If you don't have a toaster oven, you can make this in a regular oven at 200☌ / 400☏ for about 10 minutes. Cook in a toaster oven for about 6 minutes, until bubbly and a bit browned on top. Top with cheese, and a little dried basil or oregano. Mix in the chopped vegetables, and then the halved or quartered tomatoes. Mix together the mayonnaise and pesto (you can leave the pesto out if you like). Dried basil or oregano or Italian Herb mixĮquipment needed: toaster oven, cupcake cup (aluminum or silicone).2 to 4 cherry tomatoes, quartered or halved depending on how big they are.Recipe: Cherry tomato and leftover vegetable gratin cup You can up the nutrients by adding chopped up leftover meat, more cheese, and so on. To turn this into a vegan one use a non-egg mayonnaise substitute and omit the cheese. You do need a toaster oven to cook them up fast, but for serious bento makers this is a really handy piece of kitchen equipment to have (see essential bento making supplies).
I seem to always have jars of sauces spreads and pestos and so on around in the fridge - if you do too, try experimenting with them! I have used a 'light' mayonnaise here to halve the calories (50 calories per tablespoon, instead of about 100 for regular mayo), and added a little pesto from a jar to make it even tastier. Cooked mayonnaise sauce tastes very nice when cold, making it very suited to bento dishes. It's a very popular all-around sauce in Japanese home cooking. Cooking with mayonnaise may seem a bit odd, but it works very well. You could use the ever popular sweet pepper and onion confit too. Here I've used some leftover zucchini and frozen carrot and peas. Otherwise you can use any cooked or frozen vegetables you have on hand. The only thing you should have are the cherry tomatoes, which make their own sauce in a way.
It only takes a few minutes to assemble too. (about $0.This vegetable gratin in a cup is a great way to use up leftover vegetables in a tasty way. Grapes & Carrots: Or whatever other fruits & vegetables you've got on hand. I will say that if you freeze and defrost them, they might get a little soggy in your bento box, but the flavors are still good. Also, I highly recommend utilizing your toaster oven - just roast on about 500 for 15 minutes for perfectly crispy potatoes! ($0.10)Īlmond-Crusted Chicken Strips: Sorry! Here they are again! Almond meal and spices coat little bites of chicken. (I sometimes like to add a little soy sauce instead of salt.) Roast on 450 for about 15-20 minutes. Roasted Sweet Potatoes: Cube the sweet potatoes and season to taste with olive oil, salt, pepper, and chili powder or other herbs. (Kid-friendly alternative? Taco meat, black beans, and cheddar cheese.) ($1.25) In a bowl, mix together feta, cucumbers, balsamic, and basil, and spoon into the tomato halves. Core them and scoop out the seeds (don't discard - freeze them to add to stock!). Stuffed Tomatoes & Roasted Sweet Potatoes Bento BoxĬucumber-Feta-Stuffed Tomatoes: For the bento box, follow the same stuffed tomato recipe, but cut the tomatoes in half first. I don't think most kids like feta or balsamic or cucumber (I sure didn't), but I'm an adult who appreciates a good lunch, and I'm sure you are too. I guess we're okay sometimes.Īnyway, this one isn't really for the kids. How my parents managed to survive the hell of raising 4 kids is beyond me.
Whatabrat. My poor parents were always trying to make us picky eaters just eat - and we'd subvert them by spitting our veggies out into the toilet or putting them on someone else's plate. We grew up on the low-end of the budget spectrum, so it makes me even more ashamed to remember that I would throw away my sandwich and then complain about being hungry. But, because I'd already gotten in trouble at school for throwing my sandwich away, I threw it away in the large garbage can at home.where my dad discovered it a few hours later (still in the ziplock, sitting on top). I once begged my mom for grilled cheese and she explained that it would get soggy, and I didn't believe her, and so she spent precious morning minutes making it for me, and then I didn't eat it. I'm sure I could come up with some awesome kid-friendly lunchbox ideas (look at me: modesty!), mostly because I was once a super picky kid who threw my sandwiches away on a regular basis. The perfect combination, am I right? Okay, so feta might not be your kids' best friend, but that's another reason why these are called bento boxes and not lunch boxes. It's the return of the cucumber-feta-basil-stuffed tomatoes! These are easy and delicious and don't require any cooking at all.
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