Heart Healthy Salmon Bento, #SundaySupper

Japanese bento lunch boxes are budget-savers. Beautifully crafted bentos are often on sale hours before closing in department store basements in Japan. The artistic mosaics of foods arranged in accordance with the season are also available for a reasonable price on bullet train rides and station kiosks. Still, bento boxes like brown bags when homemade are inevitably infused with an invaluable ingredient – love. 

A balanced bento:
Heart Healthy Salmon Onigiri (Japanese Rice Balls) and almonds
are accompanied by Chocolate Péjoy Banana Rum Mini Cakes.

Bentos made by a parent or a spouse at home also allow for specific taste tailoring. Of course, the cookie monster in your house may vote for a cookie bento. But if the aim is providing a happy AND healthy lunch, a bento with onigiri rice balls stuffed with salmon (beef or other heart-healthy protein) is ideal. (Japanese – English dictionaries usually translate onigiri as Japanese rice balls. The translation is baffling to this Ninja Baker; traditionally the rice “balls” are actually more triangular in shape.)

Salmon: A fish with a myriad of virtues and versatility.

Salmon is a fantabulous choice for onigiri filling. Here are a few reasons why:

Salmon

• reduces heart disease risk
• decreases the chance of blood clots
• keeps the heart beating normally (thanks to the potassium and unsaturated fats in salmon)
• fights cancers
• assists with anti-aging
• contains phosphorus which works well with calcium to strengthen bones and teeth
• flows with vitamin and mineral rich B6, B12, zinc, iron and niacin
• Last and not least, salmon is packed with protein. Women need 46 grams of daily protein, men require 56 grams. 3 ounces of salmon holds 22 grams of protein – perfect for stuffing into a Japanese onigiri. And the triangular rice balls are marvelous companions in a bento box to almonds, leafy greens and the Ninja Baker’s Chocolate Péjoy Banana Rum Mini Cakes!

Click here for a brief onigiri how-to video.

One kitty who appreciates the benefits of salmon!

Thank you to Ethel of EatingInInstead and Lori of FoxesLoveLemons for hosting this Heart Healthy-themed SundaySupper. Besides attending the virtual dinner party at Twitter (scroll down for details) here are recipes to keep your heart healthy and your tummy happy!