Meal planning by color

This is probably the third book devoted to packing lunch that I have reviewed in recent years and it is by far the best. I figure that if you can cook delicious meals in the style you like, you don't need a book to tell you how to pack the food into jars. This book is different, though, because it teaches you to make unusual lunch foods in specific ways that will be extra safe. The book presents recipes for Japanese bento (packed lunch) favorites that most of us don't know, explaining how each dish can be made and stored in individual servings, ready for a quick morning packup. The many menu suggestions retain their appeal through varied colors and textures. In addition to Japanese favorites, some western-style and fusion suggestions add variety.

The book is divided into chapters by food style, and then subchapters corresponding to each lunch menu. The subchapters begin with a menu and then present recipes for the components of the menu. There is a chapter of master recipes for sauces, garnishes and the like, in the back.

In a useful touch, in addition to estimated prep time, each recipe notes how long the prepared food can be stored. This helps you to schedule your cooking and packing dates so you can remain safe from food-borne toxins. In an odd graphical choice, the number of servings for each recipe is at the very top of the page, not in the factoid box. I had been looking at the book for days before I saw them tucked up there.

The recipes are well written although I saw instructions to freeze vegetables without blanching, which is generally frowned upon. The recipes are easy to follow but some of the explanatory text is awkwardly written. There is a mistake on page 19 when the number of tastes is listed as five including unami. The real number – five plus unami – is mentioned later in the book. "Spicy" is missing from the first list.

Overall the book is easy to use and attractive. It could have been better edited.

I received a review copy of "Bento for Beginners" by Chika Ravich from Rockridge Press. ( )

Bento for Beginners: 60 Recipes for Easy Bento Box Lunches
This book got my attention just from the cover, so appealing and healthy looking.
The book includes a lot of photographs and it also includes a table of contents where there are recipes.
There is a lot of introductory material that includes not only about the Bento Basics but about the history from Japan, the benefits of eating this lifestyle, and flavor.
There are also sections on the formula to make sure you get it just right and to make sure that your kitchen is ready. There is a section on the containers, storage and safety and troubleshooting with tips on things to keep in mind the tools and equipment. Everyone should have these items already in their house along with extras. There is a list showing ingredients that you can keep on hand that will freeze good or refrigerate well. There is also a section on prepping and organizing that will cut down on the time that it takes you to put all these together.
There is a section on how to use the book as well, a lot of common sense things that you probably already are doing.
Each of the recipes start with the title, a brief summary of the dish, information about the storage and how long it will keep for and in what appliance as in the refrigerator or the freezer.
It also lists prep time and the cook time along with the ingredients which I would substitute for my healthier lifestyle: low sodium, low sugar, low fat products, fresh vs canned or processed.
Some of the recipes have a big color photograph on one page and some also include other notes.
A sauce is listed and gives you a reference page where you can find that recipe at the end of the book.
Directions are given how to make the dish the night before - very easy directions and it also has directions for in the morning and what you need to do to get it ready for the lunchbox.
It also includes some nutritional information per serving for calories, total fat - not broken up by good or bad, sodium, cholesterol, total carbs, fiber, sugar and protein.
Also at the very top of each recipe it states how many Bento servings each recipe includes it and a listing of gluten-free, nut-free, vegan and other food allergy categories, vegetarian, and kid friendly.
What I really like about this book is that there are many super healthy dishes to make that hardly take any time at all and you can put them in either the fridge or the freezer and save them for another day or for your lunch the next day or for a week later.
I do make a lot of extra food per meal and store it much like this book describes.
I don't like that the print is not really that dark - I wish it was darker but otherwise it has a lot more information than most of the recipes I've seen.
In the back of the book is a section called staples and sauces which are easy things to make that you could prepare ahead of time and always have them on hand, like condiments.
One of them is for the steamed rice with a short summary and it also tells you how to make it in the saucepan but I have also made it in a pressure cooker and in a steam pot for the microwave so it doesn't take any time at all.
There's also a lot of things on seasoning and again it lists the nutritional information by servings or tablespoon and it also lists which allergy category it fits into.
There are no pictures for this section.
At the very end there's also a measurement conversion chart and there is also a listing of resources available.
An index of everything that is in this book is included at the end.
It ends with the section on acknowledgements and about the author with her picture.
I really like this book and I'm going to keep it handy especially just for the nutritional information and there are 60 recipes in here.
There are many varieties to choose from.
I received this book via CALLISTO PUBLISHER'S CLUB and this is my honest opinion. ( )