Creative and healthy bag lunches from UB kitchens

Ask any of the dining professionals at UB who have staked their careers on satisfying thousands of hungry, discerning, culinary cutting-edge students.

It’s one thing to just cook food. But if it just ends there, the whole experience falls flat. The real meaningful and lasting food experiences come when you plug into the relationship with the people doing the eating. That’s when the possibilities start to blossom.

Now consider the season: September. Back-to-school. All those hungry students. An almost limitless number of lunch opportunities.

Parents, take a cue from UB Campus Dining & Shops (CDS). You can treat your kids’ lunchtime in a ho-hum, forgettable fashion. Or you can seize the opportunity. Do something creative, clever, smart and inspiring: School lunches send an absentee message that you care, not to mention encouraging healthy eating habits.

“It’s a great way to establish a relationship with your kids,” says Jeff Brady, executive director of CDS, whose department has energized the student dining experience with innovations that include the Big Blue food truck, as well as a steady diet of special dining hall experiences, among them the wildly popular, multimedia “Hunger Games Theme Night” last March.

“Parents can do a great job with packed lunches. And you can push the habit of healthy eating through the bag lunch you provide. It’s just the right thing to do.”

A sign hanging in a CDS conference room encourages staff to make each student’s dining experience “authentic, memorable and fulfilling.” So it’s no jump at all, administrators say, for parents to try to make a connection with their children through a packed school lunch.

“It’s just an obvious connection and it goes back to the caveman,” says executive chef Neal Plazio. “It’s true in so many different experiences. I was reading an article on (musician) Chuck Mangione. His father would always have all the musicians come back to the house and eat dinner after the shows because there is always that commonality of food.

“What we do is something very similar, just on a different level.”

“Food creates memories,” adds dietician Lori Bendersky, who has canvassed numerous Western New York school districts to measure trends and preferences among elementary and secondary students.

So just in time for the beginning of a new school year, here are some tips, guidelines and — certainly not least of all— recipes from the chefs, dieticians and administrators who have changed the campus food culture in the past five years.

Five years ago, students told CDS they wanted “healthier choices,” says Brady. But typically, despite what they told food service administrators, students kept voting with their plates and consistently turned to old reliable college food, which was hardly healthy.

“Now, it’s a whole different ballgame,” Brady says. “The generations we’re dealing with out there are so much more educated. They want healthier foods and nutritious foods. They’re reading labels. They never did that before … Our menu has changed 35 to 40 percent toward all the healthy items.”

“We listen to our customers, our students, to find out what is important to them,” says marketing manager Ray Kohl. What do they want? Do they want international food, do they want local? Whatever it is they’re looking for, we try to satisfy that need for that experience.”

So ask your audience what they would like to see coming out of that brown bag or reusable container. Chances are, the answers will surprise you.

Bendersky recently looked at her Pinterest app under school lunches.

“I was blown away by how many colorful, creative, fun ideas there are for parents,” she says. “It was crazy. There are so many ideas for parents who can work with their children and get excited about food.”

A quick online search turns up a bounty of possibilities. It’s OK to steal some proven ideas.

All four UB food pros interviewed were emphatic about staying away from pre-packaged, processed food and going with fresh, individually prepared meals. And incorporating local ingredients is always a bonus, they say.

“I think it’s about fresh and local ingredients,” says Kohl. “We’re hearing that not just from students, but from our faculty and staff. Whatever you’re doing from apple picking or going to a farmers’ market for fresh fruits and vegetables, it all comes down to being responsible and supporting what’s good for the community.

The movement toward international food — something all four UB food experts acknowledge — lends itself to healthy eating.

“A lot of the Indian food we’re doing is vegan,” says Plazio. “So it’s obviously healthy. We’re giving them healthy options, but it’s interesting because it’s Indian. The same thing with Thai food. And Middle Eastern cuisine. We’re utilizing whole grains. Grains go back to those old civilizations from the Middle East, but now they’re being incorporated with fresh ingredients and new ingredients so that gives them a healthy option. But now it’s more interesting. It’s not just healthy or just rice.”

Again, parents can take cues from UB’s dining halls: Students routinely take advantage of salad bars or omelet stations or soup stops. At every station, they can customize what they eat by choosing ingredients according to their tastes and preferences.

“Our international presentation includes more complex flavors and it’s customized,” says Bendersky. “In a lot of our food stations, students can build their own. So when you think about a packed school lunch, you work with your child about discovering different ingredients and building different lunches.”

Another unmistakable trend on campus is the appeal of small items — still prepared with healthy ingredients — available for snacks and lighter meals.

“This is particularly true for college students,” says Kohl. “There is no set time for regular meals. They’re running on various schedules. Even with my own kids at home, they’re packing a few extra snacks during the day because that’s how kids are wired. Lunch times are shorter so kids are packing a granola bar or something they can have at 10:30 in the morning timeframe so they can grab and eat it. It’s becoming more understood. That’s how this generation is. It’s grabbing something to go.”

Any of the numerous grab ’n go stations throughout campus can provide valuable ideas for the cutting-edge school lunch. Or just consider this quick list of tips and recipes from Brady and Plazio.

How the goods are transported can be half the fun. Safety needs to be considered with regards to the food. A wonderful lunch not held below 45°F, could be a recipe for trouble and sickness. The assortment of containers allows for many different combinations of foods and snacks for a long day at school or work. With proper containers to carry food, many leftovers can be repurposed into a marvelous midday meal.