Bento contents:

• Fried rice made with 2/3 cup brown rice and assorted chopped vegetables, 250 cal
• 1 1/2 wiener sausages, 200 cal
• Omelette made with 2 eggs, 230 cal
• Broccoli, 20 cal

Total calories (approx): 700 (how calories are calculated)

Time needed: 20-30 minutes

Type: Japanese, kyaraben-ish, special occasion bento!

While I do try to keep a good stash of pre-made food to quickly assemble bentos in the morning, sometimes I've just run out, or am not in the mood to use whatever I have in the freezer, or leftovers in the fridge. That doesn't mean it's not possible to assemble a bento quickly using fresh ingredients and pantry items. Here are a couple that I made last week. The only premade 'stash' I used was frozen brown rice.

Bento contents:

• 1 cup of Vegetarian Chili with kidney beans, 250 cal (recipe below)
• 4 mini pumpkin yogurt muffins, 300 cal

Total calories (approx): 550 (how calories are calculated)

Time needed: 5-10 minutes in the morning with pre-made components

Type: Vegetarian, not Japanese (Southwestern)

I've been working on a some recipes which work when I just throw them together, but aren't quite ready for prime time publishing here. So the meantime here are a couple of bentos that are too similar to other bentos already shown here, but may be of interest to look at anyway. Both feature chicken recipes from the recent chicken mini-marathon.

Bento contents:

• 1 cup of Quinoa, Parsley and Pepper Salad, 350 cal
• 1/3 cup of Curried Kidney Beans with Vegetables, 100 cal

Total calories (approx): 450 (how calories are calculated)

Time needed: 5-10 minutes with pre-made components

Type: Vegan, not Japanese, gluten-free

Bento contents:

• Rice Burger patties made of approx. 1 1/2 cups sprouted brown rice + 1/2 Tbs. olive oil, 350 cal
• Mediterranean flavored green vegan burger using about 1/5th of the recipe, 120 cal
• Cherry tomatoes, arugula, berries, 50 cal

Total calories (approx): 520 (how calories are calculated)

Time needed: 20-25 minutes in the morning if making from scratch; much less if using pre-made/pre-frozen components

Type: Bread-free, vegan

Bento contents:

• 2 slices of bread, 85 cal each - 170 cal
• Pan-fried salty chicken, 2 small chicken thighs totalling 70g (2.5oz) with skin, 150 cal
• About 1/3-1/2 cup carrot kinpira, 50 cal
• Lettuce and cherry tomatoes, 5 cal
• 1/3 cucumber with dill, 10 cal
• 1/2 Tbs. mayonnaise (in apple shaped container), 50 cal

Total calories (approx): 435 (how calories are calculated)

Time needed: 5-10 minutes in the morning

Bento contents:

• A bit more than 1 cup of carrot rice (microwave method) made with white rice, 220 cal
• Panfried chicken mini-burgers using about 80g of dark skinless chicken meat, 150 cal
• 2 Tbs. Cooked to death hot and sweet peppers, 40 cal
• 2 green shiso leaves for garnish (more about shiso)

Total calories (approx): 400 (how calories are calculated)