Bag Lunch: Healthy Meals on the Go

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Salad Niçoise

Apple-Date Bars

Salad Niçoise

Salad Niçoise is a classic. Fresh, clean flavors of boiled potatoes, green beans, hard-boiled eggs, and fresh fish make it a centerpiece for summer lunch or dinner. Line-caught tuna is the preferred sustainable choice, but this salad can also be made with canned tuna. Be sure to buy dolphin-free, water-packed light meat for the best flavor and the most environmentally safe choice.

Eight servings

• 1 cup canola oil
• 2 whole sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 clove garlic, peeled
• 1/4 tsp. whole fennel seed, toasted
• 1/4 tsp. black peppercorn, toasted
• 1/2 lb. fresh tuna
• 2 tbsp. shallots, minced
• 1/2 oz. Dijon mustard
• 1/2 cup red-wine vinegar
• 1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• salt
• pepper
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 lb. green beans
• 1 lb. baby red potatoes
• 1 lb. fresh tomatoes, wedges
• 4 oz. Niçoise olives
• 2 tbsp. capers, drained and rinsed
• 2 oz. anchovy filets, patted dry
• 1/2 lb. Boston or romaine lettuce

The day before:

Heat canola oil, thyme, garlic, fennel seed, peppercorns, and some salt in a heavy-bottom pan, and add tuna. Cook until the tuna is thoroughly done. Remove the tuna and set it aside in another container. Strain the oil mixture over the tuna, and let it cool in the refrigerator.

The next day:

1. 1. Prepare the vinaigrette using shallots, mustard, vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Boil eggs and steam beans and potatoes. Cut potatoes into chunks and break tuna into bite-size pieces. Pour the vinaigrette over the tuna, beans, and potatoes.
2. 2. For serving at home, place the lettuce on a plate and top with the tuna mixture and tomatoes, olives, capers, and anchovies; to bring it to school, place the lettuce in a plastic container with the prepared salad on top, then turn it upside down so that the lettuce doesn't get soggy.

June is strawberry month in many parts of the country. For a perfect seasonal side dish, bring fresh strawberries with some low-fat or nonfat organic yogurt.

Apple-Date Bars

These bars can be baked ahead of time, cut, and placed in zip-lock bags; they will keep in the freezer for up to two months.

Eighteen servings

• 2 1/2 oz. butter
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 3 tbsp. milk
• 1/2 cup apples, peeled and chopped
• 1 1/3 cups flour
• 3/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
• 1/2 cup dried dates, pitted and chopped

1. 1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 12- by 9-inch pan.
2. 2. Cream the butter and brown sugar. Mix in the egg and milk. Stir in the apples.
3. 3. Add the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg, mix thoroughly. Stir in the nuts and dates.
4. 4. Spread dough into greased pan and bake for twenty to twenty-five minutes.
5. 5. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for ten minutes before cutting into 2-inch-square bars.

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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.