What makes a good bento is obviously subjective and for me it continues to be a work in progress. My family are slightly very picky eaters, and no matter how much I stick to their palates I still throw food away when I empty the containers at the end of day. That being said, I have a few guidelines that I follow when I am putting together their lunches in the morning that has nothing to do with picky eating.
Variety
It is important to represent as many of the food groups as possible. I add and subtract things to compensate for dietary and preferential restrictions. But the ideal ratio I try to achieve is:
50% carbohydrates - Rice, noodles, crackers, pretzels, etc.
15% vegetables - Peas, carrots, edamame, etc.
15% protein - Tofu, eggs, chicken, turkey, fish, hot dogs, etc.
10% fruit - Grapes, tomatoes, dried fruit, apples, etc.
10% dairy - Cheese, yogurt, etc.
Textures
I think the kids lunches need to have a variety of textures from things that can be easily processed to other things that require a lot of chewing. I learned that crunchy snacks are very important to my family, so things like chips and pretzels and the like are a must.
Colors
I have found that contrast is more important than using a lot of different colors. And if you want to bring out the colors of vegetables you can steam them for 1-2 minutes in lightly salted water and then rinse them in cold water.
Contrast
When you use juxtaposing colors, textures and tastes it makes the lunch more exciting to look at and hopefully more fun to eat. Also by having contrast in flavors between salty, sweet, spicy, fishy, etc. it can make eating more pleasurable.
I now realize that I’m opening a huge can of worms because I am thinking that in addition to variety, texture, color and contrast it is just as important to have balance. But I think I will save that for a later post.
