I'm Biggie: avid cook, speedy lunch packer, mom in San Francisco, & former expat fluent in Japanese. 
Lamb and hummus wrap lunches & egg slicer
Morning prep time: 7 minutes. In another minor Leftover Remake, I used grilled Moroccan lamb left over from dinner a few nights ago, and put it into a wrap sandwich with homemade hummus, tomatoes, onions, lettuce, cumin and flour tortillas. Grilled asparagus was left over from dinner as well, and a wrapped cheese, boiled quail eggs, and a strawberry round out Bug’s lunch. I tried some Taiwanese canned quail eggs (Dragonfly brand, packed in water) to see if they would be a fast substitute for freshly boiled quail eggs, but they were so bad that even Bug and his friend spit them out (they usually devour quail eggs). Very rubbery, unpleasant texture — it’s too bad, it would have been nice to have a quick stash of quail eggs.
Packing notes: Because Bug doesn’t like to eat large pieces of food with different textures in the same bite, I cut everything into smaller pieces for his wrap (below). I also covered the green container with Glad Press’n Seal wrap to keep the blueberries from rolling everywhere during transport. A tiny fork was for the (rejected) eggs, and little plastic dividers kept the wraps away from the moist asparagus and cut strawberry.
Bug has a bad habit of taking huge bites of fruit and then nearly choking on them. Japanese cookbooks for children’s bentos recommend slicing strawberries halfway through with a sharp knife or egg slicer to avoid this problem. I recently upgraded my egg slicer from a US$1 model because the wires loosened on the cheap one, making it difficult to neatly cut through anything (let alone mushrooms). I don’t anticipate having to replace this one any time soon — it’s a workhorse.
My lunch is the same, except the wrap fillings aren’t cut up and the strawberries are whole.
READ MORE:
- Need for speed: A mommy’s lunch manifesto
- Food safety for packed lunches
- How to pack a bento lunch and use gap fillers
- Choosing the right size bento box
- Biggie’s list of top speed tips, tutorials and equipment reviews
April 26th, 2007 | Categories: bento, equipment, for kids, lactose free, leftover remake, meat, sandwich or wrap | 
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April 26th, 2007 at 5:08 pm
Hey I was wondering were you got your Lizano sauce, i saw you mention it in previous entries, and I wanted to try some. I live in San Francisco over in Outer mission on the border of Brisbane, so i can get anywhere in the city. Thanks
April 26th, 2007 at 6:02 pm
Sure! Go to Casa Lucas in the Mission (24th & Florida) — they usually have it for about $3 for a big bottle. If they’re out, there’s another big produce market on 24th about a block and a half west (on the south side) that has it for about a dollar more. Sorry I can’t remember the name of it — it’s pretty big and it has a big meat counter (two entrances/registers).
April 26th, 2007 at 6:26 pm
I’m curious, what is your recipe for hummus, if you don’t mind sharing? I’ve made it a few times, and I’m still experimenting to find the perfect balance of flavor.
April 26th, 2007 at 6:47 pm
I don’t know if it’s exactly food safe, but I’ve tried storing unpeeled, hardboiled quail eggs in the fridge and they’ve lasted for quite some time before going bad. Course I wasn’t able to note exactly how long (*facepalm*) but it was quite some time I think.
April 26th, 2007 at 8:08 pm
Ahh thanks I’ll go there tomorrow I work on Cesar Chavez and Castro and get off at 1pm, so the place is only 1 mile from there
April 26th, 2007 at 9:04 pm
>_< I have to go far out of my way to get fresh quail eggs (which I have been meaning to try for the last couple years)… after what you said Im glad I never caved in and bought the canned ones!
As always, thanks for all the wonderful tips you always drop in your posts!
April 26th, 2007 at 10:57 pm
Biggie, I really am beginning to appreciate how you and Bug make such “worldly” packed lunches. I have also gotten Soeren used to eating food from around the world. Glad that I do not have a picky eater today - he is almost 5. One does not realize how important this can be a little later on when a simple trip to the nearest Indian, Moroccan restaurant can turn into a nightmare.
I am really enjoying these kind of lunches from you.
Meeta
http://whatsforlunchhoney.blogspot.com/
http://dailytiffin.blogspot.com/
April 27th, 2007 at 8:50 pm
I’m curious to try some Japanese canned/refrigerated quail eggs now (just for comparison), but I can’t say I’m that excited about it given this last experience. There was really no comparison!
April 27th, 2007 at 8:54 pm
Thanks Meeta! I’m very fortunate in that Bug eats pretty much everything; this blog would look very different if he didn’t!
April 28th, 2007 at 3:39 pm
Wow… well I’ll be excited to know what you think if you try it out!
May 2nd, 2007 at 12:30 am
Hmm, I don’t have an exact recipe — I kind of free-hand it and adjust for taste every time. Generally, though, it’s two cans of garbanzo beans (liquid drained and reserved), 1-2 minced cloves of garlic, 1/4 to 1/3 cup of tahini, maybe 3 Tb of lemon juice, a generous dash of extra-virgin olive oil, salt. I put the garlic, salt, lemon juice and tahini in a food processor and blend (scraping down the sides with a rubber spatula), then the garbanzo beans and some of the reserved liquid, and finally the olive oil. Taste and adjust all of the seasonings (usual suspects: lemon juice, tahini and salt). Garnish with a little olive oil and Aleppo pepper if you have it.
May 3rd, 2007 at 1:21 am
Sounds about what I do. I have a garlic allergy that I still haven’t quite figured out yet, so I have to use dried instead of fresh, but other than that it sounds good. Thanks for sharing, I’ll try again soon and see how I do this time.
May 4th, 2007 at 6:42 am
Great Bento and great photo!!! :=)
A great CIAO from Turin ,italy!!
Gourmet
from http://www.untoccodizenzero.it
May 4th, 2007 at 1:00 pm
Thank you, Gourmet!
November 3rd, 2009 at 2:44 am
OMG this is awesome!! bahhh :L
November 4th, 2009 at 12:23 pm
@15 from Catriona Bowie: Glad you enjoyed it, Catriona!
February 9th, 2012 at 10:11 pm
I just bought a cheapo egg slicer from IKEA, I like that it can make slices as well as wedges, we’ll see how it holds up.