Be assured, when Dawn Forsberg packs a lunch, it won’t be boring. No slick meat or gloppy peanut butter on lifeless bread here. The lunch will be healthy, attractive and, dare we say, cute? That’s because Mrs. Forsberg has discovered the secret of Bento.

Bento is the Japanese word for a meal served in a box, according to Makiko Itoh, who is writing a book on the subject and is author of the blog justbento.com. Beyond that basic definition though, she says just about anything goes as to what kind of box or container is used and what is put inside that box.

Mrs. Forsberg first became acquainted with Bento while living in San Diego. She belonged to a club where members would get together over lunch. One member was a Japanese woman who would always bring a Bento lunch box that held tiny compartments of artfully carved fruits and vegetables.

“They were amazing, and we were all just having a sandwich,” she says. “I had another Japanese friend who taught me how to do sushi. They (the Japanese) take a lot of care with their food.”

As Mrs. Forsberg began researching online to find out more, she discovered how much fun creating tiny portions of food can be and started fixing Bento lunches for her son. She found it’s a great way to get kids to eat fruits and vegetables, although “everybody thought I was crazy,” she laughs. Bento is very popular on the West Coast, but is pretty much unheard of in Missouri.

Bento can be traced back as far as the fifth century, when Japanese leaving their homes to till their fields carried food with them to eat on the go. The portable meals contained staples of the day, such as white rice mixed with millet or potatoes, according to cookingcute.com.

Modern Bento lunch boxes run the gamut from tiered designer boxes with matching chopsticks, silverware and carrying pouches to simple containers with a few partitions. In some circles, the food is more like an art form. Look on some of the increasing numbers of Bento Web sites, such as www.e-obento.com, and you’ll see how entertaining Bentos can be, with smiling molded rice characters, fanciful broccoli trees and carrot slices carved into jack-o’-lanterns — which is why Japanese mothers like to make these for their children to the point of becoming a competitive hobby.

“I could do that,” Ms. Forsberg says, “but I wouldn’t get much else in my life done.”

Her Bentos still have the “cute” factor, but with a Midwest practicality. Instead of fancy figures made from rice, she’s more apt to make mini hamburgers decorated with sliced cheese cutouts or turn hard-boiled eggs into rabbits with a simple mold and use leftovers whenever possible, which makes it an economical. Here’s how she does it:

BRIGHT IDEAS

She adds color to the Bento box with plastic toothpicks and makes faces and details on eggs or tiny sandwiches by cutting shapes from sheets of nori (seaweed) using a miniature dye cutter used for scrapbooking. Containers don’t need to be fancy, she says. She uses plastic travel containers sold for toiletries and reuses taco sauce and pizza sauce containers from restaurants.

INCREDIBLE EGGS

Mrs. Forsberg turns a plain hard-boiled egg into a cute rabbit or owl with Bento molds she bought on eBay. You simply put a large hard-boiled egg (while still hot) into the mold, and once it’s cool, open the mold and watch for smiles. For adults and older children, she makes Scottish eggs. The eggs coated in sausage look attractive sliced and are as fun to eat in a Bento box as in a British pub.

FANCY FRUIT AND VEGGIES

Cherry tomatoes, grapes, slices of strawberries or kiwi all fit nicely into a Bento compartment, as do mini carrots, tiny slices of celery and pickles. For a special treat, pack a small canister of caramel to go with slices of apple.

FREEZE AND SAVE

To save time and money, Mrs. Forsberg makes up a hamburger mixture that she cooks into tiny meatballs and mini hamburgers, then freezes. To make the hamburgers, or “lunch sliders” as she calls them, the mixture is spread out in a jelly roll pan and baked. She turns them into mini hamburgers using small dinner rolls, spread with ketchup and mustard. These can be decorated with cheese cutouts (made with mini cookie cutters) or frozen to use when needed. Put the frozen minis into the Bento box in the morning and they will be ready to eat a lunch time. See below for the complete recipe.

Lifestyles reporter Sylvia Anderson may be reached at sylviaanderson@npgco.com

Lunch box sliders

1½ pounds lean ground beef

1/4 cup dry flavored bread crumbs

1/4 cup dried chopped onions

2 teaspoons seasoning salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup mustard

1/2 cup ketchup

24 small square dinner rolls, split in half

6 slices American cheese, cut into quarters (24 pieces)

24 pickle slices

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix the ground beef, bread crumbs, dried onions, seasoning salt, pepper, eggs and Parmesan cheese until mixture is combined. Press onto an ungreased 10-by-15-inch jelly roll pan. Prick all over with a fork. Bake in oven for 10 to 12 minutes, or until meat mixture is cooked through. Carefully drain off juices (they can be saved and used for a soup base). Let meat cool. With a pizza cutter, cut evenly into 24 squares. In a small bowl, combine mustard and ketchup. Spread rolls evenly with mustard-ketchup mixture. Place a square of meat on top of the roll bottom. Top with cheese and pickle. Put top on burger. Wrap in plastic wrap and continue until all burgers are wrapped. Place in gallon resealable freezer bags or another airtight container. Place in refrigerator to thaw or microwave on high (unwrap the plastic wrap slightly so the ends are open) for about 30 to 60 seconds, depending on microwave. Makes 12 servings of two burgers each. Can be frozen for up to three months in freezer.

Note: A packet of onion soup mix can be substituted for the dried chopped onions and seasoning salt or use the recipe for homemade onion soup mix below.

Homemade onion soup mix

4 teaspoons of beef bouillon granules

8 teaspoons of dried chopped onions

1 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon seasoning salt or celery salt

Mix all ingredients together and store in an airtight container Makes approximately three servings (one serving is approximately 4 teaspoons).

Scotch eggs

6 large hard boiled eggs, peeled

1½ pounds good quality pork sausage

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Divide sausage into six parts and form the sausage around the eggs, sealing completely. Mold in hand until it is formed into a ball shape. Place on broiler pan and bake for about 25 to 30 minutes or until sausage is cooked through. Take out of oven and let rest for at least 10 minutes. To serve, carefully slice in half and place on a platter with some mustard or mustard sauce. Refrigerate them uncut. To take for lunch, slice one refrigerated Scotch egg in half and wrap in plastic or place in a reusable container.

Note: Traditionally Scotch eggs are dredged in eggs, flour and crumbs of some sort, then fried in oil. We like this cleaner, quicker and healthier version just as much. I have also wrapped them with the meat mixture from the lunch box slider recipe above, and that was good too.

— Dawn Forsberg