Gluten-free diet or not Eliza has never been one to take the standard PB & J with chips and cookies. She has always been an adventurous eater and loves to help plan her school lunches. She started brainstorming lunch for the first week of school about a month ago. Can you say future foodie? We found inspiration perusing Marla Meredith’s Project Lunch Box over on her blog, Family Fresh Cooking, and by clicking through the Project Lunch Box board on Pinterest. Eventually, Eliza decided that she wanted to build an entire lunchbox around her new-found love for steamed edamame. This lunchbox is gluten and dairy free except for the fortune cookies which came with our dinner at PF Chang’s a few nights ago. Did you know that they have a gluten-free menu? We order takeout from there now and I especially love the individual packets of gluten-free soy sauce that come with our meals. They are perfect for packing in lunches like this!
Eliza’s Spring Rolls
1 red bell pepper, julienned
1 yellow bell pepper, julienned
1 Persian cucumber, julienned
1 handful of shredded carrots
1/4 cup cilantro leaves, no stems
1/2 cup butter lettuce, torn into small pieces
If you have never worked with rice papers before I suggest that you click here for a great tutorial on how to use these fabulous gluten-free wrappers.
Prep all of the ingredients and set aside.
Working with 1 rice paper at a time dip the paper into a pie plate filled half way with water until the entire wrap is dampened. Lay flat on a cutting board for about 30 seconds so that the water can seep into the wrap and it becomes pliable and sticky. Place a small amount of all of the veggies into the middle of the rice wrap and roll like you would a burrito.
Roll as many of these little beauties as you need and store the rest of the prepped veggies for lunches later in the week.
Besides the steamed edamame sprinkled with sea salt and the spring rolls filled with veggies that mimic the colors of the rainbow we packed a handful of rainier cherries and champagne grapes. All of these fruits and veggies are sure to give her the energy boost she needs to make it through the second half of her day at school.
We are happy to have shared this post at the Gluten-Free Friday’s link up party hosted by Vegetarian Mama, Eat.Live.Make, and Gluten Freed R.D.! Hop on over to find more great gf recipes.
Looks Amazing! That is so cool that your little girl is a foodie in the making 🙂 Love that!
Thanks! We were pretty excited about digging into her creation after we took the pictures. I feel fortunate that she loves food so much! It has made switching to a gluten-free diet so much easier for us.
That is such a beautifully colourful lunchbox meal!
I came across your post from foodgawker and was instantly attracted to all the whole and fresh produce being used. I’m nearing the end of a dietetics degree at university and am always so inspired when I see posts like yours. This is exactly what we need to make the future healthier – educating children about the fresh foods around them and how yummy they are, and helping them make their food choices early on. It’s shocking that there are so many kids out there that can’t even name fruits and veg when they see it raw, and instead relate them to their processed counterparts. You must be so proud of your future-foodie daughter 😀
Wow, thank you so much for the kind words! Congrats on being almost finished with school that is such a huge accomplishment. As a family we made the choice early on to teach our kids about food from seed to table. We have volunteered at community gardens and even helped to start a Farmer’s Market in a small town where we lived for a few years. All of these things we have done with our kids by our side and we are so proud of who they are turning out to be. It saddens me to think of the children that aren’t raised to appreciate a healthy wholesome diet. I hope that you continue to stop by our blog and keep us up to date on what is happening with you. We love to hear from our readers!
Thanks for the nice compliments we will definitely be submitting to your site soon!
how can you use rice paper for lunch?
did it turn dry and hard after several hours?
please let me know how to store that kind of spring rolls. i had made it and after several hours, the rice paper turned to hard and un eadible.
Hi Anna,
I am so sorry you had a problem! I think it works without incident for my daughter because she always had lunch pretty early in the day. Try wrapping each spring roll individually with plastic wrap so that they remain fresh and won’t stick.