The Winter Solstice Approaches

This is Highly Recommend , a column dedicated to what people in the food industry are obsessed with eating, drinking, and buying right now.

As an outdoors enthusiast I can get down with the whole survival skills thing. I’ve learned to substitute supple leaves for forgotten toilet paper, boil murky pond water when my enormous bottle inevitably runs dry, and concoct shoelaces out of fishing line.

What I can’t get down with is “hiking” food; many a fiber-devoid day have I spent grazing mournfully on Slim Jims and watery cans of tuna. I’ve tried packing grainy salads , loaded sandwiches , and hearty homemade trail mix , but the problem is that those need to be contained—and containers come with their own set of problems. They’re usually a). made from plastic, which is notoriously unkind to Mama Nature (my host!), or b). glass, which is both liable to shatter and heavier than I'm interested in lugging about the wilderness. I assumed I was doomed to salty, processed purgatory—that is, until I found this stainless steel food box set from Klean Kanteen.

Klean Kanteen Lunch Box Set

Maybe you’re thinking what I was: Oh please, how much difference will a new container make? Turns out, a lot! These ones are both remarkably sturdy—I stood atop the largest size like a ballerina in arabesque without leaving a dent—and seriously light. According to my very unscientific scale (my…two hands), the stainless steel was barely heavier than a plastic container of relative size. It’s a burden I’m happy to bear for the sake of greater durability, longevity, and sustainability ( 85% of stainless steel produced is recycled, compared to only 9% of plastics ).

Honestly, though, I’d recommend switching to these containers even if you're an environmental nihilist, have enough abdominal strength to lug four mason jars of homemade tomato sauce up a mountainside, or are just looking for a new lunchbox. Klean Kanteen's boxes are built with your fridge in mind; they’re perfectly stackable and symmetrical, like little food-filled Legos. Plus, imperative when jostling around in a backpack or your back-to-the-office bag(!), all three sizes come with leakproof, silicone-trimmed lids—and both the 20 and 34 oz. containers feature secure, snap-lock tabs. (So secure that not a drop came out when I filled them with water and shook them about like maracas.)

Regarding their (lack of) transparency, I do, on occasion, forget what I’ve stored in them. Did I pack the fried rice or the farro salad today? But it never matters. In lunch as in hiking, the view is always that much better when you don't see it coming.

Source : food