Roz Ka Khana

When my son started public school, I discovered something about myself that I didn’t know before. I actually enjoyed packing his lunches! I liked to plan out a weekly menu for him just like his school calendar, scour the various blogs and sites for back-to-school lunch ideas and yes, also make his lunch look colorful enough for him to want to eat it! It felt very satisfying to pack greens, nuts, veggies, fruits and grains and get a lunch review from him every day. On most days the lunches come back empty, and on some, there are a few half eaten bites. The rule is to leave everything in the box so I can keep track of what he is eating every day.

I tried to be a little more creative than packing mac n cheese and PBJ and being vegetarian, I also had to ensure there was enough protein and fibre in his lunches. And so began the search for a lunch box that would go beyond the basic brown bag. Laptop Lunches did the needful for me! The simple, colorful, plastic containers were just what I needed to get my creative juices flowing and make those lunches look edible too. What follows is a series of some lunch ideas for your school goer…and it works for those work lunch totes too.

Sprouts and Potato Sandwich

Ingredients:

Moong Sprouts – 1/2 cup

Potatoes – boiled and mashed – 2

Whole wheat bread – 4-6 slices

Chaat masala – 1 tsp

Onion, chopped – 1 medium

Green chilies – 1, finely chopped

1. You can prepare the filling the night before. Boil and mash the potatoes, add the onion, green chilies, chaat masala, salt to taste. Mix well.

2. The next morning, preheat the sandwich maker. Butter each slice of bread, add the filling in between, and toast the bread till golden.

Note: You can also add green chutney to this mixture before you add the filling to the buttered slices. Adds some spice to it, so this may be an option for the grown up lunches.

To pack Nikhil’s lunch, I used a kitchen shear to cut the sandwich into smaller triangles, and added orange wedges and yoghurt to make it a filling laptop lunch!