Originally published at Noël Lynne Figart. You can comment here or there. 
I’m not posting about it as much as usual, but I’m still making bento.
This is an example of one of the simpler bento I make. The top layer is ham, cheese, lettuce and a bit of mustard rolled into a tortilla, maki sushi style, and cut into sixths. The boxes to the left have yellow cherry tomatoes in them, but the box on the right has yellow peppers because my son is not a tomato fan. The bottom tier just has an assortment of vegetables and fruit.
Simple? You bet. Essentially, it’s just a ham sandwich with some fruit and vegetables. It’s not even complicated to make. But when you’re in the middle of a busy day, there’s something really sweet and satisfying about opening something pretty, tasty, and yes, healthy. The concept of lots of small bites of different tastes is fairly common to many traditional cuisines, but I can tell you that this makes a properly portion-controlled meal incredibly satisfying.
I’ve been making bento for about five years now, and I was thinking about how it has influenced our food habits. Sure, sure, we don’t spend much money on lunches and yes, you can see that they’re pretty fruit and veggie intensive. One of the big changes, and I freely admit that it was not one I anticipated, was that we tend not to get fast food even when travelling. Or rather, fast food has become a rather distant last resort. When we travel, and need portable food, it is much more likely for us to bring along bento if at all possible.
Last week, when we were going to see the Avengers movie, we were going to a showing fairly soon after work, but in a movie theater about half an hour from our town.* This meant that we’d want dinner on the way. I asked the guys what they wanted to do and both voted for bento over getting fast food. I would have been fine with fast food for an outing treat, but was asked to make bento instead.
I thought it was cute, but I also kind of found it flattering. It kind of said to me that they’re seeing that meal in the middle of the day as a pleasant treat as well as a necessary meal. Then again, I do, and I’m making them for myself to eat at home.
Why would I do that? Well, as anyone who works from home knows, you’re just awfully likely to wander into the kitchen after a morning’s work, having gotten so absorbed in your work that a growling stomach brings you to your senses and you grab whatever’s available. I like to make something good easily available. Maybe this is goofy, but I also think that maybe a little splash of special in one’s day, even if it’s something routine, is morale-building and happy.
*Our local theater is dirty, poorly-maintained, and has a crappy sound system. If I am going to pay to go out to a movie, I expect a better sound system than I have at home, and maybe even a floor my feet don’t stick to. |
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