Outside the Lunch Box - The Cubed Lunch and Yummy Snack Dip

So I did not forget about my summer lunch series. My mother-in-law sent me this cute book of lunch ideas for kids and I finally got around to trying some today.

 

The original idea for what we had for lunch was cubed mozarella, cherry tomatoes and basil on skewers. My kids are a little too young for pointy objects so we did it on the plate.

Everything is chopped in little cubed pieces, which makes it easy to eat.

 The fruit of the day was white nectarines. These are so delish!

I served these with..yes...hot dogs (free of nitrates and preservatives). They each got half a slice of pita bread.

 I try to eat something similar to what the kids are eating. It gives them confidence to try something new if you are eating it too. I added some olives to the mix and got some basil from the garden and drizzled it with some EVOO. And yes, I had a hot dog too :)

 You almost always have some leftovers with little ones. This meal packs up easily in a little container to be used at snacktime. This is where our dip comes in.

Ingredients

1 carrot, sliced

2 tbsp. EVOO

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tsp. cumin

1/4 ground cinnamon

1 tsp. ground coriander

2 pinches chili powder

1 can of lima beans, drained and rinsed

juice of 1 lemon

salt and pepper to taste

Start by steaming the carrot until tender. I just did this in the microwave in some water. Heat up the oil in a saucepan and saute the garlic and spices. Add the beans, lemon juice, and 2-3 tbsp of water. Stir until heated through.

Put the carrot and bean mixture in the blender or food processor and process until smooth, adding a bit of water if you need to.

This stuff came out amazing. I was totally impressed. I didn't have any coriander and it still came out terrific. It's kind of like hummus.  We will have it with our leftovers and some more pita, maybe even some celery or carrots.

This literally took 10 minutes and I whipped it up between loads of laundry while the kids were napping. My kids like a snack after naps so this will be perfect. Hopefully mommy won't eat it all before the kids wake up ;)

Enjoy :)