Food

Brown Bag but Better

Making your child’s lunch just got a lot cuter

The days of packaging your kid’s sandwich in a one-use plastic baggie with a cheese stick wrapped in plastic and tied together with individually packaged bags of chips are over. As parents here in New Albany and all over the world switch to more sustainable options that produce less waste, one lunch solution out of Japan has become more popular than ever.

Japanese style bento boxes have become a fixture in students’ backpacks and on the cafeteria table. And while this is new here in the U.S., bento is actually hundreds of years old.

A bento is a single portion, packed meal. It typically features multiple healthful foods tidily arranged and presented in a visually appealing way. In terms of your kid’s lunch, a bento

Tip: Some of these techniques can also be used for putting together a visually appealing charcuterie board, too. Bon appétit!

Bunny Rabbit Apples Ingredients

1 apple

Directions

Slice an apple into wedges using an apple corer. Using a sharp paring knife, start at the vertical top of an apple slice and cut out a long, skinny triangle with the tip of the triangle about halfway up the slice. The apple slice should appear to have two long “ears.” Using the knife, cut out two smaller triangles from each side of the slice below the tip of the first long triangle.

This creates the head shape of the bunny. Repeat for all slices and enjoy.

Deli-cious Roses

Ingredients

2-4 slices of cold cuts/deli meat of choice Optional: toothpicks Optional: basil, rosemary or other herb to garnish

Directions

Lay out deli meat slices on a cutting board so they lie flat. Using a small knife, cut each slice in half. Lay out 2-3 half slices with the flat cut side facing the same direction and the corners of each slice overlapping. Starting at one end, roll the meat together. Experiment to find a balance between rolling too loosely or too tightly.

After rolling, loosen some of the outer “petals” to create the rose effect. Optional: finish with toothpicks to hold the rose together. Optional: garnish with herbs to create leaves for your roses.

box can come in many different shapes and sizes, the most popular styles include numerous compartments – perfect for the kid who doesn’t like food to touch – and adorable accessories.

But the best part of bento boxes for kids isn’t the neat compartmentalization. It’s not even the cute accessories. It’s the creative approach parents take to styling the food to put together themed, healthful meals.

Here are a few of Healthy New Albany magazine’s favorites. Inspiration from Pinterest, photos and instructions by Sarah Robinson

Sarah Robinson is an assistant editor. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.

Starburst Strawberries

Ingredients

4-6 freshly washed strawberries

Directions

Remove the leaves and stems from strawberries. Using a small, sharp paring knife, begin making diagonal cuts moving horizontally around the vertical center of the strawberry to create a zigzag pattern, making sure the knife only goes about halfway into the strawberry. Once the cuts reach all the way around, gently twist the top and bottom halves apart. Place the strawberries cut side up and garnish with fun toothpicks. Bonus: the same technique can be performed on kiwi, but be sure to remove the skin from the kiwi before cutting. Tip: For a time-saving technique that doesn’t skimp on aesthetics, use cookie cutters to make regular foods look more fun – works well on simple sandwiches, fruit, cheese and more.

Ingredients

1 cup sticky rice 1 medium carrot, peeled ½ cucumber ½ bell pepper, any color 1 piece of dried seaweed 1-inch section ginger root

Directions

Prepare the rice and let cool. While rice is cooling, cut carrot in half lengthwise. With the skinnier, lower half of the carrot, slice into ¼-inch thick rounds and set aside. With the wider, upper half of the carrot, cut into it lengthwise, then rotate approximately one quarter turn and cut lengthwise again to remove a long triangle-shaped piece. Set triangle shaped carrot piece aside and cut the remaining carrot into ¼-inch thick rounds and set aside. Cut cucumber into ¼-thick rounds, then cut those pieces into small circle shapes, about the same size as the carrot rounds. Slice bell pepper into halves or quarters and then cut out ¼-inch thick rounds about the same size as the carrot rounds. Peel ginger root and slice into small, thin rounds. The ginger rounds should be noticeably smaller than the other veggie rounds. Once rice is cooled, roll it into the seaweed. Form the roll into oval shapes instead of circles. Slice into 1-inchthick pieces. Set the rolls with the rice facing up. Arrange vegetable rounds in a scale-like pattern on top of the rice ovals, use one piece of ginger as an eye on each roll and place the ¾ circle slices of carrot as a tail on each. Using kitchen scissors, cut small shapes out of the seaweed to add on top of the ginger rounds to give detail to the fish eyes.

Fishless Fish Sushi

BONUS: For the bento box pros, try this recipe