Every day I treat myself to a lunchbox. One day its contents might include filet mignon with coriander and lime sauce, fresh salsa, fire-roasted corn and tortilla chips. Another day, baked salmon with caviar and sushi rice, tomato, cucumber and mozzarella salad, dragon fruit and half an avocado. If you’re wondering how I manage these lunchboxes, I don’t. They’re actually prepared by an American stay-at-home dad called Tyler Yan, who makes them for his daughter and posts them on social media. I follow along on Instagram (where he has 510k followers) because although his meticulously planned lunchboxes elicit feelings of envy, inadequacy and sometimes even disbelief, they’ve become a motivating force in me wanting to make better lunchboxes for myself.
Sara Kiyo Popowa’s cool tofu scramble bento © Sara Kiyo Popowa
Research from Kantar suggests the frequency people bring lunchboxes from home has fallen in recent years. But prepping a lunchbox can help you eat healthier, more balanced meals and save money. So how do you maintain a lunchbox habit with meals you can feel proud of?
Lunchbox Salads by Naomi Twigden and Anna Pinder and Real Healthy by Melissa Hemsley are two recent publications that address packed lunches specifically. Twigden and Pinter launched a food-delivery business in London called Lunch BXD that made lunchboxes for offices around the city. Their vegetable-forward dishes include peanut-dressed chicken, beansprout and red pepper salad and beetroot coronation chicken. My biggest takeaways include using seeds, herbs, dried fruits such as cranberries or chopped apricots and crumbled feta as garnishes. They also use sauces rooted in global flavours such as harissa, miso and coconut and lime. I’d also suggest the blends, pestos and rubs from Ottolenghi’s pantry range. His black garlic and scotch bonnet marinade, for instance, is sensational.
