Hiya-yakko (chilled tofu bento – pictured above)

Prep 10 min

Cook 30 min

Makes 1 bento

For the 50/50 rice

110g white Japanese rice

110g brown short-grain rice

5cm piece konbu seaweed

To assemble

1 portion 50/50 rice or quinoa

½ nori sheet

1 handful salad greens, such as rocket, watercress or baby spinach

¼ avocado, flesh scooped out and sliced

¼ pepper, thinly sliced

1 ripe tomato, roughly chopped

75g–100g silken tofu

1cm piece fresh ginger, washed but unpeeled

1 tbsp tamari

1 spring onion, finely sliced

Sea salt

Sesame seeds, toasted

Wash the rice in the cooking pot, then drain, and repeat twice. Push the konbu into the rice and add 350ml water. Cover, bring to a boil, then simmer over a low heat for 20 minutes.

Take off the heat and set aside with the lid on for five minutes. Pick out the konbu, mince it finely, gently fold it back into the rice, then let the rice cool.

Make a bed of rice in your bento box, as evenly as possible, and lay the nori on top, tearing it to fit. Put the salad greens at one end of your bed, top with the avocado, then put the pepper and tomato at the other end.

Drain the liquid from the tofu pack and gently slide out a portion directly in between the two vegetable mounds.

Finely grate the ginger over the tofu. drizzle with tamari, sprinkle with spring onions, and finish with sea salt and a small pile of toasted sesame seeds, to mix in when eating. Close your box and pack in a bento bag with a fork or chopsticks.

Lazy tamago (Japanese omelette) bento

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Lazy tamago (Japanese omelette) bento. Photograph: Ola O Smit/The Guardian

Prep 15 min

Cook 25 min

Makes 1 bento

For the quinoa-sunflower rice (makes 2-3 portions)

150g white Japanese rice (short-grain/sushi)

80g black or red quinoa

2 tbsp sunflower seeds

½ tsp salt

1 tsp brown rice vinegar

For the lazy tamago

1 egg

1 pinch salt

1 pinch chilli flakes

Oil, to fry

1 nori sheet

To assemble

1 portion of pre-prepped quinoa-sunflower rice (about ⅓ of the above, or to taste)

A few radicchio leaves (I like radicchio)

2cm cucumber, very thinly sliced (1–2mm), using a mandoline if you have one

Toasted nuts or seeds (I like tamari seeds)

½ tsp brown rice vinegar

1 pinch sea salt

1 pinch gochugaru (Korean pepper)

1 wedge orange

Sesame seeds

Herbs, such as shiso, daikon, mitsuba, to garnish (optional)

To make the rice, wash the combined grains in the cooking pot, drain and repeat. Add 350ml fresh water, cover, bring to a boil, then simmer over a low heat for 15 minutes. Take off the heat and set aside with the lid on for five minutes, then carefully fold in the salt and vinegar, taking care not to crush the grains too much. Leave to cool.

Whisk the egg with the salt and chilli. Heat a little oil in a medium frying pan over a medium heat until hot, pour in the egg mixture and quickly tilt to cover the base like a pancake. Put the whole nori sheet on top, then, when the omelette curls up at the sides, fold it in three and slide it on to a clean chopping board. Leave to cool slightly before cutting into bite-size strips.

Arrange the rice in one end of your box and use a piece of radicchio leaf as a “bowl” for the lazy tamago. Make separate baking paper “pockets” for the cucumber slices and the toasted nuts, then drizzle the rice vinegar over the cucumber and sprinkle with a little salt and gochugaru. The cucumber will have marinated slightly by lunchtime.

Top with the orange and finish with a sprinkle of sesame and herbs, if using. Pack in a bento bag with chopsticks or a fork.

Magenta mash bento

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Magenta mash bento. Photograph: Ola O Smit/The Guardian

Prep 30 min

Cook 20 min

Makes 1 bento

For the magenta mash

100g dried split red lentils

1 small to medium beetroot (about 100g), scrubbed

1 small red onion, roughly chopped

½ tsp salt

1 bay leaf or 1 clove

2 tsp balsamic vinegar

To assemble

1 portion brown short-grain rice, pre-cooked

1 tsp flaxseed oil

1 tsp tamari

1 handful rocket, watercress or flat-leaf parsley

1 portion magenta mash (about half the batch above)

½ avocado, flesh scooped out and sliced

1 overnighthard-boiled egg (or as many as you want to make - see below), halved

Pitted kalamata olives, chopped, to taste

A few salted capers

Black pepper, to taste

Cook the eggs overnight by putting them into the smallest cooking pan they will fit in and just cover them with water. Cover and bring to a boil, then turn the heat off and leave, covered, overnight. In the morning, store in the fridge for later use.

For the magenta mash, wash the lentils in cold water and drain. Put them in a pan and coarsely grate the beetroot straight into the pan, using a box- or microplane grater. Add the onion, salt, bay leaf or clove, and 350ml water. Cover, bring to a boil, then simmer over a low heat for 20 minutes, until the water is absorbed and the lentils look big and mushy. Remove the bay leaf/clove, add the vinegar and vigorously stir to create a mash. If it looks too wet, boil it over a medium heat for one to two minutes, stirring all the time. When you can see the bottom of the pan while stirring it‘s done – and as it cools it will firm up. Take off the heat and leave to cool. You can store any excess in an airtight container in the fridge.

Make a bed of rice in your bento box and drizzle with the flaxseed oil and tamari. Arrange the leaves, some mash, the avocado and egg on top. Finish with a scattering of olives and capers and a twist of black pepper.

Midnight magic pumpkin bento

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Midnight magic pumpkin bento. Photograph: Ola O Smit/The Guardian

Prep Overnight + 20 min

Cook 15 min

Makes 1 bento

For the midnight magic pumpkin

300g (about ½) small pumpkin or squash, peeled, deseeded, cut into 2cm slices

3cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and thickly sliced (5mm)

1 big pinch dried hijiki or 1 tsp instant dried wakame seaweed

1 tbsp tamari

To assemble

85g dry soba noodles

1 handful watercress

½ kiwi, peeled, sliced

Toasted sesame seeds

Chilli, to taste

The evening before you assemble your bento, put the pumpkin, ginger and seaweed in a frying pan and add water to about 3cm deep, ensuring the ginger and seaweed are covered. Drizzle with tamari, cover with a lid, bring to a boil, then simmer over a low heat for 10 minutes – if it looks like it‘s drying up, add more water. Turn off the heat, cover with a tea towel to keep warm and leave overnight.

In the morning, cut the pumpkin into bite-size chunks and thinly shred the ginger slices, but retain the cooking liquid for flavouring.

Cook the soba noodles according to the packet instructions, drain, cool under a cold tap and leave to dry.

Arrange the noodles on one side of your bento box and the watercress on the other. In the middle, scoop in as much pumpkin as you want and pour any remaining cooking liquid over the noodles to season.

Arrange the kiwi on top of the watercress, add a generous pile of toasted sesame seeds on the noodles and finish with a sprinkle of chilli.