean out the containers at the end of the day! This lunch will be nice to eat even in a warm environment, and leftovers won't make you gag even if the lunchbox is forgotten in the car overnight. It helps that all the ingredients were prepared the night before and well chilled. I made the gelatin firmer this week so it wouldn't melt as easily. An ice pack in the lunch bag helps, of course; even better, freeze a juice box or fill a water bottle with ice sticks and your diner will have a cool beverage to sip. For really hot days, stock up on frozen peas and add them at the last minute to bean salads, pasta salads, or even tuna sandwich filling. Another snack that freezes well is nuts. By incorporating a few frozen items into an already well-chilled menu, and by using an insulated lunch bag, you can keep foods safe and appealing up until lunch time.