So Labor Day has come and gone and, for most of the world, school is now in session. That means that every morning, all across the country, hundreds of thousands of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are being made and stuffed into lunch boxes and brown paper bags, along with an apple and a juice box. School lunches haven’t changed much, over the years, from what I understand. They’re generally a sandwich and piece of fruit if you bring your lunch, and if you’re lucky enough to go to a school that provides them, you don’t have any choice in what you’re eating.

When I was younger, the food we brought to lunch was a status symbol. It was important to have food that was acceptable to eat or trade. No one wanted to be the kid in the corner with nothing for lunch but a stinky tuna sandwich on really chewy whole wheat and an apple. The kids with the lunches like that were generally left to their own devices, while the other kids went about trading chips for cookies and peaches for grapes. Now I know that obesity in kids is a big deal, and more and more people are shunning junk food, but there are ways to make delicious, healthy, and quite enviable food. And not just lunches for the under 18 crowd. People have been taking their food to work for ages. In some countries, the traditional packed lunch has reached epic proportions, crossing borders and even oceans.

Take the Japanese bento box, for instance. You can go into just about any Japanese place and get something with the word bento in its title. And being Japanese food, and most likely overpriced, we assume that this is something special, this lunch arranged carefully into a box. Really its what people there take to school, work, and can even order on long train rides. Often artfully prepared, filled with a well balanced meal but packed nicely into a box that can be taken to whatever your final destination may be. It isn’t just Japan with these lunchtime traditions. Just about every country in the world has them, and most are a good deal healthier than what we get here in the US. Most also get more than 20 minutes to wolf down a sandwich and chug ones milk.

I’m certainly not saying to pack a bento box, complete with grilled fish and pickled plums for your 8 year olds school lunch. As “in” as Japanese food is right now, that would probably be viewed as strange. Besides, I don’t know many American 8 year olds who enjoy pickled plums and cold fish. But take a cue from the Japanese, or the Indians, with their tiffin tin lunches and make something enjoyable, well balanced, and fun.

Right, it sounds so easy. Till its 7 in the morning and school starts at 8:30 and someone won’t get out of bed and someone else needs to finish homework. At a lot of points in my growing up, it made more sense for me to pack my lunch the night before and just grab it out of the refrigerator before running out of the door, barefoot, with socks and shoes in one hand, hair still uncombed and a bagel stuck between my teeth. I was one of the ones who liked to sleep in.

Unless the recipient of the lunch in question has access to a microwave or stovetop right at school or work, the best lunches are those that taste good cold. A big thermos filled with soup tends to go lukewarm and flavorless unless that’s one really good thermos. Sandwiches are good, and definitely a lunchtime standard. Salads are good as well, but put the tomatoes and dressing in separate containers with either salad or sandwiches. If not, you end up with mushy bread or soggy, weighted down lettuce. As far as fruit/chips/side dishes/desserts, that entirely depends on the person. I love fruit but got sick of apples at about age 12. A container full of sliced mangos and kiwi generally keeps me content. Or anything out of the ordinary, bright, colorful, and non apple like. I like having vegetables with my lunches too. Something fresh and crispy tasting is nice after being indoors, breathing in recycled air all day. My favorites are snap peas and those little Persian cucumbers. Just wash a whole one and throw it in, skin and all. Dessert is always good, but It is important to remember serving sizes. A cookie the size of one’s face, while tempting, is far too much. On that same note, 10 Oreos for one kid is too much. And seriously, they may say its for a friend, but if you had 10 Oreos sitting in front of you, where would they go? I’d say stick to 2 smaller cookies (easily smaller than the palm of your hand) or hmm, 1 brownie, 1 3 inch fruit tart (my favorite), 1 sliver of pie. Its lunch time, there doesn’t need to be a whole lot going on there. With some kids, you can skip the sweets all together and just stick with lots and lots of fruit salad. For others, that doesn’t cut it.

My Favorite sandwich (the grown up version)
1 French roll, toasted
¼ cup onions, sautéed until soft and just beginning to brown
½ chicken breast grilled and thinly sliced
¼ of a medium ripe avocado, thinly sliced
1 tsp Dijon mustard
½ cup bean sprout

The way I assemble this one is to toast the roll, spread the mustard on the bottom, , followed by the sprouts, onions, and chicken, in that order, topped with the avocado smushed into the top of the roll. Normally I wrap it in foil pretty tightly and it will stay together all day.

My favorite sandwich (the kid version)

Most of the kids I know aren’t fans of onions or mustard, which give the sandwich above a lot of its flavor. A lot don’t enjoy avocado either, so I’ve left that out, but, as usual, put in what your child likes.

1 French roll, toasted

½ chicken breast, grilled and thinly sliced

¼ of a regular cucumber, peeled and sliced thin

½ cup bean sprouts

1 tbs ranch dressing

3 slices tomato

Put the chicken, cucumber slices, and sprouts on the roll and wrap it up. The ranch and tomato promise to make that bread pretty soggy by noon, so pack those separately and let the kid put them on right before eating the sandwich.

Enjoy!

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