Every kid seems to have their quirks when it comes to food. My youngest didn’t care for soup for the first five years of her life. My oldest wouldn’t go near an egg yolk during the middle school years. And my middle always seemed to choose the oddest menu items when it came to eating out (squid ink pasta, beef cheeks, chicken liver toast).

One of the most universal quirks of kids at the table, though, is the desire to keep all the elements on a plate separate. Let’s call it a deconstructed style of dining.

Enter the kid-friendly lunch box salad. It’s essentially a standard chef salad, only deconstructed, so each element is tucked into a tidy section rather than tossed together.

Here’s what I love about this solution to school lunch:

It’s Easy

Set out your lunch container, pull out all the components you need, and you can have this ready to go in about 5 minutes. Slice and dice your vegetables and package up the dressing the night before and it will be even quicker.

It’s Adaptable

You can tailor the salad to what you have in the fridge and what you (and your kids) happen to like. If they won’t go for vegetables, fill it with fruits. If you have a vegetarian, use baked tofu instead of sliced turkey. Don’t like ranch dip? Go for a vinaigrette instead.

It’s Healthy

The salad has everything needed for a balanced lunch box: protein from the meat and cheese, calcium from the cheese, vitamins and minerals from the vegetables (and fruits), and quality carbohydrates if you pair it with whole grain bread or crackers. You can lean on a quality store-bought dip or dressing, or do up your own using one of these recipes:

It Can Be Made Ahead

This salad will hold up well overnight, so all you need to do in the morning is get it into a backpack.

It’s Good for Grown Ups Too

Sometimes deconstructed-style eating is just as appealing for adults as it is for kids, so no shame in doing one up for your own lunch, too.