by Deborah Castellano 
The simplest definition of a bento is any food that is eaten from a box. While the word bento is Japanese, it can also be applied to American-style food for lunch. The easiest example of a bento to conjure in our minds is the bento box lunch special that comes in a large tray at a Japanese restaurant and has rice, some kind of sushi, some kind of fried meat or teriyaki protein, little dumplings (shumai), and usually some orange slices. Delicious and fun, but a lot of prep when you don’t work in a restaurant. There is also the style of bento for which the goal is to make something incredibly artistic but edible using the bento box as the canvas. This is also time-consuming, though beautiful to look at. And then there is the most common use of the word bento, which means a packed lunch using a small box that’s pretty on the eyes and nutritious in the tummy. If you have a child who is a picky eater, bentos are meant to entice them to eat things they would usually turn their noses up at. Bentos are also great for adults to be mindful of portion control.
You don’t need an actual bento container to make a bento meal. There are lots of companies that make little plastic dressing containers that can be used for your lunch sauces. If you do want to get in there and use a modern authentic bento box with as many little compartments as you could possibly wish for, Amazon has a wide range of bento boxes, many for less than twenty dollars. Bentgo makes some cute boxes for adults and children alike. In the land of bento accessories, you can usually find cute reusable plastic toothpicks at baking supply shops. Little cookie cutters go a long way to add some fun, reusable silicone cupcake liners in different colors and sizes will spice up a bento box nicely, and onigiri (rice ball) molds are available very inexpensively online as well. If you live near a Japanese market, shop for bento boxes and accessories as well as some bento staples if you are making Japanese-style bento boxes for your lunch.
When assembling your box, choose a protein, such as a hard boiled egg, salmon, wedge cheese, rotisserie chicken, deli meat, almonds, dried meat, bacon, leftover meatballs from the night before—whatever sounds good to you. Then choose a starch, such as rice, bread, pasta, or leftover mashed potatoes. Then choose a vegetable, such as cherry tomatoes; carrots or cucumbers cut into shapes; snap peas; zucchini spirals; mushrooms; and fresh herbs such as parsley, fennel, basil, chives, dill, or rosemary to make your bento look and taste more interesting. Finally, choose some delicious fruit for your bento, such as blueberries, strawberries, pineapple, grapes, or bananas. Think about your bento box and the accessories you have for it. How can you put it together in a way that will be visually interesting to you while still giving you (or your family) enough energy to make it until dinner? Remember, how you choose to arrange the food makes it more fun to eat.
Tomato and Sausage Kebab Bento
1 link sausage of your choice (Italian pork sausage, breakfast sausage, chicken sausage, tofu sausage, etc.)
6 cherry tomatoes
6 basil leaves
3 strawberries, halved
½ banana, sliced
Edamame (soybeans), shelled with a little salt
Sliced cucumbers
Cook the sausage in a skillet or on the grill. Slice the sausage. Use toothpicks to spear the cherry tomatoes, basil, and the sausage into mini kebabs. Do the same with the strawberries and bananas. Place the edamame in a silicone cupcake liner and the sliced cucumbers in another.
California Sushi Bento
1 tablespoon rice seasoning (see page 130)
2 cups cooked brown rice
½ cup canned crab
½ avocado, cut into crescents
½ cucumber, cut into circles
Soy sauce
1 lemon wedge
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
Mix the rice seasoning with the rice. Make a bed in your bento box with your rice. Arrange the cucumber in a row on top of the rice. Arrange the avocado and crab in rows as well. Add a lemon wedge and a small container with soy sauce.
Bento Roll-Ups
4 slices of your favorite deli meat, vegetarian soy deli slices, cheese, or vegan cheese
Blueberries
Cherry tomatoes
¼ cup vanilla yogurt
1 dash cinnamon
Roll the deli meat or veggie slices and stand them up in the box (cut in half if need be). Around the rolls, arrange silicone cupcake liners and put blueberries, cherry tomatoes, and yogurt that you’ve sprinkled with cinnamon into each.
Stars and Moon Bento
2 slices of cheese or vegan cheese
Round crackers
1 dash cinnamon
1 apple, sliced into crescents
1 tablespoon nut butter or sunflower butter
1 clementine, peeled and sectioned
Cut stars out of the cheese and alternate them with crackers. Sprinkle cinnamon on the apple. Put the apple slices, nut butter, and clementines each into a silicone liner. Dip the crackers or apples into the nut butter.
Everything but the Wine Bento
Carrot sticks
Sugar snap peas
Raspberries
Grapes
Baby kale
Parsley
Cubes of your favorite cheese
Small breadstick crackers
Small slices of salami
Put the carrots and snap peas into a cupcake liner and the raspberries and grapes into another. Put down a bed of baby kale and parsley into the bento and arrange cheese, crackers, and salami on top.
Traditional Bento Staples
Now that you’ve played with some basic recipes and ideas, let’s delve deeper into bento so that you have even more recipes to add to your repertoire. Rice is typically at the very beginning of bento box making. I will give you some standards and some variations that I like. Let’s start simply, with some easy mix-and-match ideas you can use to make a healthy Japanese-style bento.
Sushi Rice
1 cup sushi rice
2 cups water
¼ cup rice vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon salt
Rinse the rice in a colander under some cool water until the water is clear. Combine rice and water in a medium pot and put on medium heat on the stove. Bring to a boil and then cover and cook on low heat for about 20 minutes or until the rice is tender and the water has been absorbed. Remove rice from heat and let it sit uncovered while it cools.
In another saucepan, mix the rice vinegar, sugar, sesame oil, and salt together on medium heat until the salt and sugar have dissolved. Once the mixture is dissolved and the rice is cool enough to touch, start adding the mixture to the rice little by little while stirring. Keep stirring until the rice has absorbed most of the liquid. Optional: add rice seasoning to the rice for added color and zest!
¼ cup raw white sesame seeds
¼ cup raw black sesame seeds
3 sheets nori (seaweed), shredded into small pieces
1 tablespoon sea salt
3 tablespoons tomato flakes
Mix all the ingredients in a 1-pint mason jar, sealing the lid and shaking it. Then pour the ingredients into a dry skillet on medium heat. Shake the skillet until your ingredients are all toasted, let the mix cool, and put it back into the mason jar.
Cauliflower Rice
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 cups riced raw cauliflower, drained
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
3 tablespoons rice seasoning
Heat the sesame oil in a large skillet on medium heat. Add the riced cauliflower to the skillet. Use a spatula to move the rice around constantly while cooking for about 5 minutes. Add the rice vinegar. Cook for another 2–3 minutes. Add the rice seasoning. Remove from heat and serve.
Teriyaki Tofu
1 block extra firm tofu, pressed to remove excess liquid
Salt to taste
Oil for frying
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon low-sodium soy sauce
½ teaspoon sesame oil
Slice the tofu into ¼-inch pieces. Sprinkle salt on both sides of the tofu to your taste. Heat an oiled frying pan to medium heat. Pan fry the tofu until it is golden brown on both sides. Whisk together the honey, the soy sauce, and the sesame oil in a bowl. Heat the sauce in the pan on low and add the tofu, coating the tofu on both sides in the sauce. Remove from heat and serve.
Sesame Noodles
¼ cup low sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon sriracha
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
4 tablespoons sesame oil
1 tablespoon garlic paste
12 ounces whole wheat noodles, cooked and drained
4 green onions, diced
In a small bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, sriracha, rice vinegar, sesame oil, and garlic paste. Pour over the noodles. Sprinkle the green onion on top. Makes 4 lunch-sized portions.
Baked Chicken Katsu
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup panko bread crumbs
½ pound thin chicken cutlets
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons flour
1 large egg
Preheat the oven to 400°F. In a bowl, combine the olive oil with the panko bread crumbs. In a frying pan on medium heat, fry the breadcrumbs until golden brown. Put them in a paper towel–lined bowl to drain. Let cool. Make a few slits in your chicken cutlets so they won’t curl up. Salt and pepper the cutlets to taste. Put the flour in a small bowl with a little salt and pepper. Beat the egg in another small bowl with some salt and pepper. Dredge your chicken in the flour and then dip it on both sides in the egg. Dip the chicken into the panko, pressing on the chicken so the panko sticks. Put on a baking sheet in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and serve.
Overnight Pickled Plums
1 pint mason jar and lid
½ cup rice vinegar
¼ cup white vinegar
¼ cup dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons salt
½ pound small ripe plums, cut in half
2 cloves
1 star anise pod
1 teaspoon cinnamon bark
½ teaspoon pink peppercorns
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
Run the mason jar and lid through your dishwasher or boil for five minutes. In a saucepan, combine rice vinegar, white vinegar, sugar, and salt until dissolved. Let cool for 30 minutes. In the mason jar, add the plums, cloves, star anise, cinnamon, pink peppercorns, and fennel seeds, being sure to leave at least 1–2 inches of room at the top. Pour the liquid into the jar, leaving a little room at the top. Seal the jar. Put in the refrigerator for at least 1 night, preferably 3. Good for 2 weeks; keep refrigerated.
Curry in a Hurry
1 apple, diced
2 purple carrots, diced
1 sweet potato, sliced
¼ cup canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 quart vegetable stock
3 tablespoons sesame oil
4 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons mild yellow curry powder
Put the apple, carrots, sweet potato, chickpeas, and vegetable stock in a pot. Cook on medium heat until vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes. Make a roux in a small saucepan by heating the sesame oil and slowly adding flour to it until it forms a soft ball. Add the soy sauce and the mild yellow curry powder. Add a little bit of the vegetable stock at a time to the roux until the ball starts dissolving. Once it’s a thick liquid, add it to the vegetables and stock. Simmer for 20 minutes. Serve over a bed of rice.
Japanese Soft-Boiled Eggs
½ cup water
2 teaspoons honey
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
2 eggs
Combine water, honey, rice vinegar, and soy sauce in a small glass container. Bring a small pot of water to a boil on medium heat. Carefully put the eggs in the pot. Reduce heat. Cook for 7 minutes. The eggs shouldn’t move in the pot. If they do, the water is too hot. Carefully take the eggs out and submerge in an ice bath for 3 minutes. Gently peel the eggs. Submerge your eggs in the small glass container with sauce. Cover and put the container in the refrigerator overnight. Cut eggs in half lengthwise to serve them the traditional way. Eggs will be good for 3 days; keep refrigerated.