If your child is a picky eater, then you have my sincerest condolences. I only offer them because I was one of those finicky foragers who did not like anything most kids are supposed to like, namely bread, sandwiches and pizza. I also rejected all broken or chipped candy bars and any yogurt with fruit (except Harvest Peach). Yes, my parents had fun trying to feed me, and packing school lunches was a complicated affair.
But I know I’m not the only choosy eater, and I do feel for all those parents who, like mine, have to navigate stubborn taste buds when preparing meals.
So here’s a popular idea from across the Pacific for packing lunches for picky eaters (and more adventurous children, too). It’s called bento, and it’s all about portion control, variety and making every food look appetizing.
What is bento?
Bento simply refers to food in a box, but the genre comprises a range of compact Japanese meals, not just those intended for school lunches.
And even within the school lunch category, bento ranges from simple to outrageously artistic, with kyaraben, or character bento, topping the charts in creativity (and time consumption). Most moms opt for the more practical end of the spectrum, but you can still adapt some concepts from kyaraben without drowning in cookie cutters and paring knives.
What do I need to make bento?
To state the obvious, you need a box. Any box with compartments or an organizer system will do, or you can use multiple boxes stacked inside the typical brown bag. Area retailers have jumped on the bento bandwagon with bento lunch boxes and organizers. Fort Worth’s Tokyo Café (Pershing Ave., 817/737-8568) is currently offering a line of themed bento boxes, including (my personal favorite) the samurai box, a three-tiered character with an inverted rice bowl for a helmet. Stop by the restaurant to see the other cute characters available.
Other bento box options include the Lock&Lock Compact Lunch Box Set from Walmart (walmart.com) and the super-cute Bento Buddies boxes from The Container Store (containerstore.com).
Once you have the box, you need to fill it with food. As fun as it may be to pick out a colorful box for your kiddo, this is where the real excitement begins, both for you as bento chef extraordinaire and for the child who will unpack your creative genius every day at lunchtime.
How do I fill my bento box?
Since bento is a Japanese tradition, you can pack Japanese food in your child’s bento box for a little Pacific flair (below you’ll find a recipe for Karaage Chicken from Tokyo Café). If you’re not so inclined to Asian flavors, Tokyo Café suggests grilled chicken with barbecue sauce and sides of pasta and fruit. Or you can go all-American with a PB & J – made shapely by a cookie cutter, of course.
Remember the goal: to create a lunch that your child will want to eat. You can pack just about anything in a box, but the trick to bento is in the presentation. Pair colorful foods and craft interesting shapes. Some foods even do the work for you, like grapes. Other fruits and veggies are great candidates for your clever cutting skills (and your clever cutting tools, like a melon baller), or you can use cute toothpicks to make those raw veggies look appealing.*
Shannon Carino, former Dallas resident and blogger at bentolunch.net, makes daily bento-style lunches for her kids. Take a look at Carino’s creations and you’ll see why finicky eating habits can be conquered by an enticing presentation. While neither of her kids is particularly picky, she says her daughter Faith will try new foods if they look pretty. “Olives are such great decorative items,” Carino says. “I think she’s learned to like them because we use them to make eyes on a sandwich face or in a salad.” If you are particularly ambitious, you can feed on inspiration from Carino and turn food into characters and faces. The possibilities are almost endless, constrained only by your time, creativity and patience.
Keep portions small and foods bite-sized so that your child will never be bored with anything in her box, and so that she’ll be able to finish her meal within the often too-short lunch period. Involve her in the process, too. Assemble meals that must be mixed together (like yogurt, fruit and granola) or let her pour her own sauces. If your child feels involved in the preparation, she will probably be more inclined to eat the food.
Carino allows her children to suggest dishes for their lunches. Her kids have learned to make nutritious choices simply by watching mom assemble balanced meals. “We talk a lot about meal planning and what goes into a balanced meal,” she says, “so I know they know what needs to go into a lunch to make it healthy.”
So be encouraged, parents of picky eaters. As your child matures, her taste buds may become more inclusive (mine did), but in the meantime, you can encourage your child to eat a full, healthy meal by controlling portions and presentation in creative ways. And though it serves a practical purpose, let’s be honest: bento just plain sounds like fun.
*Be aware that not all foods should be eaten at room temperature. If you’re packing a lunch that needs to be chilled, put an icepack in the bento box. Likewise, if some of the food needs to be heated up at school, put those items in one compartment and make sure your child knows to microwave that portion. In cases where only parts of the meal need heating or cooling, using separate boxes rather than one compartmentalized box is a smarter option so that foods can be grouped according to temperature.
