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| Carrot and cucumber sticks, grapes, blueberries and Cape gooseberries, Olive focaccia (homemade) |
When I was living in Japan I learned to present lunch boxes including a spectrum of at least 5 colours.
I try to do this with the kids' lunch boxes now, and these days the
5 + a Day is also promoting 'colours', which is a good way to make food more interesting. Of course here in NZ lunch boxes are stuffed down the school bag and tossed around, so I could never make them like real Japanese super pretty bentos, (I also wouldn't have the time in the morning or late at night!).
My problem has been trying to have 5 different colours all year round, especially for the blue! Fresh blueberries are easy, but when out of season I have to use frozen, good for smoothies and cereals and desserts, but not school lunches.
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| Avocado sushi, cherry tomato, banana, kiwi gold, feijoa, mandarin, grapes, gluten free lunch box |
If I don't have blueberries I try to put a few red/black grapes, is a pity that they are all imported, but so are the bananas. For the rest I always try to be seasonable and use fruit and veggies that grow in NZ, the tomato here was from my garden. Sushi only happens if there is some left over after dinner the night before: I could never get up at 5am to make it fresh!
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| Baguette with green salad and hummus with Dukka, banana, mandarins, kiwi gold, dried prunes |
When I don't use grapes I try to add something close to purple/blue, like dried plums. Hummus is also another favourite filling, if they could my kids would have a hummus rolls every day, and they don't seem to be fussed if it smells of garlic.
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| Baguette with rocket salad, hummus and broad beans, orange, grapes and Cape gooseberries |
Hummus again, this was just over a week ago, believe it of not I had broad beans in the garden, not enough for a meal, but enough for a couple of rolls. The Cape gooseberries too are from my garden.
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| Dolmas (rice wrapped in vine leaves), carrot sticks, cucumber and cherry tomatoes, banana, grapes and mandarin, gluten free lunch box |
In Winter the lunch boxes are a bit repetitive: mandarins, banana, carrot sticks and grapes seem to dominate, and I occasionally buy cherry tomatoes even if they are grown in hothouses (but so are most cucumbers, I guess). The dolmas came from a can, a very occasional purchase, but it does add variety and, yes, the kids love those too!
But strawberries and blueberries and plums and colorful capsicums are coming in and the next lunch boxes will be easier to make!!
Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©
Leftovers from Japanese dinner make good a bento (lunchbox). Here from the bottom right there is tofu, pan fried with vegetable oil and sesame oil, then finished with soy sauce (gluten free, use tamari) and lemon juice. The Asian eggplants had a similar treatment (minus the sesame oil): at home we just love the soy sauce + lemon juice combo! Next to it some seaweed salad, this was bought ready made, something that I would happy do more often if I didn't think that they overdo it with artificial colouring! But I love seaweed and you can use the dried types - dried wakame soaked in water will make a nice salad. Finally there is leftover rice, topped with vegetable, nori and sesame seeds furikake (Japanese seasoning for rice, look for it in Asian stores, and choose the one without fish or other animal products).
