Recipes

Recipes from Lunch in a Box for dishes well suited for packed lunches

(Don’t miss the Bento FAQ, the Top Tips page for a master list of tips and tutorials, the Decorative Food page, and the new Product Reviews page for links to reviews of bento gear, cookbooks & food items. An organized list of all the food books in my kitchen is here. Subscribe to Lunch in a Box via RSS feed or e-mail updates.)

EGGS

• Curried quail eggs (or chicken eggs)
• Fried quail eggs in a ladle (TUTORIAL)
• Frittata for one
• Japanese rolled omelette (a.k.a. tamagoyaki or dashimaki tamago) (TUTORIAL)
• Shortcut tamagoyaki (Japanese omelette) (TUTORIAL)
• Shaped eggs using common ice cream sandwich molds (TUTORIAL)
  
• Pasta frittata using leftover pasta
• Sausage & quail egg “sunflowers” (TUTORIAL)
• Scrambled egg purses
• Stovetop mini frittata
• Thin egg sheets (usuyaki tamago) in the microwave (TUTORIAL)

MEAT / POULTRY

• Autumn lamb stew with squash, lemon and mint (SLOW, from Paula Wolfert)
• Chicken mole enchiladas
• Curried turkey croquettes (leftover remake using turkey & mashed potatoes)
• Grilled minted leg of lamb (SLOW, from Alton Brown)
• “Octodogs” (octopus hot dogs) (TUTORIAL)
• Sausage “rabbits” (rabbit-shaped hot dogs) (TUTORIAL)
• Sausage & quail egg “sunflowers” (TUTORIAL)
• Spam musubi pressed sushi (TUTORIAL)
• Shumai “burgers”
• Teriyaki chicken cubes (FAST)
• Thai curry master recipe

SEAFOOD

• Grilled skate wing with chili sambal sauce (link to Lily’s Wai Sek Hong)
• Slow-cooked salmon (SLOW but easy)
  
• Takoyaki (octopus balls) (TUTORIAL) (SLOW)
• Thai curry master recipe

VEGETABLES & SALADS

• Broiled mushroom cups
• Cucumber & cream cheese ‘salad’ (super-FAST)
  
• Fast butternut squash (microwave)
• Honey-simmered kabocha squash (microwave)
• Mini bell peppers stuffed with soft cheese
• Okonomiyaki cabbage ‘pancake’ or ‘pizza’ (TUTORIAL)
• Quick spinach side dish
• Quinoa salad
• Roasted asparagus
• Roasted mushroom caps
• Roasted mushroom caps stuffed with chevre, pancetta, broccoli rabe and garlic
• Sauteed purple kale with garlic and red wine vinegar
• Simmered kabocha squash
• Skewered tomato/cheese ‘sandwiches’
• Steamed broccoli with aonori mayonnaise sauce
• Tuna & white bean salad

RICE

• Grilled rice balls (yaki onigiri) (TUTORIAL)
• Ketchup pan-fried rice balls (yaki onigiri) (TUTORIAL)
• Kimchi fried rice
• Microwave mixed rice (cheater’s “fried” rice) (TUTORIAL)
• Microwave mixed rice (master recipe, with fish cake)
• Spam musubi pressed sushi (TUTORIAL)

DUMPLINGS

• Curry gyoza, a leftover remake (TUTORIAL)

PASTA, POTATOES, PHYLLO

• Curried turkey croquettes (leftover remake using mashed potatoes)
• Faux potato latkes with tuna (TUTORIAL, using leftover potato salad)
• Pasta frittata using leftover pasta
• Pasta salad from frozen pasta
• Potato gnocchi (SLOW)
• Potato salad Scotch egg (TUTORIAL, using leftover potato salad)
• Quinoa salad
• Tarako spaghetti
• Two-layer cheese and Swiss chard bourek (savory phyllo pie) (SLOW)

SAUCES & DRESSINGS

• Chipotle cream dipping sauce
• Chogochujang sauce (Korean spicy sauce)
• Ponzu-sanbaizu vinaigrette
• Sanbaizu sweet vinegar sauce
• Tonkatsu sauce
• Yuzu miso glaze

FRUIT & DESSERTS

• Rabbit-shaped apple wedges (TUTORIAL)
• Decorative banana wedges (TUTORIAL)
• Fruit juice jello cups with chopped fruit
• Galaktoboureko (semolina custard baked in phyllo) (SLOW)
• Zig-zag kiwi fruit (TUTORIAL)

DRINKS

• Frugal pineapple drink