Bento

I will admit that my sad little lunch that I brought to the office today was a chicken salad sandwich over which I spent literally no time on aesthetics. Chopped up the ingredients, mixed them together and slapped them between two slices of bread. Wrap it in plastic and toss it into a brown bag. End of story.

Bento is the Japanese equivalent of the brown bag. A little rice, a little protein, a little veggie, all in a little box. Simple enough. But then we get into character bento, where just making the food edible isn't enough. It has to look like something. This is sort of Martha Stewart gone insane in a sushi factory, if you ask me, but it makes for entertaining looking food. If, that is, you want your food to be entertaining looking.

Check out Bountiful Bento! 25 Not-So Traditional Lunches for more like the picture here.
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