It may seem too early in the school year to bring up that scourge of school lunches: monotony. With five school lunches a week, week in and week out, the monotony trolls can rear their heads soon enough.
In my school days, sandwiches were a daily staple in sack lunches. If you were lucky enough to have one of those fancy tin boxes with a hinged lid, you might have a small thermos of semi-hot soup or semi-cold beverage with your sandwich. Kids often traded sack and cafeteria lunches. They were trades in which both parties attained what they wanted – the exact same thing: variety.
The proliferation of food products and food -storage containers makes sack lunches easier and more efficient than ever. In addition to offering greater variety to discourage the monotony trolls, consider involving kids in meal planning and preparation in age-appropriate ways as time allows. Kids who help plan and prepare their school lunches are more likely to value and enjoy them. The process can also foster good food sense, as well as kitchen and planning skills.
Here are four dishes to add to your school-year menu rotation. Prepare them for your home enjoyment or inclusion in packed school lunches.
Fish sandwiches can be painfully underdressed when it comes to condiments, vegetables and cheese. Why not adorn them with the same enthusiasm we apply to hamburgers and other sandwiches? Davy Jones Fishwiches attempts to do just that by suggesting a liberal use of extras, such as sweet onion, tomato, lettuce and cheese.
I’m not much of a fan of ramen noodle soup, although I’m sure many are delicious. I do get a lot of mileage out of ramen noodles themselves. Those inexpensive little packages of dried ramen noodles can provide the foundation for a wide variety of dishes, ranging from the rudimentary noodle soup with the enclosed seasoning to very elaborate and sophisticated dishes. Smackin’ Good Ramen Noodles shares characteristics with both types.
For those who have a home garden and grow tomatoes, your cornucopia may be spilling over with ripe tomatoes. What to do with them all? Tomato Sandwiches in a Bowl offers one deliciously nutritious alternative. For the rest of us, tomatoes from the stores and produce stands will do nicely.
Microwaved Mini Cake may be the darling of today’s dishes, but then, desserts often are. How can you have your cake without baking or buying and eat it too? Just follow the recipe for Mini Cake. This single-serving treat can be microwaved in 150 seconds, requiring only a microwave oven, a spoon and a bowl or mug. The simple little cake has few frills to start with, but think frosting and sprinkles, and add-ins like chopped nuts and crumbled cookies. Think tiny fruitcakes around Christmas time and tiny strawberry shortcakes anytime.
Davy Jones Fishwiches
The fish sandwiches served at fast-food restaurants are typically under-furbished, often offering only lettuce and, occasionally, a slice of tomato, cheese, or pickle chips. This version is more like a well-dressed hamburger with most of a burger’s usual adornments. Use several or all of the suggested ingredients when building your fishwiches. When made at home, you really can have it your way. The better the breaded fish fillets, the better the sandwiches will be.
2 cooked bun-sized, breaded fish fillets
2 3½-inch hamburger buns, toasted or warmed
Tartar sauce, sandwich spread or mayonnaise
⅔-1 cup shredded lettuce
2 slices sandwich cheese
2 3/16-inch thick slices sweet onion
2 3/16-inch thick slices tomato (patted with a paper towel for a drier sandwich)
Heat the fillets to serving temperature. Spread tartar sauce, sandwich spread or mayonnaise on the insides of the buns and on top of the fish fillets, if preferred. Place the lettuce, then the cheese, followed by the fillets on the bottom bun halves. Top each with onion, then tomato. Cap with the top bun halves.
Yield: 2 sandwiches
Notes: Gorton’s markets a passable sandwich-sized, breaded fish fillet, perfect for 3½-inch buns. Fish sticks, unbreaded fish fillets, and breaded chicken patties can also be used. Pickle chips are an option, if you can fit them in.
Smackin’ Good Ramen Noodles
Smackin’ Good Ramen Noodles is dressed with a simple sauce that elevates the basic dish. Keep it simple or add a few extra ingredients, such as cooked meat, seafood, egg strips, tofu or vegetables, for a more substantial dish. Smackin’ Good Ramen Noodles is quick and easy, and smackin’ good eating.
1 3-ounce package dried ramen noodles
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 teaspoon sriracha sauce
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
2 cups water
2 to 3 teaspoons ramen water
2 tablespoons, sliced into ⅜-inch pieces, green onion
Break the ramen noodle “brick” into quarters while still in the unopened package (discard the seasoning packet or save it for another use). Combine the next three ingredients in a medium container. Bring the water to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the noodles and return just to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and cook until the noodles are tender, stirring frequently with a fork, making sure the noodles are separated from each other as quickly as possible (they’ll cook in about four minutes). Drain well, reserving about 3 tablespoons of ramen water. Stir 2-3 teaspoons of reserved water into the sauce. Stir in the noodles, ensuring they’re all coated with sauce. Stir in the green onion and a little more of the reserved water, if needed.
Yield: 1 or 2 servings
Notes: Feed several by easily doubling or tripling the recipe.
Tomato Sandwiches in a Bowl
This quick and easy recipe pokes a little fun at the “in-a-bowl” recipes so trendy these days. The recipe offers a not-so-well-disguised, rustic tomato soup eaten in a peculiar fashion, using sandwich bread instead of crackers. Bread quickly soaks up the soup and takes on a luxurious, silky texture. The soup is delicious with or without the bread.
1½ pound ripe tomatoes (about 5 larger Roma-sized tomatoes
1 cup water
⅓ cup chopped onion
⅓ cup chopped bell, Anaheim or jalapeño pepper
2 teaspoons flour
1½ teaspoon any flavor bouillon powder
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
⅛ teaspoon chili powder
⅛ teaspoon dried oregano
⅛ teaspoon garlic powder
⅛ teaspoon onion powder
⅛ teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon butter or margarine
1 teaspoon dried parsley
Sliced sandwich bread
Purée the first five ingredients (through flour) in a blender. Combine all ingredients, except the last four, in a large saucepan. Bring just to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for five minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and stir in the remaining ingredients, except bread. Taste and add bouillon powder to increase the saltiness, if needed. Serve hot with one or two slices of sandwich bread per bowl (tear the bread into bite-sized pieces and stir into the soup).
Yield: About 5 cups
Notes: Include ⅓ cup each of carrot and celery for added nutrition. An 8-ounce can of tomato sauce will improve the creaminess and tomato flavor; increase the seasonings accordingly. Add cooked bacon pieces and shredded lettuce to make BLTs in a bowl.
Microwaved Mini Cake
Here’s my take on the popular mug cakes, so quick and easy to make. I prefer a 10-ounce custard cup to a mug, but either will work fine. A custard cup provides just enough space after cooking for toppings, such as frosting and sprinkles. Four simple ingredients and three minutes in the microwave are all that’s needed to make this delicious, personal-sized cake. Cake won’t brown in a microwave oven, so that’s an excuse to be generous with the toppings.
6 tablespoons cake mix
¼ cup milk
1 to 2 teaspoons flavor-neutral cooking oil
⅛ teaspoon salt
Whisk all ingredients together in a 10- to 12-ounce (lightly oiled bottom, if preferred) microwavable mug or bowl (a 10-ounce custard cup works perfectly). Microwave on high power for about 21/2 minutes in a 1,000-watt microwave oven with a turntable. Cooking times will vary with different-wattage ovens (the cake is finished when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean). Let cool for several minutes. Add some of the toppings after the cake cools a bit, so they don’t melt.
Yield: 1 serving
Notes: Possible toppings and add-ins include frosting, whipped topping, chocolate, strawberry, and caramel syrup, sprinkles, semi-dried and fresh fruit pieces, crumbled candy bars, cookies, and graham crackers, mini marshmallows, baking chips and chopped nuts.
Contact Dick Sellers at dickskitchencorner@outlook.com
