Bag Lunch: Healthy Meals on the Go

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Kale and White Bean Soup

Brown Rice and Tofu Salad

Sweet Potato Biscuits

This is a great warming lunch for the chilly days of winter. Squash, eggplant, and even greens can be added for different flavors. If you're not a fan of seitan, you can replace it with extra-firm tofu or ground turkey for a non-vegetarian version. Soak the beans overnight to shorten the overall cooking time. Take it to school in a widemouthed Thermos.

Kale and White Bean Soup

Research shows that women have all the calcium their bones will absorb by the time they are twenty-five years old. After that, calcium stores are depleted. This soup, with two sources of calcium -- kale and beans -- will both strengthen and warm your bones.

Eight servings

• 11/2 cups onion, diced
• 11/2 T. extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 t. garlic, minced
• 1/2 lb. cannellini beans dry weight, cooked (roughly 21/2 cups cooked)
• 4 cups vegetable stock (plus a bit more to adjust the amount of liquid to your taste)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 t. fresh rosemary, roughly chopped
• 1 t. kosher salt
• 1/8 t. freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups carrots, medium dice
• 7 cups kale, chopped
• 3/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated

• 1. Sauté onions in oil until soft, about five minutes. Add garlic and cook for an additional minute.
• 2. Add cooked beans, stock, salt, pepper, bay leaf, and rosemary and simmer for ten minutes.
• 3. Add carrots and cook another five minutes.
• 4. Add kale and cook about twelve minutes or until kale is tender. Add more vegetable stock if your soup needs more liquid, and warm through.
• 5. Check seasoning, adjust as needed, and serve sprinkled with grated parmesan cheese.

Brown Rice and Tofu Salad

This is a wonderful way to add a whole grain to your diet. The tofu provides protein, and the flavors complement each other beautifully. Serve it as a side dish in a boxed lunch, or add grilled chicken or shrimp to make an entrée.

Eight servings

• 3 1/4 fl. oz. soy sauce
• 2 t. fresh ginger, minced
• 2 T. canola oil
• 1/8 t. crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 t. rice syrup
• 3/4 t. sesame oil
• 1/2 lb. firm tofu
• 4 cups water
• 1 cup brown rice
• 1/2 cup scallions, thinly sliced
• 1/8 t. crushed red pepper

1. 1. In a small bowl, combine soy sauce, ginger, canola oil, crushed red pepper flakes, rice syrup, and sesame oil to make the marinade.
2. 2. Marinate tofu overnight and then press it in a colander under about 1 pound of weight for at least four hours.
3. 3. In four cups of boiling water, cook rice until tender but firm. Remove from water and spread on a cookie sheet to cool.
4. 4. Remove tofu from the press, reserving marinade.
5. 5. Cut tofu into bite-size pieces (approximately 1/2 inch square) and toss with rice in marinade.
6. 6. Add scallions and crushed red pepper flakes. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.

Ann Cooper, as director of nutrition services for the Berkeley Unified School District, in Berkeley, California, works to transform cafeterias into culinary classrooms for students. Her latest book, cowritten with Lisa M. Holmes, is Lunch Lessons: Changing the Way We Feed Our Children. Visit her Web site, Lunch Lessons, at www.lunchlessons.org.

Sweet Potato Biscuits

Biscuits are a perfect snack, and adding sweet potatoes to this recipe boosts flavor and nutrition -- after all, sweet potatoes are a superfood, which means they have a high nutrient-to-calorie ratio. These biscuits can also be served as part of a main meal. If you're out of sweet potatoes, you can use any kind of sweet squash. Pumpkin (even canned, if you're in a hurry) is a great substitute.

Sixteen biscuits

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 tbsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, cold
• 1/2 cup sweet potatoes, cooked and mashed
• 3/4 cup milk

1. 1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. 2. Combine flours, baking powder, and salt in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Stir to mix well.
3. 3. Cut cold butter into small pieces and add to flour mixture.
4. 4. Using your fingertips, work butter into flour until it has the consistency of cornmeal.
5. 5. In a small bowl, combine the milk and sweet potato and mix well using a fork or a whisk. Add to flour mixture all at once and stir quickly just until it forms a ball.
6. 6. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead fourteen times. Do not overwork dough, or it will become tough.
7. 7. Pat dough out until it is 1/2 inch thick. Cut into rounds with a biscuit cutter or the floured top of a drinking glass.
8. 8. Gather scraps, pat them out as before, and cut again until all the dough is used.
9. 9. Place dough rounds on a cookie sheet and bake for eight to ten minutes or until the bottoms of biscuits are golden brown.

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Ann Cooper, as director of nutrition services for the Berkeley Unified School District, in Berkeley, California, works to transform cafeterias into culinary classrooms for students. Her latest book, cowritten with Lisa M. Holmes, is Lunch Lessons: Changing the Way We Feed Our Children. Visit her Web site, Lunch Lessons, at www.lunchlessons.org.