This week's Great Bento Idea comes to us from MJ, who posts her bento photos on Flickr. She says that some of her bentos are "....thought out, some thrown together in 5 minutes while half asleep. Some I even get to eat myself." I can relate to that! She has a quirky sense of humor too - check out this eyeful bento for instance. It just goes to show that there's no limit to what you can do in a bento box.

I particularly like this salad bento because of the cucumber ribbons. They are simple to make but, arranged the way they are they make make the whole bento look quite elegant, without a whole lot of effort. I think that the ribbons work particularly well in the small confines of a bento box, though they'd work in a salad on a plate too. The rest of the bento looks nice too, with those yummy looking smoked duck breast slices, not to mention the olives and feta cheese. This would be quite low-carb bento; for people who need more energy, I'd add an onigiri or a bread roll or something on the side. (People watching their salt intake may want to omit or reduce the olives and/or feta cheese here.)

Tip: To make cucumber ribbons, just draw a vegetable peeler straight down the length of a cucumber a T-shaped peeler works better than the vertical type for this task. You can make ribbons from any long, straight vegetable this way - try carrots, zucchini, long white radish, and so on. If you want the cucumber ribbons to be less watery and more flexible, sprinkle them with a tiny bit of salt and leave for a few minutes, then pat dry with paper towels.

Look out for another Great Bento Idea next week!

(If you want your idea to catch my eye by the way, the best way is to join the Just Bento or Just Bento Bento Gear groups on Flickr and post them there. Don’t forget to post a link to your blog in the description if you have one.)