Building Better Bento

When I hit the doldrums of January, I found my lunches were loaded with carbs. It's easy for me to eat lots of fruit and vegetables when my local farmer's market is in full bounty. Not so much when I'm shopping at Giant for produce that's been shipped from somewhere in South America. My colleague, Emerald Ong, posted a picture on Facebook of her new bento box and I was inspired. I ordered the Yumbox Emerald has, a sophisticated looking Bentgo box and some egg molds. It's worked wonders. I've enjoyed packing my lunches and eating them this week.  

My lunches this week -- Tamagoyaki Bento, Mediterranean Bento, and Salad Nicoise Bento.

If bento is an unfamiliar term to you, as I understand it, it simply refers to a single-portion takeout or home packed meal in Japan. There is kyaraben bento or character bento that is an elaborate portrayal of characters from Japanese cartoons. There is oekakiben or picture bento that is decorated to look like animals, flowers, etc... I'll leave it to you to do your own research from here if you're intrigued. 

I shared these pictures on Instagram and have had many inquiries about my new bento boxes. So, here are links to my new toys. Molding the eggs is simple, you just hard boil them like you usually do, peel the egg while it's still hot, and then pop it into a mold. Here's a nice little tutorial I ran across on Youtube.

  

Check out the inspiration board I created on Pinterest for more ideas. 

Bon appétit!