2 School Lunch Recipes Students will Love

Melissa Erman, Nutrition Operations Supervisor, and John Chiu, Administrator of Food & Nutrition Services, with Huntington Beach Union High School District shared two of their most popular recipes with us in honor of National School Lunch Week.

Recently, HBUHSD held a Hispanic heritage festival at one of their schools featuring Hispanic food at three different stations. The event grew participation by 50% and set a new record for the school. One of the featured recipes, the Mango Chili Lime Smoothie, is below in addition to the district’s crowd pleasing Pork Banh Mi Sandwich. To use with your kids at home, simply divide the servings to your needs!

Mango Chili Lime Smoothie

Makes 16 servings.

Ingredients:

  • 1 qt. Skim Milk
  • 4 qt. Mango Chunks, Frozen
  • 1 cup Lime Juice
  • 1 Tbsp Tajin, Reserve More For Rim
  • 1 gal. Low Fat Vanilla Yogurt

Directions:

  1. Add yogurt, tajin, lime juice and mango to a Cambro CamSquare or Round and blend until smooth with an immersion blender.
  2. Add milk and blend an additional 30 seconds.
  3. Cover with lid and refrigerate until service.
  4. To serve, dip rim of cup into lime juice and rub onto a plate of Tajin.
  5. Portion 14 fl. oz. in a cup and enjoy!
mango smoothies

Pork Banh Mi Sandwich

Makes 23 servings.

Ingredients:

Pork

  • ½ cup Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce
  • 1 qt. Water
  • 2 oz. Ginger Root, Fresh
  • 2 0z. Garlic Cloves, Peeled, Fresh
  • Boneless Boston Butt Pork Roast

Vegetables

  • 1/4 cup Unseasoned Rice Wine Vinegar
  • 1/4 cup Water
  • 1/4 cup Granulated Sugar
  • 1-1/2 tsp Kosher Salt
  • 6 oz. Cucumbers
  • 6 oz. Carrots, Fresh
  • 2 lb. Chinese Cabbage (Napa), Fresh

Spread and Assembly

  • 1/2 cup Sweet Thai Chili Sauce
  • 2 tbsp Lime Juice, Fresh
  • 1 cup Mayonnaise
  • 3 cups Cilantro, Fresh, Chopped
  • 23 each Whole Grain Hoagie Roll

Directions:

Pork

  1. Peel and mince ginger and garlic.
  2. Mix together ginger, garlic, chili sauce, and water.
  3. Simmer ingredients for 15 minutes.
  4. Cool marinade.
  5. Marinate pork in marinade over night.
  6. Discard leftover marinade.
  7. Roast pork until an internal temperature of 165F degrees has been attained.
  8. Cool and slice thinly.

Vegetables

  1. Shred Chinese cabbage
  2. Cut the cucumbers and carrots julienne style.
  3. Combine the vinegar, water, sugar, and salt.
  4. Bring to a boil to dissolve sugar and salt.
  5. Toss with the vegetables and marinate for 1 hour.

Spread

  1. Mix together mayonnaise, sweet chili sauce and lime juice.

Assemble Sandwiches

  1. Spread 1 Tbsp of mayonnaise on hoagie.
  2. Layer 2 oz (by weight) of cooked pork.
  3. Top with 1/2 cup of cabbage, carrots, and cucumber mixture.
  4. Garnish with 2 Tbsp of cilantro.
  5. Enjoy!
pork bahn mi sandwich