I think “non-taxing and tasty” is a key phrase when it comes to packing boxed lunches, whether for children or adults. Other key words and phrases could include “nutritious,” “what the school will allow,” “doesn’t need refrigeration or microwaving,” and (of course) “what my children will eat and not trade with their friends for a salty, sugary, fatty package of processed food.” For what should be a simple meal, lunch can be fraught with problems.

Two Quebec dieticians, Marie Breton and Isabelle Emond, attempt to make our midday feed a bit easier, without having to rely upon cafeteria staff and preservative-laden grocery store lunch boxes of processed meats, cheeses, crackers, and fruit “treats.” Translated from French, Lunch Box: Creative Recipes for Everyday Lunches gathers more than 90 recipes, most with variations, to help answer little ones (and big ones) who ask “What’s for lunch?”

I approached Lunch Box’s contents with one audience in mind: parents packing lunches for their children. To help, I recruited time-pressed parents who constantly manoeuvre around school-imposed allergy alerts and finicky eaters, and who, most importantly, willingly lent their children to culinary experimentation. Yes, they let me feed their darling little (and not-so-little) ones.

The book contains a lot of dietary and nutritional information based on the Canada Food Guide. The data is neither esoteric nor ground-breaking, but it's useful for anyone in need of a quick dietetic memory jog or for those who missed basic nutrition in school. Several pages are also dedicated to evaluating lunch containers, including thermal flasks and bags and disposable plastic containers. While useful to the lunch-making neophyte, one experienced lunch-maker quipped, “telling me that a metal [thermal flask] keeps hot things hot and cold things cold better than other types of containers is like telling me that a double-double mocha frappe latte with extra whipped cream is fattening.”

The recipes are divided into the usual—soups; dressings, dips and sauces; vegetables, legumes, and salads; breads, pizzas, sandwiches, and garnishes; eggs and pasta; chicken and beef; desserts; and beverages. Pages are cleanly designed and illustrated with a mix of drawings and colour photographs. Many dishes are classified as easily frozen, vegetarian or mains. Sidebars cover a combination of cooking tips, recipe variations, and nutritional information.

Even with all this help, the parents questioned the book’s practicality. Some meals were too much effort for weeknight cooking, but fine for weekends. Recipes need to be adapted for basic eaters and fussy eaters alike, so (as with any cookbook) effort is required to suit individual peculiarities. Many recipes contained iffy ingredients (for children, at least) such as nuts and mayonnaise. They all agreed that a number of recipes, such as pizzas and chicken fingers, would be unfeasible since their children don’t have access to microwave ovens at school.

I’m not convinced the translator completely understands food and cooking because Lunch Box contains awkward phrasing, a few spelling errors, and mistranslations from its original French. Most notably “Pâté chinois” was translated at least once as “Chinese pâté” and not shepherd’s pie, or, in one section “Shephard’s Pie.” Another example of possible language issues is the recipe for Mexican Meatball Soup: I’m not sure if the “chili powder” that’s required is chili seasoning or powdered hot pepper flakes, nor if the “chili sauce” is the tomato ketchup-like chili sauce or a hot pepper sauce. More importantly, some recipes are sloppily written. The Cherry and Almond Scone recipe doesn’t state an oven temperature, nor does the Quick Tex-Mex Consommé tell you what to do with either the toasted tortillas or the lime.

This was not looking good.

With the help of parents and my eight recruits (seven boys and one girl, aged six to 16—no, I have no idea why I’m surrounded by people who have sons) I was able to narrow down the choices for testing. Two (Cherry Almond Scones and Tuna Wraps) I thought would be very kid-friendly while the other two (Mexican Meatball Soup and Roast Beef Emparedados) were better suited for adults at the office or weekend lunches.

Lunch Box gives home cooks the ability to springboard into different ideas that they may be able to use regularly in their kitchen. Its strengths aren’t with school lunches (too ambitious for the busy, working parent) but instead lie in office-friendly and informal weekend lunches, particularly for a moderately experienced cook.

Cherry and Almond Scones
This recipe intrigued a number of us because it used silken tofu. I made one change by substituting cranberries for cherries. If you are looking for a traditional flaky scone, this recipe will not give it to you. These are very bready and chewy in texture. Only three kids enjoyed them—most didn’t like the texture and two found them bland. The adults weren’t too enthused either.

Mexican Meatball Soup
This is an incredibly simple, hearty soup to put together that can easily be adapted for both tamer or fierier taste preferences. Half the kids gave it a thumbs up; the rest flip-flopped between either too bland or too spicy. All the adults enjoyed it, but most thought the spicing could be improved. Some cumin seed and perhaps a vinegar-based pepper sauce would make this a very tasty soup indeed.

Roast Beef Emparedado
This was a “grown up” sandwich made of roast beef, a guacamole-like spread, and lettuce on a buttered ciabatta bun. It was very filling and all the grown-ups thought it was good, but would be better with sliced onions and a few dashes of Tabasco in the guacamole. Sorry, no kids tried this one. I’ve since recreated it with onion focaccia and it was much, much better.

Tuna Wrap
The big draw here was the lack of mayonnaise, which is replaced with cream cheese. I also took advantage of one of the suggested variants and added shredded carrots—a cunning way to add veggies to a veg-o-phobe’s day. By far, this was the most successful of the kid-tested foods since all five of the tuna-lovers liked it (three just don’t like tuna). All the adults except me liked the wrap, but I didn’t care for the store-bought tuna flavoured with sun-dried tomatoes and basil. I will try this again, but with regular tuna and my own flavourings. ( )