Labor Day weekend is upon us and since we’re nearing the unofficial end of summer, you may have had enough of traditional barbecue foods by now! If so, here’s a new dish you can add to your Labor Day menu that everyone will love. You’re still using the grill, but hamburgers and hot dogs this is not!

If you’d like, you can make the sauce in advance and refrigerate it. You can also prep the pork and thread it onto skewers the night before your party. Taking these steps keep things nice and simple on the day you’re entertaining – just throw the meat on the grill and heat up the sauce!

Pork Tenderloin Satay

serves 4

Ingredients:

1 small onion, diced
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup water
3 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons. peanut butter
4 teaspoons canola oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
1.25 pounds boneless pork tenderloin, silverskin removed
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Bring first 8 ingredients (through ginger) to a boil in a small saucepan. Reduce heat and simmer 10-12 minutes. Set aside 1/2 cup of mixture to be used for dipping.

2. Cut trimmed tenderloin in half crosswise and then slice each half into thin strips. Season on both sides with salt and pepper.

3. Preheat grill. Thread pork strips onto metal skewers and grill 3-4 minutes on each side until center reaches 145 degrees. Baste with remaining sauce and serve with additional sauce for dipping.

How are we doing with those healthy school lunches, everyone?? Do you have a fresh batch of ideas ready to go? Or are you facing another year of “sandwiches and sides”?

One trick to keeping lunch interesting is to mix things up by slipping some less traditional items into that lunchbox. As an example, this bean dip is packed with protein and fiber, and when you serve it with pita or naan and raw veggies, you have everything you need for a balanced lunch.

Plus, dipping! Hooray!

White Bean Dip

Makes 1 1/2 cups

Ingredients

4 Whole Wheat Pita Breads (or try Naan bread!)
1 can (19 oz.) cannellini beans (drained and rinsed)
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (from 1 lemon)
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
Chili powder for sprinkling
Variety of cut vegetables for dipping

Directions

We are in the final days before school starts, so I’ve started the discussion with my kids about what they’d like to find in their lunchboxes this year. We’ve generated a good list of ideas, but there’s one option that is a favorite for all three, and that’s SOUP!

My kids really love to take soup for lunch. We have small thermoses that fit in their lunchboxes and if I pack them hot soup with some cut up veggies or fruit and a little treat, I almost always find an empty thermos at the end of the day!

I love that I can make a pot of soup on Sunday and send soup in for several days during the week from that one pot. In the morning, I just heat a serving in a glass measuring cup  (the kind that looks like a little pitcher) in the microwave, pour it into the thermos, and repeat the process for each child. Raw veggies and fruit can be packed up the night before so this doesn’t take too long. If you’re packing LOTS of lunches, you may want to just heat a pot on the stove and fill the thermoses from there.

These Foogo Thermoses are a good size and have a good seal!

This particular recipe is a favorite, and it’s perfect in August because it uses late summer vegetables that you can still find at the farmer’s market (corn, zucchini, squash, beans, onions and potatoes). With the addition of cannellini beans as a protein source, you have most everything you need for a healthy lunch in one bowl!

Back to School White Vegetable Soup

8 servings  (so you’ll have enough to get multiple lunches)

Ingredients

8 cups low-sodium chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
2 15.5 oz cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
2 medium zucchini, cut into bite-size pieces
2 medium yellow squash, cut into bite-size pieces
1 pound fresh green beans, cut into bite-size pieces
3 cups corn (cut from 3 ears of fresh corn or use frozen)
2 medium onions, finely chopped
salt and pepper
1/3 cup fresh dill springs (optional – parsley is good, too!)