Hello again! As promised, here’s the second installment of Paleo Lunchboxes 2014, my collaboration with our pals at LunchBots—the gleaming stainless steel food containers you see in these posts. Our mission is to demonstrate that packed lunches can be simple, nourishing, and magically delicious for kids and adults alike.
Like the first box in this year’s series, today’s lunch can be assembled the night before, so all you’ll need to worry about in the morning is dragging yourself out of bed and eating breakfast. And wiping the sleep from your eyes.
Spicy Tuna Cakes are a big hit with our whole family…almost. (Big-O digs these portable veggie-and-protein cakes, but Lil-O doesn’t like spicy foods, so he’s less of a fan. Man, six-year-olds have no taste.)
Bonus: these tuna cakes taste great cold, too.
You can whip up a dozen (or even double the recipe!) in advance, and pack the next day’s lunchbox(es) before you go to bed. Your reward for planning ahead? Getting to hit the snooze button a couple of extra times in the morning.
My recipe for Spicy Tuna Cakes has been around for a while now; it was first introduced in my iPad app, and since then, it’s popped up in my cookbook and on my blog). So if you haven’t tried ’em yet, what are you waiting for?
Get the recipe here on the blog—or check it out in the free downloadable 50-page sample of my cookbook.
Pro tip: The key to making compact tuna cakes that don’t fall apart is to make sure you drain the liquid from the canned fish before mixing the ingredients together.
Also, feel free to substitute canned salmon for the tuna. You can further customize your seafood cakes by adjusting the spiciness: just add or subtract red pepper flakes to your liking. (Henry and I like our tuna cakes wickedly hot; Lil-O prefers zero spice.)
One more tip: make sure you grease your muffin tins well to ensure that the cakes release easily.
As a simple side, I add cut up raw veggies (a.k.a. crudités, if you want to talk all fancy) and a flavored mayonnaise to the lunchbox.
If you’ve never made homemade Paleo-friendly mayonnaise before, check out this post, in which I’ve included all the tips, tricks, and videos that should ensure success. The post also contains bonus recipes for tartar sauce, cilantro lime mayo, curry mayo, and smoky mayo. Another great dipping sauce? The Paleo Ranch Dressing recipe in my cookbook!
Don’t feel like making your own mayonnaise? Tessemae’s and Sir Kensington’s both make tasty mayos with real food ingredients. And fret not, lazy ones: your secret is safe with me.
Voilà!
Stay tuned: I’ve got a lot more Paleo packed lunches coming your way! (You can read Part One here if you missed it earlier.)
(Check out my epic roundup of Paleo Packed Lunchboxes here!)
Looking for more recipes? Head on over to my Recipe Index. You’ll also find exclusive recipes on my Webby Award-winning iPad® app, and in my New York Times best-selling cookbook, Nom Nom Paleo: Food for Humans (Andrews McMeel, December 2013).
