The everyday bento maker has
to be practical and quick.
Directions: one line for each direction. When saved the lines will be numbered.
Most of the cooking can be done the night before. Use the morning to assemble the food. Last night's leftovers make wonderful bento box fillers: chicken drummettes, grilled salmon, frittatas, potato salad, meatballs, pasta. Steamed rice is best eaten fresh out of the pot, but day-old rice can be reheated in the microwave.
Cut the food in bite-size morsels so you don't have to take silverware along. Sushi molds are handy for molding rice into manageable finger or chopstick foods.
Start with the food that will take up the largest amount of space in the bento box such as rice, pasta or sushi rolls. Then put in the second largest piece. Around the edges add some green, such as a floret of broccoli or asparagus, and some red, such as a plum tomato, and stack them up against the rice or pasta to give the bento box spots of bright color.
Keep vinegary foods such as pickled ginger and salads apart from everything else, using cupcake liners, foil or lettuce leaves.
A plastic container with a tight-fitting lid is the best way to avoid spillage. But if you -- or your careless daughter -- can remember to carry a bento box upright, you can use any kind of box, such as wicker, wood, lacquer, tin can and paper.
