Read Best Lunch Box Ever Online
Authors: Katie Sullivan Morford
Best Lunch Box Ever (16 page)
MAKES 3 OR 4 SERVINGS
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1
/
2
teaspoon chili powder
1
/
4
teaspoon ground cumin
2 dashes of cayenne pepper
3 cups leftover cooked black beans, drained
2
/
3
cup water
1
/
2
teaspoon salt, plus more if needed
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
2
/
3
cup light sour cream
In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring often, until tender and translucent, 3 to 4 minutes.
Add the chili powder, cumin, and cayenne to the pan and stir until the onion is evenly coated with the spices, another minute or so. Add the beans and water and cook until the beans are good and hot, 2 to 3 minutes.
Transfer the beans to a blender. Add the
1
/
2
teaspoon salt, the lime juice, and sour cream, and blend until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Taste and add more salt if needed.
Divide the soup between three or four thermoses.
MAKE-AHEAD NOTES:
can be made up to 2 days ahead and stored in the refrigerator. Reheat the morning before school.
TIP: HOMEMADE BEAN BACKUP
If you don't have homemade cooked beans on hand, you can substitute canned. One 15-ounce can of beans is about 1
1
/
2
cups.
Thermos Beans
CHEESY BEANS
are a lunch staple on those days when we don't have a lot of food in the house. Whether I'm relying on my own cooked beans or ones from a can, my kids are big fans. And I am, too, since beans are so nutritious. If you like, you can serve this with a little stack of tortilla chips on the side for interest and crunch.
MAKES 2 SERVINGS
1
1
/
2
cups leftover cooked black or pinto beans, drained
1
/
2
cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
3 tablespoons canned diced mild green chiles
Juice of
1
/
2
lemon
Salt
1
/
2
cup coarsely grated sharp Cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese
In a small saucepan, heat the beans, corn, and chiles over medium heat until the corn is fully cooked, about 5 minutes.
Squeeze the juice from the lemon half over the bean mixture and season with salt. Remove from the heat, add
1
/
4
cup of the cheese, and stir until combined.
Divide the bean mixture between two thermoses. Top with the remaining cheese.
MAKE-AHEAD NOTES:
can mix together the beans, corn, and chiles a day before and store in the refrigerator. Reheat the morning before school and add the lemon juice, salt, and cheese.
KICK THE CAN
Most food manufacturers use an unfriendly chemical called BPA (bisphenol A) to line their cans. BPA is best minimized, especially among pregnant women and young children. Luckily, there are options such as buying soups and other foods in glass jars and boxes, or looking for food manufacturers that can without BPAs.
Crock-Pot of Beans
If the only thing I could do with my slow cooker were to cook dried beans, the appliance would still be worth the cost and storage space. Beans are dirt cheap, meganourishing, lunch-box friendly, and better tasting than canned.
This method takes less than 5 minutes of prep, requires no babysitting a bubbling pot, and leaves you with an abundance of beans to use for tacos, soups, salads, and even sandwiches. Store whatever you don't eat after several days in the freezer, where it will keep for up to 3 months.
Rinse and drain 1 pound of dried beans, picking out any stones. Put the beans in the slow cooker and cover with water by 4 inches. Do not turn on the slow cooker. Soak at least 8 hours or up to overnight.
Drain the soaked beans, rinse, and put them back into the slow cooker. Add 2 peeled garlic cloves, 2 bay leaves, and 1 onion that has been peeled and quartered. Cover with water by 1
1
/
2
inches. Cook on high until just tender, 4 to 4
1
/
2
hours for black, pinto, and white beans; 5 to 5
1
/
2
hours for chickpeas. Cooking times will vary depending on your appliance. Remove the bay leaves, any obvious onion or garlic pieces, and season with salt.
Note:
This method is not appropriate for cooking kidney beans, which contain phytohemagglutinin, a toxin that may not be eliminated in the slow cooker.
Sesame Noodles
THIS RECIPE
will work with whatever vegetables you have on hand that are good eaten raw. Just chop them up, toss them with leftover noodles, and then coat them with a lip-smacking, Asian-accented peanut sauce. Yum! If peanut butter is off-limits, use cashew butter instead. On days you don't happen to have leftover pasta, look for cooked Asian noodles such as soba and udon in the refrigerated section of your supermarket, usually near the tofu.
MAKES 2 OR 3 SERVINGS
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon natural unsweetened creamy peanut butter
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon seasoned rice vinegar
1 teaspoon honey
1 tablespoon water
2 cups leftover cooked noodles such as spaghetti, soba, or udon
1
/
2
cup chopped raw crunchy vegetables (any combo of carrots, cucumbers, red peppers, snap peas)
1
/
2
cup cubed (
1
/
3
inch) baked tofu or
1
/
2
cup cooked shelled edamame
2 green onions, white and light green parts only, thinly sliced
In a medium bowl, whisk together the sesame oil, peanut butter, soy sauce, rice vinegar, honey, and water until creamy and smooth.