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I've really been wanting to make low calorie, brown rice sushi rolls and bento boxes would be perfect for that.
How do you prepare your brown sushi rice? I tried that once and the sushi turned out kind of ... grainy. Or is that what brown rice is like? I've never really used it before.
I haven't tried brown rice sushi yet, but I have done enough research to believe it is very doable. I've posted some quotes and links below with tips on it.
Quote:
I’ve been hesitant to use brown rice in sushi because I thought it would be hard to work with and not taste good, but I have to say that I think I’ve hit on the secret for delicious brown rice sushi: Lundberg Short-Grain brown rice. It may not look as pretty as traditional sushi rice, but we hardly noticed the difference as we were devouring these vegetable rolls last night.
Okay, so it was mostly leftovers from last night's trip to a Japanese restaurant, but I am still happy with myself for making this step.
I used a 600ml container with a nice tight lid that we had gotten Thai food in before. I nicely arranged 8 pieces of tightly wrapped sushi - Unagi (eel), Ebi (Shrimp) and Spicy Tuna. Since the sushi was so dense I filled the rest of the container with romaine lettuce and strips of zucchini topped with a little bit of seaweed salad. I tucked in under the lettuce a small pack of soy sauce. I also put a little bit of ginger dressing in a sandwich ziplock bag that I rolled up and tucked on top of the food to one side. I would have liked some fruit and different veggies but I need to go to the store to get more.
I'm just really encouraged that I don't need a special bento box or fancy decorating to make a very pleasing, low calorie bento for myself.
This may sound sort of odd, but making bento for myself is an act of self love. I'm not just throwing all my food in a sack and dashing out the door. I'm spending time on carefully preparing nutritious lunches that are not only good for me, but look very appealing.
I've really wanted to do this for a while and this thread and some research pushed me into the bento making waters.
That's great! It's true you totally don't have to have any special equipment, the only thing that really makes it "bento" is having the variety of small beautiful things in one box. And like you and others have said, it's the fact that you're taking time out to make something nice for yourself (or someone else) -- like a beautiful present for lunch. It's not supposed to be a stressful thing to make, just the opposite. That's why I'm not into the character cut-out type bentos, I can appreciate the people who do that, but it's not for me. (One of my students was laughing the other day, when I was looking at an article about Lady Gaga and said that I can appreciate her artistry, but oh my God, how exhausting that would be to keep that up all the time ...)
Just wait until you finish your next grocery trip!
I just love looking at bento. I wish I was more creative in the morning to organize it all in a cute little box! Thanks for sharing, I might give it go one day soon.
I take my lunch to work, and I get a lot of inspiration from Bento box pictures, though it wouldn't be considered a traditional Bento. I use the Fit and Fresh Lunch on the Go (two smaller 1-cup containers, one larger container, and an ice pack). I also have a 2-cup wide mouth Thermos I take occasionally with soup (an easy way to get in another veggie).
I eat fairly low-carb, so no rice for me. I tend to arrange deli wraps or leftovers in the main compartment, or use the main compartment for a salad (with nuts and dressing tucked in the corners in 1 oz. lidded containers like you get from takeout). The small containers usually hold veggies, or yogurt and fruit.
I also use silicone baking cups in various shapes and colors to separate items in the big container. So I might have some cherry tomatoes or some olives in with my half-sandwich or turkey rolls (turkey slices rolled around dill pickles or scallions).
It's a lot of fun to make lunch. And nice to know I always have a healthy ~500 calorie repast just waiting for me.
I take my lunch to work, and I get a lot of inspiration from Bento box pictures, though it wouldn't be considered a traditional Bento. I use the Fit and Fresh Lunch on the Go (two smaller 1-cup containers, one larger container, and an ice pack). I also have a 2-cup wide mouth Thermos I take occasionally with soup (an easy way to get in another veggie).
That is EXACTLY the kind of container I have been looking for. I wish target would ship to Canada.
How ironic! I was just looking at containers last night and Fit and Fresh containers were one of the ones I was considering. I want to get some non-traditional containers for quasi-bento boxes. I likely will never be a bento traditionalist especially since a traditional bento meal has a lot of rice!
I've been making my lunch a lot more recently and I've been more focused on making it look very appealing as well as it being low calorie and nutritious. I still call them my bento lunches even though.. well.. they aren't very traditional. Can you bento traditionalist forgive me?
