B is for Bento

Bento (弁当), organised packed lunch, typically with rice

It seems a bit silly to pack a boxed lunch at a time when nobody’s supposed to be leaving the house! But nothing’s stopping me from eating it here at home.

I’ve never assembled a proper bento before, it always seemed too daunting and I’m usually in a rush on work days and rarely have the foresight to prepare it the night before. But now that I’ve got all the free time in the world, it seemed like a good opportunity to use this cute bento box that Kansai Gal sent me a while back. And yes, those are indeed Darth Vader Lightsaber chopsticks, because why not?

One container has rice, furikake, and poached chicken. The other has a nice selection of fresh veggies; tomatoes, carrots, radishes, and baby spinach underneath it all. I tried to cut the radishes into roses and the carrots into sakura, but I’m not sure how well I succeeded. The awkward vegetable cutting aside, it was way easier and more fun to assemble than I’d expected, if I’m being honest.

Would I do this again, once I’m back at work when all this craziness is over? Definitely. Will I bother trying to be cutesy and cut my vegetables into wonky flowers? Probably not.