Smoked salmon sandwiches with roasted red pepper spread are perfect for a simple, healthful packed school lunches. This post is sponsored by MightyNest.
As a kid with two parents who balanced full-time jobs with child care and night school, I was a lunch buyer. Each day I’d load up my tray with limp french fries or the saddest hamburger in the world, and look longingly at the kids around me with packed lunches. I can’t recall what I envied exactly but it seemed wonderful to bring a lunch from home. Now that I’m a parent, it’s important to me to send my girls to school with a homemade lunch (even if Brian, the early-riser in our family, is the one who actually packs them).
Packing School Lunches
But packing lunches presents a few challenges. We want the food itself to be healthy and interesting and that calls for a little creativity and planning. It’s also important to us to have kid-friendly, environmentally-friendly containers that they can open and use easily, and that we can clean and reuse with little fuss. That’s why I’m so excited to be partnering with MightyNest to highlight their MightyFix program and this elegant, durable stainless steel lunch container.
Might Fix!
MightyFix is a $10 monthly subscription service. Each month, subscribers receive one of MightyNest’s favorite products valued at at least $10. Along with the monthly subscription, MightyFix subscribers receive free shipping on monthly MightyNest orders. That means you can stock up on all the great things you need for a healthy home, too! In addition, 15 percent of your monthly subscription fee is eligible to be donated to your child’s school (details here). Subscriptions can be as long or short as makes sense for you, with no mandatory subscription period, and are ideal for all kinds of households – not just those with children. (MightyFix is currently available to US customers with free shipping. Canadian and Australian MightyFixes ship for a small fee. Full shipping details here.)
To prepare for the year of school lunches ahead, I’ve been experimenting with simple variations on favorite themes. Here, I blended freshly roasted red pepper, garlic, and paprika to our standard cream cheese for a vibrant roasted red pepper spread. The resulting spread was rich, but simple. I layered the smoked salmon sandwiches with the red pepper spread, arugula, and lightly salted radish slices. On the side, carrots and radishes tossed with a squeeze of lime and sea salt, and a few cherry tomatoes from the garden.
Smoked salmon sandwiches with roasted red pepper spread are perfect for simple, healthful packed school lunches.
- 1 red pepper
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1 small clove garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon fresh dill leaves
- 4 slices multigrain bread, lightly toasted
- 4 ounces smoked salmon
- 2 handfuls arugula
- 1 bunch radishes, sliced thin on a mandoline
- sea salt
-
Working ahead, make the cream cheese spread. First, roast the red pepper. This can either be done over an open gas flame or under the broiler. To roast over flame, set pepper over a medium-high flame; use tongs to turn pepper until it is blackened all over. For the broiler, turn broiler to high, set pepper on a foil-lined broiling pan and broil. Checking every few minutes, use tongs to turn pepper until it is blackened all over. Set roasted pepper in a paper bag, seal, and steam for 10 minutes. Peel blackened skin off under cold running water, remove stem, and seeds. Pat dry.
-
Pulse to combine roasted pepper, cream cheese, garlic, sea salt, pepper, and paprika in the bowl of a food processor. Scrape down sides, turn processor on, and process just until smooth. Spoon into a bowl, stir in dill, cover, and chill in the fridge for a few hours or preferably overnight.
-
To assemble sandwiches, spread 1 - 2 tablespoons red pepper cream cheese on each slice of bread. Layer one of the slices with a handful of arugula, half the salmon, and several layers sliced radishes. Sprinkle a pinch of sea salt over radish layer. Top with other bread slice, wrap tightly in parchment, and slice in half with a very sharp chef's knife. Repeat for second sandwich.
This post is sponsored by MightyNest. Thanks for supporting the companies that make BkS possible!
As a kid who brought my lunch I was always jealous of the kids who bought theirs. It’s good to hear the jealousy went both ways. This roasted red pepper spread sounds incredible.
Hi Allyson, Definitely! I think lunch bringers have to contend with a lot of repetition compared to the buyers who have more variety. My girls are always so excited on the days they get to buy lunch. The red pepper spread is a new fave – it’s a lot like pimento cheese, but with a much simpler, pepper-forward flavor profile. Thanks for dropping by!
Oh my, this looks amazing (saved to Pinterest)! I was raised by a single mom who had a full time job and night school too. We didn’t have a lot of money but since her mom never cooked she vowed that she would make sure I grew up with homemade meals from scratch every day. That included most of my lunches. Now obviously, at the end of the month when the fridge was almost empty, her go to lunch for me was a peanut butter banana sandwich (which incidentally was one of my favourites). Mind you, this was over 20 years ago when peanut butter was still something you could bring to school. But I remember my friends were mostly lunch buyers and often envied my lunches (especially the soups she made….they smelled so good)
Hi C.B. – thanks for the Pin! And thank you for sharing your lunch story. I really admire your mom making a point of sending you to school every day with a healthy lunch, even as she balanced so many things. I would love it if my girls would be into soup for lunch, but until then, I’ll keep trying!
Holy yowza, this sandwich looks incredible! And what a gorgeous lunchtime vessel for your girls—I feel like I could definitely sit with the cool kids if I brought that out at lunch. Love everything about this, Elizabeth. And you know I’m a fan of everything MightyFix is doing!
Hi Lily, Thanks so much for the sandwich love! We’re thrilled to be spreading the word about MightyNest and the MightyFix program. It’s such a great way to get to know different types of useful, reusable home products. My girls are totally going to be fighting over this beautiful container on the first day of school!
This looks so good! I am definitely saving this recipe to make for lunches next week. I’ve been a participant in “sad desk lunch” for too long.
Hello just recieved this ad with offer that has expired aug,2016. Can i still sign up and fet the steel lunch box for 5 dollars.thank you very much Mrs.Rosanna
Hi Rosanna, Yes – the promo code has expired, but the offer may be available another way. Try contacting the MightyNest team directly: customerservice@mightynest.com. Thanks for dropping by!