The Fiji Times

Delicious school lunch recipes

- By LANCE SEETO

Banana-oat snack cake

Loaded with oats and bananas, this is a great treat to have on hand after soccer or baseball practice.

12 Servings

6 tablespoon­s unsalted butter, cut into ½” pieces, melted, plus more for baking dish

1½ cups rolled oats

1 cup normal flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

1¼ cups (packed) brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 bananas, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 175°. Lightly coat an 8x8” baking dish with butter and line with parchment paper. Whisk oats, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl; set aside. Whisk brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla in another large bowl until mixture is smooth. 2. Slowly stream butter into brown sugar mixture, whisking constantly until well blended. Add bananas to dry ingredient­s; toss to coat. Stir into brown sugar mixture (batter will be thick). Spread batter in prepared dish. Bake until cake is golden brown and the edges start to pull away from sides of dish, 35–40 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely in dish.

3. Cut into 12 servings.

Rice bowl with fried egg and avocado

Brown rice—higher in fiber and other nutrients than its white counterpar­t—is the perfect vehicle for this quick, protein-heavy lunch.

4 Servings

4 stalks green spring onions, thinly sliced 2 cups cooked brown rice

1 teaspoon red wine vinegar salt, freshly ground pepper

3 tablespoon­s olive oil

4 large eggs

1 avocado, chopped

Hot chilli sauce (for serving)

1.

Mix spring onions, rice, and vinegar in a small bowl; season with salt and pepper.

2. Heat oil in a nonstick frypan over mediumhigh heat. Crack eggs into pan; season with salt and pepper and cook until whites are set around the edges, about 1 minute. Flip eggs and cook to desired doneness, about 30 seconds for a runny yolk.

3. Divide rice among bowls; top with eggs, avocado, and hot chilli sauce.

Steak fajita salad with roti

Mexican dishes offer a world of new flavours to the Fijian palate and this recipe is a great filling for tortilla wraps or homemade roti. Substitute the steak for chicken or fish if desired, for a great new school lunch using local ingredient­s. 2 tablespoon­s olive or coconut oil, divided 1 onion, thinly sliced

1 red capsicum, thinly sliced 1 green capsicum, thinly sliced

8 cups chopped lettuce

1 avocado, halved, seeded, peeled and thinly sliced

Coriander lime dressing

1 cup loosely packed coriander, stems removed 1/2 cup Rewa sour cream

2 tablespoon­s bottled mayonnaise

2 cloves garlic

Juice of 1 lime

Pinch of sea salt

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tablespoon­s apple cider vinegar

Steak marination

1/4 cup olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

Juice of 1 lime

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 kg steak or chicken

1. For the dressing, combine coriander, sour cream, mayonnaise, garlic, lime juice and salt in the bowl of a food processor. With the motor running, add olive oil and vinegar in a slow stream until emulsified; set aside.

2. For the steak or chicken, whisk together olive oil, garlic, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, oregano and onion powder in a small bowl; season with salt and pepper, to taste.

3. In a Ziploc plastic bag or large bowl, combine steak and marinade; marinate for at least 30 minutes, turning the bag occasional­ly. Drain the steak from the marinade, discarding the marinade.

4. Heat 1 tablespoon olive or coconut oil in a grill pan over medium high heat. Working in batches, cook steak, flipping once, to preferred temperatur­e, about 3-4 minutes per side for medium rare. Remove from heat and let rest for 10 minutes before thinly slicing against the grain.

5. Add onion to a frypan, and cook, stirring often, until onions have become translucen­t and slightly caramelize­d, about 7-8 minutes; set aside.

6. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in the frypan. Add capsicums, and cook, stirring often, until soft and slightly caramelize­d, about 8-10 minutes; set aside.

7. To assemble the salad, place lettuce in a large bowl; top with arranged rows of onion, capsicum, steak and avocado.

8. Serve immediatel­y with coriander lime dressing.

Steamed chicken wings

500g chicken wings 2 tbsp grated ginger 1 tsp salt & pepper BBQ Lamb Chops 2 tbsp olive oil

250 g lamb chops

1 tsp salt & pepper 2 tbsp BBQ sauce Chicken Sausage 250g chicken sausage 1 cup onions (julliened)

1. Prepare steamer. Mix grated ginger, salt & pepper in a dish and put in the steamer for 15 minutes or until chicken is cooked.

2. In a pan, pour olive oil and fry lamb chops. Add salt, pepper and BBQ sauce and mix evenly. Let it cook for 8 minutes.

3. In another pan, pour olive oil and fry chicken sausages with onions for 5-7 minutes.

4. Prepare any available fruits.

5. Prepare salads.

6. Prepare a spread and allow children to pack their own lunch boxes.

 ?? Picture: LANCE SEETO Picture: LANCE SEETO ?? This Japanese mum decided to get creative with her child’s lunchbox.
Right: Banana nut brownies.
Picture: LANCE SEETO Picture: LANCE SEETO This Japanese mum decided to get creative with her child’s lunchbox. Right: Banana nut brownies.
 ?? Picture: LANCE SEETO ?? Steak fajita with roti.
Picture: LANCE SEETO Steak fajita with roti.
 ?? Picture: LANCE SEETO ?? Fried egg avocado rice bowl.
Picture: LANCE SEETO Fried egg avocado rice bowl.
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 ?? Picture: LANCE SEETO ?? Sriracha two minute noodles.
Picture: LANCE SEETO Sriracha two minute noodles.
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