CUTE AND EASY SHARK SANDWICH LUNCH

Take a bite out of boring lunches with a fun and easy bento style lunch (minus the bento box) that’s perfect for celebrating summer, and one of my favorite summer events – Shark Week!

Always a fan of cute and silly over scary, this shark sandwich can easily be customized with your favorite ingredients and personality. It pairs swimmingly with a simple sea creature fruit salad and baby goldfish crackers for a truly fintastic meal.

JAWSOME SHARK WEEK LUNCH  – INGREDIENTS: (Makes 1 Pita sandwich served with sea creature fruit salad and goldfish crackers)

SEA CREATURE FRUIT SALAD:

• 2 small slices of watermelon
• 2 whole strawberries
• 1 small orange
• 1 small mango or 2 pineapple slices
• 5 blueberries
• 9 mini eye sprinkles
• ¼ teaspoon Greek yogurt or whipped cream cheese
• Small round cookie cutter
• Small raindrop shape cookie cutter (you can skip this and cut w the knife instead)
• Small heart shaped cookie cutter
• Small star shaped cookie cutter
• Sharp kitchen knife

SHARK SANDWICH:

• 2 pieces of pita flatbread (I used multigrain)
• 2 pieces white cheese (I used goat’s milk)
• Favorite sandwich fillings (Mine is meat and cheese, but you could do all veggies as well)
• 2 tablespoons whipped cream cheese, softened
• Activated charcoal or a tiny bit of black icing coloring
• 1 slice ham or salami (you can use red pepper if you want to make it without meat)
• Toothpicks
• Sharp kitchen knife or kitchen scissors
• Small triangle cookie cutter (you can also just use the scissors)
• Small piping bag or bottle fitted with a small round piping tip, or a small zip top bag
• Goldfish crackers

**All cutting should be done by an adult.

INSTRUCTIONS:

Step 1. I like to take the cream cheese out of the refrigerator before beginning on the fruit salad so that it has time to soften (dairy free works as well). To make the watermelon crab, use a medium round cookie cutter to cut a circle out of one of the slices of watermelon, and a small raindrop cookie cutter to cut 2 tiny raindrops out of the other slice.

Cut a triangle out of the pointed end of each raindrop to form the claws. Then cut a strip of the watermelon off of the end of the slice that you cut the circle from, and cut that into 6 small pieces for the legs.

Repeat this on the other side of the slice (using the second slice if needed), and cut this strip in half to form the longer sections for the claws. Arrange the pieces onto your serving dish and add 2 sprinkle eyes.

Step 2. To make the mango or pineapple sea stars, use a small star cookie cutter to cut the shapes out of slices of your chosen fruit, arrange on your plate, and add sprinkle eyes. To make the orange fish, cut a thin slice of orange to form the body and use a small heart shaped cookie cutter to cut the fin out of orange peel.

You can use a small round piping tip to cut the mouth out of more peel if you would like. Arrange the pieces on your plate, and add a sprinkle eye and blueberry bubbles.

Step 3. To make the strawberry octopus, cut the tops off of 2 strawberries. Place your strawberries on a cutting board cut side down and cut one of the strawberries in half lengthwise, repeating this process until you have 8 strips for the legs.

Arrange the strawberry legs on your plate and add the other strawberry on top. Use a little bit of Greek yogurt or whipped cream to attach sprinkle eyes.

Step 4. Now it’s time to make the shark sandwich! Overlap 2 pieces of pita bread on your cutting board, and use a sharp knife or kitchen scissors to carefully cut the pita into an arched shape (like the Jaws shark).

Use the scraps of pita to make the fins. Keep the extra pieces of bread overlapping, and cut out an elongated triangle for the pectoral fins (like the arms of the shark). Then using just 1 piece of bread cut out a smaller triangle to form the dorsal, or top, fin.

Make the shark belly out of cheese by cutting the slices the same shape as the pita shark, just a little smaller (you make only need 1 slice depending on how large your shark is).

Step 6. Transfer the pieces to your serving dish and arrange them however you would like. Add the softened cream cheese and a little charcoal powder or black icing coloring to a small bowl, and stir until combined.

Transfer the cream cheese to a piping bag or bottle fitted with a small round piping tip, or small zip top bag. If you are using the zip top bag cut a tiny corner off of the end. Pipe the outline for the mouth onto the top of your cheese and fill it in (you can use the back of a spoon if needed to spread the colored cream cheese).

Then pipe the eyes on both sides of the mouth, and the nostrils in between the eyes. Add 3 curved lines on the outer sides of each eye for the gills. Use either a small triangle cookie cutter or your kitchen scissors to cut tiny triangles for the teeth and add them to the mouth.

You can cut a semicircle out of the lunchmeat to make the tongue, and add highlight to the eyes by using a toothpick to transfer a little uncolored cream cheese to each.

Now you are ready to enjoy your jawsome creation (and this is one shark that can’t bite back ☺)!

Jessica Lucius is a food and flatlay stylist with a fondness for baking, making, and all things cute. She’s also the founder and creative force behind her newly established blog, Luxe and the Lady, where she shares fun ways to bring her favorite animals and childhood characters to life with food. When Jessica’s not busy playing with her food, or at the grocery picking out just the right ingredient to turn into eyes and ears, you can find her trail running, working out, reading, recipe testing, and playing with her fluffy baby lionhead bunny, Marshmallow. Follow Jessica on Instagram @luxeandthelady.