Meals Of Convenience
They say you eat with your eyes first. Japanese bento luches exemplify this principle, providing a balanced meal that's carefully arranged in a feast for both your eyes and your stomach. A good bento box should include a starch (normally rice or noodles), protein, veggies, and a sweet treat.
1. Egg Sando
Bento boxes are all about convenience, and there are few things more convenient than a classic egg salad sandwich. For authenticity, use Kewpie mayo and Japanese milk bread. It's more expensive than your average loaf, but the pillowy texture is unmatched.
2. Greek Salad
Bento is the format the lunch is served in, not the lunch itself, so feel free to use any meals you like! Greek salad is a great option that you don't need to worry about reheating. Pita chips and dip can make the meal a little more full.
Frames For Your Heart on Unsplash
3. Hummus & Dippers
Making lunch doesn't have to be complicated. A bento with veggies, pita crackers, and your favorite hummus takes less than five minutes to put together and will keep you full all day. This is a bento that you can easily eat while you work, if you're on a time crunch.
4. Tuna Salad
Fish, particularly tuna, is a popular choice in bento lunches. However, if you don't want the work microwave to smell like fish, you can compromise with a classic tuna salad.
Just make sure you pack something minty along with your sweet treat!
5. Lettuce Wraps
Lettuce is normally used as an ingredient in a wrap, but who's to say you can't use it for a base? If you have lettuce you need to use up, using it as a vessel for even more veggies is a smart way to go. Add whatever ingredients you want, and you have a built-in divider for your meal.
6. Yakisoba
Yakisoba refers to a specific type of buckwheat noodle stir-fried with meat and veggies. Soba is relatively easy to find and doesn't get that gluey gelatinous taste that other cold noodles are prone to. Cold noodles are seriously underrated in the West outside of pasta salads.
7. Chickpea Salad
One of the easiest ways to get burnt out on lunch is making the same thing over and over again. The easiest way to avoid this is by shaking up what you have—or what you think of certain dishes. A chickpea salad rather than a lettuce one can be a fun change of pace.
8. Rice Paper Rolls
Rice paper rolls and other wraps are fantastic for when you have leftovers and want to do something different with them. Not only do these wraps come together in under five minutes, but they fit perfectly in a bento box.
Give last night's supper new life.
9. Caprese Flatbread
A caprese salad is similar to a Greek one, with basil, tomato, and mozzarella. With the addition of some mini naans or other flatbreads, you can assemble this salad into a fresh and delicious flatbread. Who says you can't play with your food?
10. Onigiri
Onigiri is a rice ball wrapped with seaweed and filled with any number of delicious ingredients. Fill your onigiri with mayo, jammy eggs, fish, or a combination thereof. You can buy triangle molds to help get the perfect onigiri each time.
11. Grown-Up Lunchable
At the end of the day, what is a bento if not a nutritionally balanced and aesthetically pleasing Lunchable? A classic cracker, cheese, and cold cut charcuterie bento is one way to make lunch fun. You can even include a snack-size chocolate bar.
12. Yogurt Parfait
Bento can be used for any meal, regardless of time of day. Whether you don't have time for breakfast, or want a sweet mid-day pick-me-up, a yogurt parfait is a fun way to shake up your regular lunch. Who doesn't love a healthy meal that tastes like dessert.
13. Falafel
Give your bento a Mediterranean twist with falafel as the star of the culinary show. These chickpea fritters are often part of mezze platters with an assortment of herby dips and vibrant veggies.
Like other bentos, this option is enjoyed best at room temperature.
14. Chicken Katsu
Variations on katsu, meat that has been breaded and fried, are one of the most popular options for bento lunches. With a crunchy chicken cutlet, fluffy steamed rice and delectable sauce, it's hard not to love chicken katsu. A side salad will keep this meal from feeling too heavy.
15. Pinwheel Sandwiches
Pinwheel sandwiches are almost as fun to make as they are to eat. This potluck classic combines several bento elements into one spiral package. If you really want to elevate your presentation, you can arrange your pinwheels on top of a bed of lettuce or spinach.
16. Curry Rice
Unlike Indian curries, which are bold and complex, Japanese curries have a mild flavor with a thick gravy. Curry rice uses hearty vegetables and forgoes the spice that may upset your stomach. When the weather dips below freezing, there's nothing that will warm you up like a rich, comforting curry.
17. Salmon & Quinoa
Salmon is excellent brain food, and you don't need to heat it up for it to be delicious. The omega-3s in the fish combined with the complex carbs of the quinoa will give you a meal that's as tasty as it is healthy. Add in some steamed veggies and you have a restaurant-worthy meal.
18. Sushi
If you want to go for a classic bento lunch, sushi has to be the way to go. While making sushi requires a bit of practice and some fancy tools, it's so much fun you'll want to have a sushi bento every week. We won't even tell if you repackage grocery store sushi.
19. Chicken & Rice
Grilled chicken, rice, and veg is a staple of gym bros looking to improve their gains. However, you don't need to pump iron to enjoy this well-rounded meal at the office. Jazz up your rice with a dash of furikake seasoning.
20. Pasta Salad
Combine cold pasta, veggies, and a protein of your choice, and you have a delicious pasta salad bento. A tip for avoiding gluey cold pasta—can you tell we've been metaphorically burned by lukewarm leftover spaghetti—is to use zucchini noodles. Eating veggies has never been more fun!
KEEP ON READING
The 3 Core Criteria Of Every Good Fast Food Chain
