Simply Bento

I’m in trouble! I just read the absolutely wonderful “Simply Bento: A Complete Course in Preparing Beautiful Box Lunch Ideas for Healthy Portable Portions” and I want to eat every meal shown in the book. The photos are so gorgeous and the descriptions so yummy that I’m a goner! From the creators of Japanese Cooking 101, “Simply Bento” presents nearly 100 quick easy-to-make healthy and delicious recipes that feature a fusion of incredible flavor combinations. You’ll learn to make bento meals for each day of the week, how to assemble your box, and the items you’ll need in your pantry. Recipes include Teriyaki Chicken, Ramen, Avocado Pasta Salad, Cauliflower Fried Rice, Falafel, Tempura, and Chicken Nuggets, and so much more! Highly recommended!

Pub Date 14 Aug 2018

Thanks to Quarto Publishing Group – Race Point Publishing and NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions are fully mine!

#SimplyBento #NetGalley

This is a very interesting book that helped me to understand what is and how to prpare a bento. It’s full of interesting picures and yummy recipes that I will surely try.
Highly recommended!Many thanks to Quarto Publishing and Netgalley for this ARC

This is a lovely comprehensive bento cookbook. It covers many of the bases and then some. I love the addition of low carb recipes. I do think the first couple of chapters are a bit repetitive (the same ingredients/sauces over and over and just a swap of the protein). I would have loved to see a little more variety there. If someone doesn't like the taste of mirin, sake, or soy sauce (or they're trying to avoid sugar) they'll have to avoid too large a portion of the book. Overall, though, anyone looking to start making bento boxes would find this book very helpful. The sides are varied and delicious. I'd definitely recommend this book to a friend.

New interesting ideas to make your own special bento, as a take away or to eat at home. Some recipes were "really japanese", but some other were not and maybe easier to European/U.S. people, like me. Anway it was easy written, well explained and the pics were the better part....

Nuove ed interessanti idee per "costruirti" il tuo bento, sia da trasporto che da mangiare a casa. Alcune ricette erano tipicamente giapponesi, ma altre erano piú internazionali diciamo, e quindi piú facili per persone come me. Comunque il libro é ben scritto, ben spiegato e soprattutto la parte migliore sono le foto.

THANKS NETGALLEY FOR THE PREVIEW"

All kinds of lunches, dinners and holiday meals are included in Simply Bento.

This cookbook includes Japanese, sandwich, noodle, rice and sushi bento recipes. It has a full chapter featuring vegan bento recipes and another for low carb bento. Each entree’s recipe comes with suggestions for side dishes and a make-ahead plan. Most recipes include a beautiful full color picture.

As a lover of Japanese culture through manga and anime, I want to create a real bento box for myself. Only three things stand in my way: being gluten free; not having any time to cook anything, even breakfast, in the morning; and not being a great chef. While this cookbook doesn’t provide allergen information, the recipe ingredients can be easily reviewed and substituted if necessary. The second issue means that almost all of these recipes have to wait for the weekend for me (and I assume many others) to have the time to cook them. Many of the cooking techniques require at least a medium skill set. If you are a beginning chef, it’s probably better to start with an easier book.

I loved the instructions for loading up your pantry with Japanese staples. Simply Bento includes instructions to make most of the Japanese sauces, like teriyaki and sweet and sour, from scratch. I also loved the cute side dishes like cherry tomatoes stuffed with cottage cheese and Tako (octopus) Sausage made with cocktail franks. Some of the recipes are traditional Japanese and some are Americanized like Taco Rice, Hamburger and Hot Dog Bento.

Love Japanese culture? want to try something different for lunch? Have an extra 30 minutes in the morning and some good knife skills? Simply Bento is highly recommended for you. Unfortunately, due to the lack of nutritional information, I have to take off 1 star leaving Simply Bento with 4 stars.

Thanks to Quarto, Race Point Publishing and NetGalley for an advanced copy.

I'm a huge fan of Bento recipes and this new release does not disappoint! The recipes were simple but light and refreshing. I especially enjoyed the plan ahead tips.

Simply Bento by Yuko and Noriko, creators of Japanese Cooking 101, is an absolutely lovely book. Between the delicious recipes and gorgeous photographs reading this book will truly delight your senses. I also loved the variety of recipes that lend a creative touch to lunch. I also loved how the authors explained what Bento was, how to make Bento, and Bento essentials. I really appreciated the book's emphasis on food safety. I have read some Bento books that skimmed over the need for keeping food safe when packing a Bento box. I loved this book so much I am thinking about gifting it to my children as they love Japanese culture.

Some of the recipes you'll find include:

Tamagoyaki
Pork Shogayaki Bento
Hamburger Bento
Ramen Bento
Yakisoba Bento
Breakfast Muffin Bento

Recommend.

Review written after downloading a galley from NetGalley

Do you have to pack lunch boxes for your kids/spouse/partner and have run out of ideas what to put inside? Why not try Bento boxes?

The authors introduce Bento, including food safety issues, what boxes to use, staple recipes and ideas what to pack and what better not to pack into a Bento box.

The recipes in this book are easy to follow and look very delicious - I hope I can put together a lunch box for my kids that looks as appetising as the ones in the book's pictures. The pictures make you want to try this.

I love this book, not only because I love Japanese food, but it is a great way to break away from the boring packed lunches, eat nutriciously well, and also - a big plus - is that all of the recipes serves 2. This can easily be doubled for larger families, of course, but if there are just two having packed lunches, it is a great book crammed with great recipes that you can also have for dinner, without having the same thing for lunch and dinner the following day. Really inspiring. It also shows the importance of presenting food so that it looks attractive - we also eat with our eyes, so this is a really fresh way of vamping a packed lunch, and quite cute, too.

Lovely photos with helpful explanations. Helpful for beginners or those familiar with the concept of Bento.

I’m a huge fan of Japanese cooking, so I like that this bento box book dives right in to recipes using Japanese ingredients and flavors. I also like the numerous pictures throughout the book that show the beautiful outcomes.

I was excited to come across this cookbook as I LOVE bento boxes and eating Japanese food. How cool if I could create my own healthful bento boxes. Simple concept but had never thought about it prior to this book catching my eye.

The photos were the first thing that struck me. So colorful and mouthwatering! The preliminary pages cover history and benefits of bento, pantry essentials, ingredients and some key points to making bento - great info to springboard me into the recipes section.

Each recipe page contains a ‘main’ recipe and two accompanying “Plan Ahead” and “To Make This Bento” info boxes. To Make This Bento simply means to add suggested ‘sides’ like steamed rice, blanched carrot flowers, shunpike salad, etc (recipes also included within). I heeded the advice of the author and decided to go slow, starting with a couple of their 10-minute bento, a traditional yakisoba bento and the quesadilla bento with black bean and corn salad (sans cilantro). Successful and tasty. Next on my plate will be the sweet and sour meatballs bento.

Some of the recipes sound plain silly - like the hot dog bento, pizza bento and chicken nuggets bento - don’t think I’ll be trying those anytime soon. What I will be doing is buying a few copies to give two foodies in my life as Christmas presents!

*will post in additional online venues upon publication

I was eager to read this as I had just purchased my son a bunch of these bento boxes, I found some really nice ideas in this book that I think he will enjoy. I preordered a copy to give him

While there have been some improvements to public school lunches since the 80's and 90's while I was in school, I still think they have a long way to go before they get anywhere near the healthy meals I would want my kids buying at school, so my kids take their lunch. Packing kid lunches you can still fall in the trap of unhealthy foods as well, so I am always looking for new ideas on healthy lunch choices. The Japanese food art of bento has always interested me, but I have never found a book like this that breaks down the history and art of it. I love that there are plenty of traditional Japanese options in the book, but that there are also some Americanized ideas as well. There are intricate lunches that might take some time and effort to make, but there are some that would be quicker to throw together. I also love that these are meals my husband and kids would enjoy, and that they are healthy choices for all of them but will still be tasty and flavorful. I recommend this book to anyone looking to up their lunch game or just wanting to learn more about Japanese food culture.

I received an Advanced Reader Copy from Race Point Publishing for my unbiased opinion of the book. This book was so colorful, and everything laid out beautifully. I loved how this book had everything I like to call everything you need to know but the kitchen sink! Lol The photos were crystal clear and mouthwatering. The recipes like Beef Roll-Up Bento were easy to execute and to follow. I can't wait to cook my way through this book!

This is not your usual Bento book. Where other books in the past feature cartoon characters shaped out of eggs or other staple items, this book focuses on the "why" of bento-making just as much as the "how". This bento book is not just geared towards parents making food for their children, so it's more about the recipes rather than aesthetics.

Here's what I like about this book:
1. A lot of recipes (if you're considering other Bento-making books, this is the one to get for that reason alone) that focus on Japanese cuisine with recipes for vegan and low-carb eaters too. I'd say that this also acts as a perfectly accessible introduction to Japanese cooking since the book also has a section on Japanese pantry essentials most other Bento-making books don't.
2. There's prep time included in this book -- which is helpful and encouraging especially since bento-making requires more commitment, but not considerably more so. Many recipes indicate less than twenty minutes of prep time assuming that the main ingredients (carbohydrates) have already been cooked. There's also a section on "planning ahead" on some recipes to reduce the labor involved in the morning.
3. There are numerous photos that gives the reader an idea of how to go the extra mile with bento instead of just putting them into different compartments.
4. There's a section on typical bento containers and accessories which I actually learned from! For example, wooden containers help make taste rice better apparently, as they absorb moisture.

What I don't like about the book:
I wish the book had better typography -- this is a reference book of recipes you want to try out, but it's not necessarily something that you browse through because it's beautiful. That being said, perhaps that's the point of the book and it shouldn't affect the material.

Healthy, pretty and easy to prepare. Simply Bento is a Japanese style lunch box with a Western twist, so that we can still use Western ingredients to create food with Asian flair. Not only the ingredients are wholesome and healthy, I think the look for the bento is great and appetising. It is perfect for spring, as it is fresh and helps anyone change their lifestyle towards summer (in Australia anyway)

#SimplyBento #NetGalley

Healthy and fresh recipes that can be packed in a Bento way. Delicious and easy to cook.

This was one of the most visually stunning cookbooks that I've ever had the pleasure of perusing. While the recipes sound and look delish, I don't know if I'd actually make them. I was hoping for more of a one-serving bento box type of recipe book. However, I'd definitely buy the book and add it to my collection in the off chance that I got courageous and decided to make Chicken Sorboro Bento. OMG...just type the name of the recipe makes me hungry!

I love Bento Boxes. I adore the cuteness, the small packaging and the healthiness of them. I look forward to opening I open my lunch box, there is happiness there. We all deserve a special packaged lunch. I have been making bentos for many years and am always looking for fresh ideas and found several in this book. My favorite has to be the Halloween bento, I am making that cat for my boxes.
This book is great for the beginner bento maker. The steps are clearly written, the ingredients are readily available in most grocery stores. Anyone can jump into bento making right away and not feel overwhelmed. The photos are beautiful and give great examples on how to set up your boxes. Give it a try, you'll never go back to dull bagged lunches again.

I picked this up thinking it would be a fairly Americanized bento book–more about packed lunches than about Japanese food. I was mistaken. Simply Bento by Yuko Yagi and Noriko Yura is a surprisingly extensive look at the art of bento and the many, many recipes that can be included.

I don’t know much about Japanese food, but I will say that this combination of traditional Japanese recipes with some American twists seems like a great place to start. While the recipes necessarily do call for some Japanese ingredients, the details are spelled out in the beginning of the book. The recipes also don’t call for an extensive list of specialty ingredients, which helps.

Another plus is that this book doesn’t simply include recipes, but also contains many, many recommendations for combinations in order to create a complete bento box. One thing I struggle with when packing lunch is figuring out how to put together enough things so that it’s interesting and it fills me up but also doesn’t end up being too much food. Having the complete meal suggestions really helps with this.

I love the idea of Asian American cookbooks that draw not only on traditional recipes but also include new and innovative recipes. It was great looking through this cookbook!

Adepte moi-même du bento, j'ai beaucoup apprécié la lecture de cet ouvrage avec différentes recettes d'adaptant très bien à la mise en bento. Je garde quelques recettes à refaire. Les photos sont très belles.

Work lunches (or school lunches) can get boring very fast. People can only handle so many sandwiches, and sad looking leftovers. Simply Bento helps to bring your lunch to new heights with diverse flavour combinations. If you need some new lunch ideas and want to try your hand at some Japanese recipes made simple then this cookbook will be perfect for you.

Nice presentation, good reference! Thanks for the advance copy, I will definitely be utilizing this!

Having visited Japan last year and travelled for many hours on the Shinkansen trains, I bought Bento Boxes on many occasions before travelling and I must say they are the most delicious and varied form of what we call Take Away food. So many choices from savoury to sweet and many sizes also. So imagine my delight to find this little gem of a book with such an array of wonderful wholesome food and beautiful pictures.

The recipes are easy to follow and I will surely be preparing the food from this book for my family, but firstly I am going out to buy a couple of Bento Box containers with all their little compartments for the delicacies I am going to fill them with.

Portion sizes are important for the health conscious and the Bento Box is an ideal way to control this. Absolutely love this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group, Race Point Publishing for the opportunity to read and review.

Bento meals are really very small lunches in a box for school children and workers. Meals in a box have been very popular in the Japanese culture for hundreds of years.
The authors give 7 main points for making bento, and the first point deals with safety - cooking the food thoroughly, which foods can and cannot be packed in a lunch, and how to ensure that no harmful bacteria can grow on the food are only some of the safeguards that are mentioned. You will learn how to pack a bento box, which box to choose, and how you can prepare most of your food ahead of time so that you are not cooking all morning long!
If you are making mostly Japanese meals, you are given a list of staples such as soy sauce, rice vinegar, wasabi, mushrooms, seaweed, rice, bread, and noodles.
You will learn how to cook chicken, beef, fish and rice with vegetables using vegetables and as dividers in the box. You will learn how to make sukiyaki,teriyaki, antipasto, and a simple, elegantly presented hamburger bento with coleslaw. You will also learn how to make sushi bentos with chicken, ginger, cucumbers, rice and carrots.
There is a variety of condiment and sauce recipes to go with your bento lunches.
Experiment with these recipes, and enjoy them - your lunches will become an adventure in taste and texture!

Simply Bento by Yuko and Norika is a nice combination of Japanese and American recipes. A few of the ingredients will be a bit difficult to find, but most recipes feature easy to find items. One of my favorite recipes is the Spicy Chicken Wrap Bento. Each recipe features a "plan ahead" section letting you know what steps can be done in advance. The Fresh Fruits Jelly is another easy recipe that can be altered depending on what is in season. Overall this is a nice cookbook with something for everyone.

It’s been more quiet than usual around here this week, and that has two reasons. For one, I’ve started my new job, which is cutting into both reading and writing time (as jobs tend to do). Secondly, I’m a bit under the weather at the moment. The queue doesn’t simply read itself, however, and there is already another little surprise for my readers in the making, so stuff needs to get done.

I thought “Simply Bento” would be a great title for review, since I’ve been looking for easy lunch options to take with me. Authors Noriko and Yuko also run the popular blog Japanese Cooking 101, which features a huge variety of recipes, many with videos. Their new cookbook begins reasonably with an explanation of what bento is and its history. It turns out that as a meal, bento has been enjoyed for far longer than I would have thought! The seven key points in “How to Make Bento” reemphasize the fact that you are taking a meal for the senses, something that should be prepared with a bit more care than a baloney sandwich wrapped in cellophane, while keeping in mind as well that raw meats or fish and dairy require certain food safety practices.

Next, you learn about essential utensils and accessories for bento, like choices for containers, then move on to find out which staples make regular appearances in Japanese cooking. Finally, as bento aims to provide a balanced meal, there are some notes on how to create exactly that. Now you’re ready to delve into the recipes!

Altogether, there are twelve recipe chapters that cover topics like Classic Japanese Bento, Noodle Bento, Low-Carb Bento, Bento for Special Occasions, Bento at Home, and even Side Dishes. There is even a separate section on Vegan Bento, although I don’t need a whole cookbook to tell me to pack a falafel lunch. On average, the sections feature seven recipes each, some a few more, some a few less. Every recipe is laid out the same way: after a brief recipe introduction, there is a box titled “How to Make this Bento” in which you find a main dish, plus suggested side dishes. The next line tells you the estimated prep time, cooking time, and number of servings for the main dish, immediately followed by the recipe for the main. For people frequently finding themselves in a time crush, there is a very helpful box titled “Plan Ahead” to make quick assembly a snap. This layout makes the book very easy to use. The recipes are accompanied by full-page color photos.

Overall, I think this is a great book for omnivores who are curious about Japanese food. There certainly is a great variety of different dishes in here. Personally, I find it disappointing and, frankly, a bit lazy to say that a lot of the dishes can be adjusted to fit a vegan diet without concrete tips on how to do so, and that is why I would not get this book for myself. The only cookbook I have come across so far that actually tries and succeeds quite well in providing both vegetarian and vegan variations of the vast majority of recipes included, is Kathryne Taylor’s “Love Real Food.” Still, I am at least motivated to check out Yuko and Noriko’s blog for ideas.

“Simply Bento” is published by Race Point Publishing. I received an advanced reader copy from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions are my own, unless otherwise stated.

I love the boxes and how there’s a little section on how to plan ahead. I also loved how simple everything was in the book. I can’t wait to try out some of these. Such an awesome book!

I have been a fan of Yuko and Noriko (japanesecooking101.com) for quite some time, and Simply Bento is my new favorite cookbook! Fast and easy recipes with clear instructions and stunning photographs. What I love about this cookbook is that the fact that the author includes the food-safety tips and plan-ahead section. For those with a special diet, there are chapters, like, low carb bento and vegan bento that I found interesting.

My only complaint is the serving size. The recipe is scaled for 2 servings and we are a family of 4. Most of the time I don't have enough leftover for tomorrow's lunch (yes, they are THAT delicious!)

If you are a beginner in bento-making affair, this book is definitely for you. For a more experience "bento-er", this book will give you new ideas to create beautiful, healthy, and delicious lunches.


** I received a DIGITAL Advance Reader Copy of this book, #SimplyBento from #NetGalley in exchange for my honest review **

My family regularly takes their lunch to school in a bento box. We never bought any bento box cookbooks because they seemed to just be smaller portions of recipes we had in other books.

Keep that in mind when I say, this book is different.

Of course the recipes are good. I have made several of them at this point and none have turned out badly. I even found myself using a couple of the sauce recipes in other dishes. (The quick ramen recipe is not to be missed!)

More than anything else though, the “plan ahead” sections made the difference between this being another cookbook in my collection and this being one saved to my tablet to be broken out multiple times in a week. Specifically, each “plan ahead” section for each recipe gives tips on what can be done the night before to speed up preparing the bento box in the morning. As a family that packs at least two boxes every morning before school this makes a huge difference.

Not only is this a good cookbook but it is a great choice for working parents packing for kids or anyone who is taking their lunch to work or school.

Simply Bento...or Simply Delicious? Well you'll just have to get the book and find out won't you? I love to cook and create fast and easy recipes for my family. Whether it's for school, work, home, trips, you name it quick and easy meals are a must. This book allows you to create some delicious authentic Asian dishes right at home. The cute treats are to die for and if you're like me you may even recognize a few from anime which is a hit for my kids. We love anime. The recipes are full of flavor but they are healthier than fast food and you get save that money for more books.

The duo behind the popular website Japanese Cooking 101 have written a cookbook concentrating on bento box meals. If you'd like to see their trailer for the book, click here.

I am always excited about trying new recipes especially for lunches (and breakfasts, snacks, and dinner, you get the drift--food!). The great thing about the recipes in Simply Bento is that they have been created for the individual who might not have ready access to a microwave at lunchtime and are intended to be eaten at room temperature.

The different sections, presented in the blurb above, show that bento boxes can be made for a variety of diets as well as for occasions and meal types. Some recipes are geared toward a more adult palate, while some, like chicken nuggets and mini-pizzas, are for kids (or big kids). And vegans and vegetarians are not overlooked, as they so frequently are in most cookbooks. The authors are quick to point out that substitutions are encouraged.

In the introduction, the authors acknowledge that bento boxes are probably a bit more time-consuming than throwing a sandwich together, but they are prepared with the well-being of the family in mind. After glancing at the mouth-watering pictures that accompany the recipes, it is obvious that the boxes are designed to be well-balanced with attention given to almost all food groups.

Non-traditional recipes, such as hot dogs, falafel, and pizza, are included next to traditional recipes.

As a vegetarian, I always look to see how recipes geared toward omnivores can be adapted for me. Most of the recipes in Simply Bento can be made for vegetarians and vegans with a substitution here or there. A lot of the vegetable side dishes need no substitutions. and plus there are recipes for different vegetable pickles (I love pickled vegetables).

Besides the huge variety of recipes, the authors also discuss the types of bento boxes to use, pantry essentials, ingredients, and accessories. If you're new to bento boxes, like me, all of this information is necessary and so welcome.

I am practically salivating over some of these recipes and can't wait to try them!

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A bento box for every occasion, season, for home or to go! The most comprehensive book on the subject!

Simply Bento will teach you how to pack a lunch that will keep even the pickiest eater happy. From a long history of Bento boxes, the authors have developed simple, excellent recipes and guidelines to make even the newest cook an expert. with over 140 recipes, you are sure to find enough ideas to keep you looking forward to lunch hour for a long while. Whether a noodle lover, vegan, or lover of everything rice, there are recipes in here for you. This book would make an excellent gift for anyone who loves Japanese food or needs some new meal inspirations.

Bento boxes – so neat and tidy, they make a deskbound lunchtime fun(ish). After reading this book I was inspired to buy a lunchbox with separate compartments in it. On Monday and Tuesday I fill up my compartments with lovely little things that I prepared at the weekend. On Wednesday I fill them with leftovers. On Thursday I put a ‘Mug Shot’ in one compartment and some cucumber in another. On Friday I get a sandwich from the station shop.
This book has attractive pictures and clearly laid out recipes. I’m vegetarian and there are very few vegetarian recipes in there. However, as the book doesn’t purport to be veggie, I won’t de-star it for that.
It’s an enjoyable book with a nice idea to brighten up the working week.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC.

This book is dangerous to look at and read while you’re hungry because the pictures will make you want everything.
Simply Bento is a great book, layed our beautifully and has great pictures. My time in Japan has taught me that bento meals are amazing and I’m very happy to find a book that makes it accessible and easy for me to read and make. The best part of this book is that these are meals that can easily become dinners. I can’t wait to add a hard copy edition of this book to my cookbook shelf and make these meals apart of my life.

I legitimately have no reason for loving Bento boxes as much as I do. I blame Cher in the movie Mermaids, seriously. But there is something about these neatly packed boxes of food, all portioned out, often in fun shapes, that just SCREAMS TO ME, "Stop bringing cup o'noodles to work and make your own damn food, you heathen!"

The difference between this book and a few other bento books I've seen is that this one is ACTUALLY based around Asian cooking. What a concept! Unfortunately, this also means there's a butt load of ingredients I'm probably never going to get my hands on. Also some I don't ever want to get my hands on, or ever see a picture of again, thanks sliced lotus seed pod things.

But the majority of the recipes in here sound SO GOOD, and also look so good. Is it the adorable portions and shaped food? Well...probably, again, I am so susceptible to food in cute little boxes.

I bookmarked so many of these recipes. Will I ever make them? Dear god, I want to. But probably not. And let's be real, I don't own any cute little bento boxes. That's what mismatched Tupperware and butter bowls are for.

But it could happen. Mehbe....

Simply Bento is a great book for introducing people to the Japanese style of Bento food. It certainly looks like a nice alternative to sushi at lunchtime, putting a balanced meals in a box. In some ways its like taking your lunch to work or school in those little Tupperware boxes.

The book has an introduction which includes pantry essentials and the ingredients used. There are lots of lunches to make, some with meat, fish, low carbs, Noodles or vegan, plus many more.

Many of the lunches can be made the night before, or completed in the morning before you leave. The ingredients are in both imperial and metric measurements.

Not all the recipes have a photograph, but those included look very vibrant and interesting to eat.

I received this book from netgalley in return for a honest review.

Absolutely loved Simply Bento, some great healthy lunch box ideas, as a vegan I also got some great recepies that I will be using over and over again. Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the arc..

A great recipe book for young and old. I have used a couple of recipes for mine and my partners lunch and even my 2 year old on picnics. I like how there are recipes for life events such as first day at school and halloween.
Some of the recipes have ingredients which are hard to find in supermarkets.

I really enjoy this cookbook. There is a variety of food, both typical japanese dishes as well as more western dishes. It has given me a lot of inspiration for my work lunches.
There is also a low carb and a vegan chapter as well as many side dishes and basics to mix and match. Being vegetarian myself I didn't mind that there are many meat/fish based recipes in this book because I still find inspiration and can make alternatives. There is always a recommendation on what to add to your bento box on top of the main dish (like fresh fruit or specific side dishes) which makes work lunches a real treat.

The simplest metric for me in evaluating a cookbook is whether I'm immediately tempted to make any of the recipes--the more, the better. This delightful book is full of simple recipes that made me want to go shopping right away and start cooking. I bookmarked at least ten recipes to try over the next couple of weeks. It isn't clear that I will put all of them into cute little bento boxes for lunch, but they all are well-suited for bringing to work instead of eating the same old cafeteria food. The authors explain everything clearly, and the section in the beginning on basic Japanese ingredients is useful. For maximum usefulness as a reference after the first reading, this book would benefit from a photo of every recipe (or at least every suggested bento) directly opposite the recipe page. I would not hesitate to give this book as a gift. I received a digital pre-publication copy from Netgalley for review, and I plan to buy a physical copy for my kitchen.

I really enjoyed reading this book. I'm new to the whole bento box scene and really just started doing it for healthier lunches for my son. This book have wonderful tips with what you would need and how to create each box. There is a good mixture of breakfast and lunch bento boxes that will definitely get you started. I looked for some of the ingredients in my local stores and could find most of them but there where a couple that I couldn't find. I guess I'm not in the right area for it and will have to source outside my town. Otherwise I felt this was a perfect introductory book on bento.

Awesome cookbook! Clear instructions, practical advice, recipes for everyone

Simply Bento is a wonderfully complete bento cookbook with stunning photography and includes everything from a brief history of bento, descriptions of common ingredients, sauces, bento safety, etc., plus includes a wide variety of bento recipes. What I really like about this bento cookbook is that the authors try to make everything simple and practical for every day, knowing that most of us have limited time and energy to invest in daily lunches, but also knowing that we want to feed delicious healthy food to our families. They themselves use leftovers, precut vegetables, and prepare bento in ways that help them save time and money. Love that the photos really show you how you can layout these recipes to for absolutely gorgeous presentations.

The recipes are varied, cover a wide range of nationalities, and offer lots of healthy choices. I intend to use this book to provide bento lunches that mostly fit a lower carb/keto diet and also accommodate the multiple food allergies in my family.

Here’s a brief overview of what’s included in Simply Bento.

How to Make Bento: 7 Key Points
Covers important advice on bento safety, serving a balanced diet, packing what you like, planning ahead, choosing the right bento box, packing attractively, and making bento prep a routine.

Bento Essentials
Information on the differences between and advantages of different styles of bento boxes, and information on accessories such as utensils, baking cups and dividers, picks, food molds, and ice packs.

Japanese Pantry Essentials
Covers basic ingredients such as soy sauce, mirin, dried bonito flakes, etc., with information on what they are made of, how they are used, what they add to each dish, etc.

Bento Ingredients
Includes recipes for different types of rice cooked in rice cookers or stovetop, plus broths, sauces, and dips including dashi, tamagoyaki, etc.

Classic Japanese Bento
Includes recipes for chicken teriyaki bento, beef roll-up bento, grilled mackerel bento, tsukune bento, beef shigureni bento, sukiyaki bento, salmon teriyaki bento, and pork shogayaki bento.

Sandwich Bento
Includes recipes for tonkatsu sandwich bento, antipasto bento, mixed sandwiches bento, cucumber and cream cheese sandwich, and hamburger bento.

Sushi and Onigiri Bento
Includes recipes for sushi burrito bento, onigiri bento, sushi roll bento, spam musubi bento, inari sushi bento, and yaki onigiri.


Noodle Bento
Includes recipes for ramen bento, soba noodle salad bento, bukkake udon bento, shrimp avocado pasta salad bento, and cold somen noodle bento.

Popular Japanese Bento
Includes recipes for chicken karaage bento, hamburger steak bento, yakiniku bento, okonomiyaki bento, korokke bento, sweet and sour meatballs bento, and chicken nugget bento.

10-Minute Bento
Includes recipes for cold shabu shabu salad bento, hot dog bento, quesadilla bento, pinwheel sandwiches bento, yakisoba bento, pizza bento, corn chowder bento, granola bento, spicy chicken wing bento, and breakfast muffin bento.

Rice and Grain Bowl Bento
Includes recipes for omurice bento, chicken soboro bento, oyakodon bento, gyudon bento, taco rice bento, and quinoa salad bento.

Low-Carb Bento
Includes recipes for grilled shrimp and steamed vegetables bento, cauliflower fried rice bento, fish meuniére bento, lettuce wrap bento, curry chicken salad bento, and beef and vegetable stir-fry bento.

Vegan Bento
Includes recipes for tofu steak salad bento, falafel bento, vegetable miso soup bento, spaghetti with lima beans and cabbage bento, hijiki gohan bento, and tofu poke bento.

Bento for Special Occasions
Includes recipes for Valentine’s Day bento, Halloween bento, Birthday bento, picnic or field trip bento, and first day of school bento.

Bento at Home
Includes recipes for tempura bento, temari sushi bento, roast beef bento, sashimi bento, and holiday bento.

Side Dishes
Includes recipes divided into sections for rice and potatoes, vegetables, salads, seafood, mushrooms, eggs and meat, pickled, and sauces, dips, and more.

Highly recommended for beginning bento enthusiasts, bento fans looking for new, frugal, and efficient recipes, and anyone who wants to prepare healthier meals.

I liked what was offered in this book so much I bought the Kindle version and the hardcover version. I am reviewing the Kindle version of Simply Bento. I will amend this review with info on the hardcover version when I receive mine. (I initially received this book as a digital Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) from the publisher through NetGalley. My opinions are my own.)

Last summer I lived in Japan, and not in a bustling metropolis like Tokyo. I lived on the top of an isolated mountain and the only food available for most of my meals came from the convenience store down the block. Now, convenience stores in Japan are nothing like any other convenience stores I’ve ever seen, and are truly the most convenient of stores one could imagine. I ate uncountable bento (Japanese packed lunches) from this “konbini” and have been missing them terribly. Not only are bento delightfully delicious, but also aesthetically pleasing and more balanced than most meals I prepare for myself.

For the last year, I have attempted to both emulate the food I ate in these bento and find local restaurants that capture the flavors of these pre-packed lunches, but everything has fallen short. And that is why I was so thrilled to get a chance to read Simply Bento. This cookbook brings together all of the aspects of bento in an easy to follow manner, from preparing the food, to packing, and the arrangements within the boxes. All of the meals I have been yearning for are included within these pages and the recipes are shockingly easy! The authors even provide hints on how to save time by using leftovers from dinner, or prepping the night before, since bento is a labor of love and can take some time to prepare. But it is worth it, so worth it.

Simply Bento includes many classic recipes, such as karaage (Japanese fried chicken) and hambagu (Japanese hamburger steak), but also Americanized dishes like chicken nuggets bento and quesadilla bento. The side dishes are also marvelous, with a variety of salads and vegetable dishes. There is even a section for vegan bento. All told, there are over 140 recipes within these pages. This book had me longing to cook every single recipe and to order up all of the cute accessories to make heart-shaped boiled eggs and star cutout carrots. So fire up the rice cooker, and enjoy some bento!

*I would like to thank the publisher, author, and NetGalley for providing an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

I LOVE bento recipes! this one shows super easy bentos to make with easily accessible ingredients. The recipes were easy to follow and i loved all the cute packaging ideas for the food! I need to get this as a hard copy!

If you're bored with eating ordinary turkey sandwiches for lunch or sending your kids another PBJ, you'll want to check out this cookbook. In addition to traditional Japanese rice and noodles, there are chapters for sandwich bento and other ideas. Lots of full-color photos, as well as advice for how to prepare, pack, and keep food at the right temperature for lunchtime.

These recipes and bento boxes look wonderful! My kids are used to the same types of lunches that they've always had, so I'm going to try to ease them into it. I think the fact that the bento box compartments are so neat will help intrigue them!

This book is great for both those new to bento and Japanese cooking and those with some experience under their belt. The recipes are easy to follow and well laid out and the pictures are gorgeous! I especially loved the section on staple recipes and food safety.

I loved this book. Page after page had enticing recipes which were wholesome and fresh. I would highly recommend it.

Bento boxes are very trendy nowadays, especially in areas with large Asian populations. The boxes are generally beautiful, and the contents come in both hot and cold varieties. Although most of us don’t think of making these wonderful packed meals which are usually served at lunchtime, Simply Bento: Delicious Box Lunch Ideas for Healthy Portions to Go, an excellent cookbook by Yuko and Noriko, explains just how to make them at home. While several of the beautiful bento boxes are a bit time consuming, there is also a section on 10-minute bento boxes and others that take a little planning, but are quick to put together.

The recipes included are mouthwatering and are for popular Japanese dishes ranging from chicken and beef to vegetarian and vegan. Most of the dishes are quite easy and fairly quick to make. For those who like to take lunches to work, this cookbook has dozens of ideas to combat boring meals. Most of the meals are healthy, and many are fairly low in fat and calories.

For those who love Japanese food and like food to be beautiful, this is a perfect cookbook to add to a cookbook collection.

This is the perfect book to learn how to make bento! Having spent some time in japan I was attracted to this book because I know how great Japanese bento are. Not only does everything taste amazing, even when it’s cold/room temp, but it looks amazing too. This easy to follow book helps me make lunches like that here in America! Love all the background information about Japanese food culture, how to make a bento, how to make a bento look great etc. the recipes are easy to follow and most ingredients can be found locally. There are a wide variety of recipes with tons of vegetables! I can’t wait to try more of these recipes.
I received a digital copy of this book from netgalley and the publisher. This has in no way influenced my review. I was not required to write a positive review. All thoughts are my own.

Beautiful photographs and delicious recipes. Excellent for people that eat out most of the time, like myself.

This was a really fascinating read with lots of good recipes. I enjoyed many of them and found the instructions to be easy to follow.

I LOVE BENTOS!! This book shows healthy and easy recipes to make with bentos. I would have loved seeing more pictures.

I reviewed this book as part of my Weekend Cooking series. I'll submit the link and more information when adding notes directly to the publisher.

I loved the ideas and pictures from this book. My husband tends to try to eat out while at work so I wanted to get some ideas on how to pack enticing lunches for him and myself. It is a little more work to prepare these but I become more excited about what I have packed for lunches. The recipes I've tried were very easy and yummy. Overall, I have been packing more lunches and eating less out so this was a success.

Simple elegance!

I really liked the simple explanation of what Bento is and the historical back ground in the introduction.
It struck a nerve! "What motivates us to make bento is that it enable us to make safe and healthy lunches for our families."
There are other reasons of course but when my 'fussy eating' kids were in school we had the 'anglo' equivalent. The plastic sectioned container that they had to pack themselves (fussy comes with a price tag--and no they didn't have allergies, they had preferences), with the cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, capsicum strips, fruits (blueberries, strawberries etc.) As they became older it was salads and other goodies that could sit in their lockers safely without becoming bacteria's playground.
Now if we'd have had this fabulous book then, their culinary expertise could have expanded ... and mine I guess as chief food purchaser. Mind you half the fun is the box itself. There's a lovely section describing these. Makes me want to rush off and buy some for my grandkids. So much more chichi (elegant) than the cheap plastic containers we used.
The recipes are straightforward and mouthwatering. The color plates really are attractive and add to the overall presentation of such a welcome and understated addition to our culture that this recipe book for Bento is.

A NetGalley ARC

Simply Bento
My thanks to #NetGalley for this ebook in exchange for an honest review. Simply Bento is a fantastic cookbook for bento lovers with beautiful photographs. Simple and practical, the cookbook includes the use of leftovers the Recipes include the use of leftovers and planned-for-leftovers using what is already in the house and supplementing with pre-cut vegetables. This is an excellent cookbook for making a beautiful presentation of a simple lunch: The whole purpose is to keep bento or lunch simple and fresh, but also healthy, practical and even beautiful.

My sister loves bento boxes so I decided to give this book a try.. What a great book. These lunch boxes are an inspiration for some creative, fun lunches. The book is for beginners and well written. There are a lot of recipes and they are easy to make. And a variety of different kinds of foods for these lunches. It is also a good introduction to Japanese foods. There are also pictures to go along with the recipes and they are wonderful. Plus, they make you hungry! I think this is a great book, one that all should read that take their lunches to work or school, or even for picnics. I highly recommend it!

The decision to pick up this book was pretty random but I am very glad that it happened. Simple Bento has an endless list of easy lunch ideas that are healthy, some of them vegan, some low carb, some of them just traditional Japanese lunches and even some more Americanized lunches.   

I found myself liking the cookbook from the first few pages. I loved that the authors started with a comprehensive list of ingredients you should have if you want to cook Japanese food. Some of them I had heard of before, but I had never stumbled on a complete list of kitchen essentials. For that alone I would buy this book someday. 

From there I found that the recipes were easy to follow, everything looked and sounded so tasty. It gave me a lot of different ideas on how to change up what I eat for lunch. For me lunch is the hardest meal of the day, and usually I stick to leftovers but sometimes that gets old. And what I liked about Simply Bento was that each recipe had a section called "make ahead" which tells which parts you can make the night before to make assembly easier the next day.

In all this is a great book. I gave it four stars on Goodreads.

You NEED this book! Seriously though, I was looking for more easy, quick, and delicious lunch ideas and this book was packed with nearly 100 of them! I ended up buying this book so I could have a physical copy.

Thanks to Quarto Publishing Group – Race Point Publishing and NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions are fully mine!

#SimplyBento #NetGalley

This is an absolutely fabulous cookbook which I will be adding both to my library's and my own shelves. The recipes are approachable, healthy, and designed for busy families. The tone is chatty and fun, and I loved both reading and cooking from this book. The photos are really beautiful, and give the reader many many great ideas for arranging food to be appetizing and appealing. This cookbook has revolutionized the way I pack lunches in my house!

This is a clear and detailed bento cookbook, the best I’ve come across. It includes a lot of recipes. The cauliflower rice and avocado pasta were particular hits here and there are plenty of fresh and protein heavy/low carb recipes.
You do have to be fan of oriental flavours such as soy, fish sauce or mirin for most of the dishes. And a few ingredients aren’t always easy to get hold of.
But basically this is the ideal book for anyone wanting to start making bento boxes. I highly recommend,
I was given a ARC by Netgalley, all opinions are my own.

I truly enjoyed reading the recipes in this book! I look forward to implementing some of them into my daily life.

Posted on Goodreads: Courtesy of NetGalley I read this wonderful, information-packed book on Bento. For the many who pack their own and family member lunches on a daily basis, this book will refresh and revitalize what can often seem an onerous task. Bento boxes are a great way to pack in variety and healthy meals that are anything but boring. While most of the recipes require pre-planning they are still simple and easy to make. If we really do eat with our eyes first this book will help us all find delight during the work/school week. Each recipe is explained very well, the photography is clear and colorful. I was inspired to make several different meals and even bought a new Bento box. This is a good title to add to library cookbook collections, especially those libraries serving families.

A great introduction to preparing bento lunches. The recipes are accessible and will ramp up your lunch game. I prepared a few of the recipes while I read the ARC and both students and fellow teachers were commenting on how appealing/appetizing my lunches were.

I love the simplicity of this book and it has encouraged me to think more about my lunches. The recipes are easy to read and make it a fun thing to prepare a meal.

Thank you Netgalley for my copy of Simply Bento.

This book is fabulous for the beginner be to maker. I have used my children as guinea pigs and they enjoyed a lot of the recipes. The steps are clear and easy to follow. A be to box for lunch makes a refreshing change from sandwiches and wraps for lunch. The food is flavoursome and easy to prepare.

5 stars, highly recommended.