Weeknight Cooking

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April 16, 2015
10 Comments

Every week we take a peek inside the lunches of the luckiest kids in Brooklyn. Read on, suppress your jealousy, and get a little brown bag inspiration.

We just got back from a spring break road trip to Nashville and other parts of the mid-South where we ate a lot of burgers and fried chicken, so I thought it would be a good idea to send our kids to school with some lighter fare to recalibrate them to Brooklyn life. It doesn't matter that I made us 20 minutes late to school in doing so, does it? Lunch is important. (I snuck them in the side door and up the staircase to avoid being written up—ah, kids, there are fun adventures to be had when your dad is away!) I whipped up some smoked salmon, cream cheese, and mustard green sandwiches. For their cafeteria intermezzo: a salad of avocado, red onion, grapefruit, and blood orange. Chocolate toffees petit fours. Recess for dessert!

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Amanda Hesser

Written by: Amanda Hesser

Before starting Food52 with Merrill, I was a food writer and editor at the New York Times. I've written several books, including "Cooking for Mr. Latte" and "The Essential New York Times Cookbook." I played myself in "Julie & Julia" -- hope you didn't blink, or you may have missed the scene! I live in Brooklyn with my husband, Tad, and twins, Walker and Addison.

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10 Comments

anne
anne June 1, 2015
That looks like pickled red onion, no? That would be so very good with the citrus, avocado salad. Yum. I am so impressed that your kids have such a sophisticated pallet. I wouldn't have gone near any of this stuff as a kid. I do now, of course, but back then it was buttered noodles all the way!
 
Amanda H.
Amanda H. June 2, 2015
Yes, it is pickled! You have a good eye. :)
 
Christina P.
Christina P. April 20, 2015
Hi+Amanda+-+love+your+lunches!+Where+is+your+glassware+from??
 
Amanda H.
Amanda H. April 20, 2015
Hi Christina, thanks for your note. You can find the lunch cubes here: http://www.amazon.com/Wean-Green-Garden-Lunch-Containers/dp/B005OK1H8K
 
Natasha W.
Natasha W. April 17, 2015
This looks great! I love new ideas to spice up my kids lunch box. I am curious about the avocado... my daughter loves avocado but they brown quickly. Does the grapefruit help solve that probelm or do you children not mind so much?
 
Amanda H.
Amanda H. April 17, 2015
Yes, that's exactly what I was thinking -- that the citrus would stave off the browning until lunchtime. It seemed to work!
 
geekjello
geekjello April 17, 2015
Love to see a child's lunch of diverse flavors! That was a gift my mom gave me at a young age and I don't thank her often enough for not making me one of those pb and j/ranch dressing on everything/chicken fingers only kids.
 
Barbara
Barbara April 16, 2015
Wow. You sure have tastes that are far different than most of the country. Pass the PB and J, please.
 
witloof
witloof April 16, 2015
Barbara, I'm from the midwest and I HATED PB and J. Now I live in Manhattan and I eat this kind of food all the time. I'm much, much happier now that I don't live in a part of the country where other people view anything unfamiliar as suspicious.
 
Liz B.
Liz B. April 16, 2015
Smoked salmon or herring sandwiches are also my go-to! So easy to slap together the night before...

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