As a parent of a child at school, I know it can be hard to come up with healthy lunch box ideas on the daily. I can also relate to the anticipation felt by parents over whether their child has eaten the food given, come pick up time!
To help other parents out, I have recently been posting on my instagram some pictures of my daughters lunch box contents and have been asked to share the recipes. Please see some of the ideas below!
Simple hummus
Serves: 8-10
Pre: 5min
Cook: n/a
Ingredients
1 x 400g chickpeas, rinsed and drained (or 1.5 cups cooked from scratch)
2-3 tbsp. tahini paste
1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
½ tbsp. lemon juice
water, to thin
Method
Place chickpeas, tahini, lemon and olive oil in a food processor or blender until smooth. Add extra water or olive oil if needed.
Store in a glass container in the fridge for 3-4, drizzled the top with olive oil to help keep it moist.
Tip: if purchasing a pre-made hummus, look for a brand, which uses extra virgin olive oil.
Additions: if your child is quite adventurous, you can add roasted capsicum, fresh garlic, cumin, grated carrot or roasted pumpkin to the above recipe.
Cauliflower rice salad
Serves: 6
Pre: 10min
Cook: 40min
Ingredients
½ small head cauliflower, cut into florets
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into 2-3cm cubes
½ small avocado, diced
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1-2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 handful coriander leaves (or can use parsley)
1 tbsp. hemp seeds
Method
Preheat oven to 180C, place sweet potato on a baking tray with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, bake for 20-30min until tender, set aside.
In a food processor, add cauliflower florets and pulse until a ‘rice’ like consistency is reached.
In a frying pan, heat olive oil, add cauliflower and gently sautee for approx. 5 minutes, until the ‘grains’ soften. Set aside.
In a large bowl, combine cauliflower rice, sweet potato, avocado, coriander, hemp seeds, lemon juice and an extra drizzle of olive oil.
Additions: roasted capsicum, salmon, roasted carrot, feta cheese, green beans, cooked rice or quinoa.
Tip: add avocado jut before serving to prevent browning.
Bean Bolognese
Serves 6-8
Pre: 10min
Cook: 1hour
Ingredients
1 x 400g can mixed beans, drained
1 onion, peeled and sliced
1 x 400g jar tomato passata
1 x can chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 red capsicum, sliced
1 tsp. sweet paprika
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp. cumin, ground (more if preferred)
1 tsp. coriander, ground (more if preferred)
Method
Heat olive oil in a frying pan, add onion and garlic and cook for 4-5 minutes until soft, do not burn. Add paprika, cumin and coriander and fry off for 1 min.
Add capsicum to the pan and fry off for 2-3 minutes before adding the beans, tomatoes and passata.
Bring to the boil and let simmer for approx. 40min until vegetables are tender.
Remove from the heat and top with fresh herbs if preferred.
Snack ideas
• Fresh vegetable sticks (carrot, baby cucumbers, capsicum, cherry tomatoes) with hummus
• Seaweed or brown rice rice crackers with dip such as hummus
• Fresh fruit – strawberries, berries, apple etc
• Yoghurt
• Homemade seed/fruit bars or baked muffin/slice
• Popcorn
• Roasted seaweed packs
