Lunch-box main dishes ...

Packing a really good lunch-box meal—one that is high in important food values and in appetite appeal—takes more careful planning than many a meal that goes on the family table. For lunch-box foods are necessarily limited to those that can be held for several hours without spoiling or losing their freshness. But there are foods that pack well, and ways to vary them, so packed lunches need not be monotonous.

Sandwiches tend to be the “backbone” of the lunch-box meal. And when the fillings are high in protein foods—meats, eggs, cheese, fish, peanut butter, baked beans—they really are main dishes. To increase the protein value of these sandwiches, be generous with the filling. One-fourth cup of filling, spread clear to the edge of the bread, or 2 slices of meat or cheese, is not too much. Salmon or egg salad on a roll is a better main dish and more appetizing if part of the roll is scooped out to make room for more filling. Use centers as bread crumbs.

Provide variety in sandwiches by using different kinds of bread. For instance, “cheese on rye” is a favorite, but cheese on raisin bread or Boston brown bread may be a welcome change.

Vary the fillings—spread salad dressing or prepared mustard, topped with sliced cucumber or a lettuce leaf, over the meat or cheese; spread a thin layer of jelly over the peanut butter. Try different kinds of cheese. Or make a cheese spread: Put cheese through the food chopper and add jam or mashed cooked fruit, or salad dressing with chopped onion or sweet pickle.

For food value and variety, pack a salad of raw fruits or vegetables with the sandwich lunch. If the sandwiches are a little low in protein, include cottage cheese in the salad. Even with dressing and greens, salad travels well in a covered container of paper, glass, or plastic.

Hot soups, stews, or chowders—made with meats, fish, or beans—are good winter additions to the sandwich lunch. An individual-size insulated bottle or wide-mouth container for them may be a good investment, if these hot dishes cannot be bought at school or at work.

Moist, soft sandwich filling or salad mixtures made with finely chopped meat, eggs, or fish with salad dressing spoil quickly when temperatures are high. Refrigerate all such mixtures immediately after buying or making them and use them within 2 days. Lunches containing these mixtures are best refrigerated if they have to stand more than 3 or 4 hours before they are eaten.

45

Salads

Ham and Egg.—For each serving, use 1 chopped hard-cooked egg, ¼ cup chopped cooked ham. Add onion, celery, green pepper, pickle, and salad dressing to taste.

Meat and Macaroni.—Mix equal parts of cooked meat and macaroni. Add chopped pickles and celery and moisten with salad dressing.

Meat and Bean.—Use shredded chipped beef, or chopped cooked corned beef. Mix with any kind of cooked dry beans; add diced onion and tart dressing.

Potato With Meat.—Mix cut-up ham or crumbled bacon with potatoes. Add cut-up pickles, celery, onion, and salad dressing.

Meat and Fruit.—Mix any cut-up cooked meat with celery and raisins or raw dried apricots. Add salt and salad dressing as needed.

Egg and Beet.—Combine sliced hard-cooked eggs and pickled beets. Add shredded endive or other salad greens. Pack dressing separately.

Kidney Bean.—Combine drained cooked kidney beans, cut-up celery, dill pickles, and cubed cheese. Add mayonnaise.

Fish.—Shred leftover cooked fish—halibut, salmon, or sardines. Combine with cut-up celery, cooked peas, lemon juice, and salad dressing.

Chicken.—Mix equal parts of cut-up cooked chicken and crisp celery. Add salad dressing and thin slices of sweet pickle or stuffed olives.

Sandwich fillings

Sliced Meat or Cheese.—Use two slices with vegetables between. Good combinations are: Beef with parsley or thinly sliced tomato and salad dressing; tongue with watercress and salad dressing or prepared mustard; cheese with either of the above combinations, or with jam, jelly, or marmalade.

Bacon.—Crumble crisp fried bacon, and add it to one of the following: Cottage cheese, sliced tomato, diced hard-cooked egg, raw carrots, onion, sweet or dill pickles.

Baked Bean.—Mash cold baked beans and moisten with thick chili sauce. Add diced sweet pickle and thinly sliced onion or cucumber.

Peanut Butter.—Mix equal parts of peanut butter and chopped raisins or other raw dried fruit. Or, mix the peanut butter with diced pickle and chopped onion.

Cheese Salad.—Dice cheese fine. Add a little chopped onion and green pepper or parsley, season, and moisten with salad dressing.

Cottage Cheese.—Mix cottage cheese with cut-up celery, a little grated carrot, diced pickles, and nuts.

Fish.—Mix flaked cooked fish with chopped cabbage, salad dressing, and salt to taste. Or mash sardines with hard-cooked egg.

Egg.—Combine diced hard-cooked egg, celery, and pickles with prepared mustard and salad dressing.

46

Other main dishes for the lunch box

Hot Soup.—Add thin slices of frankfurter or Vienna sausage to split-pea or bean soup. Pack some cheese to go with vegetable or cream soup or corn chowder. Heat soups very hot; pack in insulated container.

Meat Stews.—A favorite stew with vegetables and gravy, kept hot in an insulated container until lunch time, is a welcome winter dish.

Baked Beans, Corned Beef Hash, Creamed Meats, or Eggs.—These are cold-weather dishes. Pack hot in special insulated container.

Cheese.—A large slice of cheese or serving of cottage cheese teams well with fruit in summer lunches.

Deviled Eggs.—Mash, season, and moisten hard-cooked egg yolks as usual. Add finely chopped peanuts or cooked meat before stuffing the egg whites with the yolk mixture.

Chicken or Chop.—Yesterday’s drumstick or pork chop makes a main dish to eat out of hand.

Sliced Meat.—Spread two slices of ham or other meat with chopped vegetables and salad dressing. Roll, and fasten with toothpicks.

Smoked Fish.—Bone and skin pieces; pack by themselves. Drain oil-packed sardines; wrap well.

Luncheon Meats.—Many ready-to-serve meats—liver sausage, bologna, salami, spiced meat loaves—give as high protein value per pound as fresh meats. Keep cold, add to lunch last.

To complete the lunch-box meal

Plan the lunch-box meal to include contrasts in flavors and textures. It is more appetizing when it contains something moist to offset the dry foods, tart foods to offset the sweet, and crisp foods as well as soft.

Relishes.—Raw vegetables and pickles add crispness to the sandwich lunch. Try carrot and celery sticks, pieces of cauliflower or turnip, sliced cucumber or onion, or crisp lettuce leaves rolled together.

Desserts.—With soup or salad, use cake or cookies for contrast. If the main dish is sandwiches, choose a juicy fresh fruit.

Fresh fruits are easy to pack and popular. As a change from the often-used apples, oranges, and bananas, try plums, grapes, and pears in season.

Baked and canned fruits travel well in covered containers—glass, plastic, or paper. Try an occasional baked pear or peach, as well as apple.

Sweet fruit desserts like pie or fruitcake or fruit-filled cookies taste best after a tart salad or a milk-flavored soup.

Baked custards are good to use when the main dish is low in protein. It is best not to use cake with cream filling, or cream pie or cream puffs. The fillings spoil easily in hot weather, or even in winter if the lunch is not kept in a cool place.

47