Lunchables combined processed lunch meats, a juice pouch, and candy into a brightly packaged prepackaged lunch that became a 1990s cafeteria status symbol. Colorful boxes featuring TV and movie characters and strategic marketing made the product highly desirable to children despite sodium-packed meat and simple components. The product targeted busy parents as a convenient ready-made lunch and commanded a relatively higher price, making it more common among middle-class families. Asian chicken salad originated in Los Angeles and rose to national popularity after celebrity-chef adoption. Typical ingredients include shredded chicken, cabbage, fried wonton strips, mandarin oranges, and a sesame vinaigrette, with many commercial variations available.
Looking at Lunchables today, with its somewhat slimy bologna and sad little pizza crusts, it is hard to picture the kind of "cool factor" that Lunchables had. But its cachet in the cafeteria in the '90s was almost like a fashion accessory. The yellow box, often adorned with characters from the latest popular TV show or movie, was seemingly everywhere. Though the food itself - sodium-packed lunch meat - was nothing to write home about, its packaging and marketing made it highly desirable for kids. Lunchables also came with a juice pouch and a piece of candy, which could feel like an absolute feast for elementary schoolers.
LA restaurant dish turned nationwide sensation, the vaguely named "Asian chicken salad" was ubiquitous in the '90s. Likely first served up by Sylvia Cheng Wu (aka Madame Wu), a cook for Hollywood stars, it gained popularity after various celebrity chefs, including Wolfgang Puck, put out their own versions. It is typically a combination of shredded chicken, cabbage, fried wonton strips, and mandarin oranges, topped with a sesame vinaigrette.
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