Get Creative When You Fix Family’s Sack Lunches

After years of brown-bag lunches, the school that my friend’s children attend finally got a hot lunch program.

In front of her family, she was vocally relieved to avoid the adolescent pickiness every morning about what filled the sandwich. But to me, she secretly moped, confiding how much she missed the creativity of trying new ideas on a captive audience.

That they were a captive audience proved my friend’s skill. She made creative sandwich spreads that won over both children and husband. Over the years, her forte became spreads low in fat and cholesterol, born of her husband’s need to lower his heart-attack risk.

I got to know her recipes through summertime neighborhood picnics; she always brought a platter of raw vegetables piled around a bowl of some new spread. Being a brown bagger (and recipe hunter) myself, I often came away from the picnic with scribbled notes.

Whenever the family had Mexican dinners, she pureed the leftover cooked beans (from enchiladas or burritos) with spices and garlic. The bean spread was wrapped in tortillas, warmed up later in the lunchroom microwave. The spread also found its way into whole-wheat pita pockets layered with vegetables and low-fat cheese.

Instead of 100 percent mayonnaise, she preferred a spread of nonfat, plain yogurt and reduced-calorie mayonnaise, cutting fat by more than half.

Peanut butter was mixed half-and-half with pureed tofu. That lowered the saturated fat content, and none of the kids was the wiser, since peanut butter’s strong flavor masks most anything.

Her favorite for grown-up lunches was a tofu-based cheese, made by mashing soft tofu with a little reduced-calorie mayonnaise or tahini (sesame paste). The “cheese” was flavored with anything from chopped olives to roasted red bell peppers.

When I first tried the olive “cheese” she made, my husband (who’s not enthused about tofu) polished off several cups in less than a week.

Dairy-Free Olive “Cheese”

This delicious version from “Natural Health” magazine is very similar to my friend’s recipe.

8 ounces soft tofu, mashed well

2 tablespoons miso paste

1 tablespoon tahini (sesame paste)

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

2 tablespoons reduced-calorie canola or safflower mayonnaise

1/2 teaspoon minced fresh garlic

2 teaspoons dried dillweed

2 tablespoons chopped black olives

Mash together tofu, miso and tahini in bowl until smooth. Stir in vinegar, mayonnaise, garlic, dillweed and olives. Pack spread in container. Cover and let marinate overnight before using. Keeps 8 days.

Yield: 1-1/2 cups.

Cottage Cheese and Vegetable Salad Spread

This salad spread fits perfectly into summertime pita bread sandwiches.

1 pound nonfat cottage cheese

2 green onions, thinly sliced

2/3 cup finely chopped green pepper

2/3 cup finely chopped red bell pepper

1 tablespoon minced fresh basil

1 tablespoon minced jarred or fresh jalapeno chilies

1 tablespoon dried dillweed

1 teaspoon curry powder

1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt

Ground black pepper

2 teaspoons rice vinegar

1 teaspoon minced garlic

Combine cottage cheese, onions, green and red peppers, basil, jalapenos, dillweed, curry powder, salt, pepper to taste, vinegar and garlic in bowl.

Yield: About 2 cups.

Mexican Bean Spread

My friend’s simplest spread was mashed leftover pinto beans and lots of garlic. I always add 1 or 2 spoonfuls of red jalapeno peppers, which I buy jarred in the supermarket.

2 cups cooked pinto beans

1/2 red onion, minced

4 large cloves garlic, minced, or to taste

2 tablespoons reduced-sodium barbecue sauce

2 teaspoons minced red or green jalapenos

Puree beans, onion, garlic, barbecue sauce and jalapenos in food processor at high speed until thick and smooth.

Yield: About 2 cups.