It’s hard enough to think of tasty lunches for yourself everyday, let alone make inspiring lunchboxes for your kids too.
And if they’re gluten-intolerant, or just plain picky, it’s even tougher to find filling, exciting lunch ideas. So our expert nutritionist, and founder of Lunchbox Doctor, has devised three perfect packed lunches to satisfy every appetite.
Lunchbox Recipes
Carrot Hummus
Ingredients
- 3 carrots, washed and chopped into batons
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- 1 tin of white beans such as haricot or butter, drained and rinsed
- A garlic clove, crushed
- 1½ tbsp lemon juice *
- ½ tsp ground cumin *
- ½ tsp smoked paprika *
Method
Step 1
Preheat oven to 180ºC/fan 160ºC/Gas 4. Drizzle the carrots with oil and roast until soft.
Step 2
Blitz the carrots with the other ingredients in a food processor until smooth.
Seeded Flapjack
Ingredients
- 75g mixed seeds, such as pumpkin * and sunflower *
- 125g butter
- 75g unrefined sugar
- 1 tbsp blackstrap molasses *
- 175g oats *
- 50g dried fruit – cut up larger fruits such as prunes * or apricots *
Method
Step 1
Preheat oven to 180ºC/fan 160ºC/Gas 4. Whiz the seeds to a powder in food processor or coffee grinder. Do this in batches if using a coffee grinder.
Step 2
Melt the butter, sugar and molasses together in a saucepan. Add the oats, dried fruit and ground seeds, and mix well together.
Step 3
Spread the mixture out on a baking tin, lined with greaseproof paper, and bake for 20-25 mins or until golden brown.
Step 4
Cut whilst hot, and then allow to cool in baking tray before removing.
Beetroot Chocolate Brownie Cake
Ingredients
- 125g cooked beetroot, finely grated
- 125g butter
- 250g dark chocolate * broken into squares
- 3 eggs, beaten
- 2 tbsp barley malt syrup * or honey *
- 1 tsp vanilla extract *
- 100g wholegrain spelt flour *
- 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda *
Method
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 200ºC/fan 180ºC/Gas 6. Combine the flour, bicarbonate of soda and beetroot in a bowl.
Step 2
Melt the butter and chocolate in a different bowl over a pan of boiling water, being careful not to let the bowl touch the boiling water.
Step 3
Add the melted butter and chocolate mix to the flour and beetroot mix. Fold in the eggs, then add the syrup and vanilla extract.
Step 4
Pour into a 20cm x 20cm baking tin, greased and/or lined as necessary. Bake for 20-25 mins until it forms a crust on top but is still a little moist (not uncooked) on the inside.