Lunch

Whole-grain bagel, cream cheese and turkey

Name: Whole-grain bagel, cream cheese and turkey
Prep time: 2 min
Cook time: 2 min
Total time: 5 min
Yield: 1 servings
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 each Whole-grain bagels; 2 tbsp Cream cheese; 3 oz Sliced deli turkey; 0.25 each Cucumber

The lunch for a kid who has decided sandwiches are boring. Same food, different shape.

Servings: 1
Total: 5 min
Skill: Easy

What you need

Ingredients

Making for

1 serving

Whole-grain bagels1 each
Cream cheese2 tbsp
Sliced deli turkey3 oz
Cucumber0.25 each

Quantities scale linearly with servings. Round to the nearest practical amount when shopping.

Steps

1
Toast the bagel, then let it cool
Toasting firms the surface so the cream cheese sits on it rather than soaking in. Cooling before filling stops the whole thing steaming itself soft in the container.
2
Cream cheese right to the edges, both halves
About 2 tbsp total, spread all the way out. The edges are where moisture gets in, and a bare rim is where a bagel lunch goes soggy first.
3
Turkey folded, cucumber last
3 oz of turkey in loose folds, then thin cucumber. Cucumber against cream cheese rather than against the bagel, because it holds a lot of water.
Common mistake: Cucumber straight onto the bread. It is the wettest thing in a normal lunchbox.

Coach's notes

Nutritionally close to the turkey wrap. The reason it is here is that a kid who has refused sandwiches for a month will often eat a bagel.
Whole-grain bagels are dense and genuinely filling, which is useful before an afternoon session.
Cream cheese and deli turkey are both perishable. Ice pack.
Half a bagel is a snack, a whole one is a lunch. Watch which you are packing.

Steps

Toast the bagel, then let it cool

Cream cheese right to the edges, both halves

Turkey folded, cucumber last

Coach's notes