Spring Bentos

My girls and I are lurkers of bento blogs and love to look at bento books. Bentos are very cute arranged Japanese lunch boxes. Not only are they tasty little works of art, but they are usually healthier than the lunch fare kids are typically presented with. The foods are to be balanced for taste as well as for the eye. I recently purchased the book Kawaii Bento Boxes and we decided to try our hands at making Spring themed Bentos. It was a fun way to ring in the season. We have made bentos for lunch from time to time, they are great portable snacks and when compared they make fast food quite undesirable. 

My Spring bento centered around the idea of new life. I shaped a nest from seasoned sushi rice. Inside are hard boiled quail eggs dyed yellow with curry. I have broccoli sprouts for the ground and a couple of tiny radish ‘mushrooms’ growing there as well. There is some fruit salad for color. Tempura asparagus grow up from the ground and a butterfly made from jicama and carrot flies over.

For my daughter’s bento she started with a bed of sushi rice. She made a butterfly with a rice ball body and egg wings decorated with cheese and carrot. She also made a flower made of carved carrot, cheese and a snap pea.