I thoroughly enjoyed reading this and looking at all the wonderful recipes. I do think that some of these recipes needed more prep time than I want to give them, but they would be really good to make if I had enough time to meal prep.

The book is laid out nicely and organized well. However, I'm disappointed to see it is centered so heavily around animals as the main ingredient and there are not more plant based options that would axtua6be considered healthy.

All of the meals in this book would be fairly simple to prepare and could be made ahead of time to make enjoying your bento that much better! It's such a practical and hearty way of dining and I love to see more titles geared towards younger adults instead of children (though you can give me a cute carrot pick anyday!).

Healthy, Quick & Easy Bento Box is a new tutorial guide with recipes by Ophelia Chien. Due out 3rd Aug 2021 from Penguin Random House on their DK Alpha imprint, it's 160 pages and will be available in paperback format.

This is an compact introduction to bento. Bento can be healthy and tasty with eye appeal, organization, variety, and portion control in one package. This collection also shows that it doesn't need to be very time consuming or difficult. Alongside those benefits, the recipes included in this collection represent a number of different world cuisines and are surprisingly fun and vibrant.

The introduction includes suggestions and tutorials for basic bento followed by chapters arranged roughly thematically: classic Japanese bento, pan-Asian, western style, and staples and partial ingredients.

The recipes have their ingredients listed bullet style in a sidebar. Measurements are given in US standard with metric/SI units in parentheses (yay!). Special tools and ingredients are also listed, along with yields and cooking directions. Most of the ingredients are easily sourced at any moderately well stocked grocery store. Nutritional info is included per box, with the suggested combinations and bento box build. Some of the recipes are vegetarian and vegan friendly. Many additional recipes can be adapted to a plant based diet.

This is a very well written and organized collection. It would also lend itself very well to fans of meal planning or once-a-week-cooking. Most of these recipes make several servings which could easily be used for a week's lunch planning. I've been avoiding buying food at the cafe at work during the pandemic and these recipes have provided good mileage for avoiding boring lunches for me without a lot of effort.

Five stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

This is a great addition to anyone's cookbook collection, especially if your patrons have an interest in food prep or in bento boxes. This book has recipes that are traditionally Japanese, Pan-Asian, and Western to fit all tastes, as well as detailed instructions on how to pack the lunch and the calorie counts for all the meals. The pictures are bright and recipes are informative, which is great for parents looking to make fun nutritious meals for kids or adults who want to change it up at lunch.

I love this cookbook! If anyone is looking for creative easy lunch ideas, this is the book for you! Each bento box recipe is a well rounded meal with easy to follow instructions. The author has provided a wonderful introduction to the art of bento at the beginning of the book as well as cooking tips. A wonderful aide to lunch for people without a lot of time to devote to cooking, but who want to eat better!

This review is from an advance electronic copy of the book.

Healthy Quick & Easy Bento Box has a subtitle that delivers a big promise ; sixty recipes for thirty lunchbox meals under 500 calories. A delicious, healthy, quick to prepare lunch in under 500 calories is hard to find as an adult. Ophelia Chien delivers big on the promise. Feast your eyes on the beautiful photography then treat your taste buds to the delicious food. Everything is amazing. I can not wait for lunch each day. I pack my bentigo container the night before and just throw it with drinks in my insulated bag. Fast and easy but super healthy.

Some of my favorites:
Pork onion rings with bell pepper frittata and sauteed zucchini
Bacon tofu roll
Chicken patties
Teriyaki chicken
Glazed pork belly with soy egg and spicy cucumber
Jasmine rice
Madarin chicken, sauteed chard and mushrooms and tomato salad
Bibimbap bento and so much more.

Grab this book and get to packing your bento! So yummy!

What a beautiful book. I love the layout and the break out of everything. I adore they put the best temp to eat try the food at. It begins with a brief intro to Bento Boxing. Enough to peak your interest but not overwhelm you.

The recipes are made so you can make multiples or just one.

I love the tip about misting food- What a difference!

I love that you can mix and match some of these recipes if something isn’t your thing!

Beautiful Photos and very easy directions for home chefs!

There are so many healthy cookbooks out there and always a search for an enjoyable meal that is not just another salad. Prior to this book I have never considered making bento boxes and I am so glad that I decided to check out this book. The author provides a wide range of recipes as well as teaching the steps of how to put together a well crafted Bento Box. Once you understand the concept of building the recipes it is easy to make substitutions and changing the recipes to vegetarian options. This has been an amazing change for my boring lunches and I cheat a lot less because I am not bored and really enjoy my meals.

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* Really liked this bento cook book, i liked how the box recipes were shown and i loved the different versions! wouldn't mind owning a print copy.

This is a cool guide/cookbook if you really want to impress with tour lunch or dinner and have some time on your hand. You also have to be really dedicated to bento. It’s recommended to buy extra cooking pans and tools that have basically one use and lots of different ingredients. I didn’t have the time to dedicate to making my boxes look pretty so they were not like the pictures (which are beautiful in the book). Not exactly quick or easy for me. However, I did really enjoy the honey mustard salmon with curried cauliflower and spicy kale! I would recommend if you really want some good recipes. I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving a free copy.

I loved this cookbook! It is an excellent introduction to Bento boxes with a lovely variety of recipes. The photographs and illustrations are stunning and whimsical. A variety of Japanese, pan-Asian, and Western recipes are included.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC.

Loved the photos of the bento boxes in this book! I didn't know what to expect from a food perspective but there were a variety of options to chose from and mix and match. I liked that some of them were more hearty meals which you truly need during lunch time to keep your energy up. Overall, it was a good book to add to your book collections.

Possibly my favorite cookbook of the year, Healthy, Quick & Easy Bento Box lives up to every part of its name. All of the recipes are straightforward and generally no more than 4 steps. The food is simple and delicious, while the suggestions for combinations enhance each recipe. Bentos are divided between traditional Japanese combinations, pan-Asian favorites, and Western lunches. Standouts include bacon-tofu rolls with miso eggplant, sushi sandwiches, cumin lamb kababs and honey mustard salmon.

This book has beautiful photography. I was glad to see that it focused on real meals instead of on cutesy designs for food. I would have liked to see more vegetarian bento meals although many of the side dishes could be used to make a fully vegetarian box.

Lovely Bento style recipe and container with basics book. Love the cover and I’ve always been mesmerized by these cute small meals.

What did I like? I have to negate that question with what’s not to like? Beautiful photos, and great food styling! The recipes are simple but some of the ingredients may have to be bought in specialty stores. Convenient and they look delicious!

Would I recommend or buy? Bento hasn’t really caught here in the US but it’s a unique cookbook. Bento boxes are a sleek design of a regular lunch box. I enjoyed looking at the great pictures and bookmarked a few recipes to try! Kudos for a great cookbook!

I received a complimentary copy to read and voluntarily left a review! Five stars!

I really enjoyed this cookbook! I found so many great ideas and the recipes I tried were easy and turned out to be so delicious, balanced and flavorful! I would highly recommend!

It’s lunch time! What to do….what to do…🤷🏻‍♀️

I’ve been completely uninspired by the work place cafeteria. Stepping out to a restaurant or even calling for take out can start to add up quickly.

I’d bring my own lunch from home but I’m not a huge fan of leftovers and I’ve never enjoyed sandwiches.

You are probably saying right now “wow, she is a picky eater”! Well maybe just a little.😂

But when I saw this book say it was a healthy, quick and easy option… I knew I had to take a closer look.

Is everyone familiar with bento boxes? It’s basically a boxed lunch designed for convenience. Originating in Japan it is now popular throughout Asia and now the world. It contains your main lunch component usually a protein (meat or fish for example). You can choose from a few sides and a staple of rice or any grain pasta that you enjoy. Overall it is a well proportioned balanced meal all conveniently packaged for those of us on the go! I’m in!🙋🏻‍♀️

I was a bit nervous to use a cookbook on my iPad instead of a physical copy. But the layout is brilliant. The pictures capture your eyes and your appetite immediately. The table of contents reminded me of a menu in a restaurant. I simply glanced through to what looked good and proceeded to that page of the book where I could find a recipe for each component of that particular bento box.

I completely agree with the healthy part of what this book presents. All boxes are under 500 calories. But the quick and easy…not so much. All these these recipes are amazing though somewhat intricate and time consuming. I’ll definitely be giving a few more a try but only when I have the time necessary to devote to my meal preparations.

Favorites to date:
Mandarin chicken with sautéed chard and mushroom and tomato salad.
Honey ginger beef with pickled onion and broccoli.

Next up:
Parmesan chicken with sautéed Brussels sprouts and sausage rigatoni.😋

Posted to: https://books-are-a-girls-best-friend...

Thank you to NetGalley and DK a division of Penguin Random House Publishing

This cookbook caught my eye because it seemed to have some great lunch recipes. I decided to check it out because I am always up for new foods and what fun to create my own Bento Box.

The cookbook is bright and full of color with drool worthy photos. The beginning there are the essentials: what is a bento box, tools you will need, tips and how to pack and store your bento box. All useful categories. The recipes in this cookbook are divided into different sections: In Traditional Japanese Bento, Pan-Asian, Western-Style and The Staples.

So far I have tried the following recipes and found them easy to make and delicious: Pan Seared Salmon with Pork Roll-Ups and Carrot Egg Roll, Parmesan Chicken with Sauteed Brussels Sprouts and Sausage Rigatoni, and Bibimbap Bento.

Each recipe has a photo, easy to follow instructions, simple ingredients, servings, prep time, cook time, nutrition and how to store. There are a few recipes that have ingredients that are not common in my pantry, so it was fun to explore new ingredients and new tastes as well. The nutrition is also on point as many of these are within a nice healthy range.

This cookbook really inspires me to try new and different foods and to make my own adjustments to the recipes to better fit my family. I am really excited to try more soon. 4 stars.

I received an ARC via NetGalley and DK Publishing and I am leaving my honest review.

This book is a cute and clear explanation of bento boxes, from what they are to how to pack them. Each box includes a great image of what they look like, how to pack, serving temperature, nutrition information including macros, and then recipes for the main and side dishes. I love how the recipes are split up so they you can easily mix and match them. The bentos themselves are split into 3 sections: traditional japanese, pan-asian, and western-style as well as a quick section on rice. There are a variety of recipes for each, with vegetarian options (on their own or with slight variation) available. There are a variety of meats and flavors and they all contain bright veggies and fun flavors. It really is a fun bento book. It isn't incredibly extensive in terms of recipes or combinations but instead provides a great base to add on to in your own time.