When it comes to packed lunches a lot of people tend to skip on the more adventurous foods due to transportation issues. The result, salads and soups just aren’t as popular as the humble sandwich, and I believe that it is mainly due to the fact that they aren’t easy to pack… well with the right tools everything is possible.

Sometime ago I was introduced to monbento.

Monbento is a French based company offering beautifully designed kitchen accessories that are perfect at helping us enjoy our more adventurous lunches. Monbento are mainly known for their bento boxes, which are ideal for lunch at the office, picnics or TV dinners but I discovered that this is not all they have to offer.

The product which caught my eye the most was a double wall bowl. This airtight, BPA-free, dishwasher, microwave and freezer safe bowl has simple stylish looks and is perfect. It is just the right size for a lunch (450ml capacity) and it even comes with its own spoon already built in, so no need to worry about forgetting your cutlery any more.

Having this new funky looking bowl became a great inspiration for spicing up our lunch menu.

So today I am sending Mark to work with a Pasta & Tuna Salad 😉

Ingredients:

• 250g pasta, I used simple macaroni
• 2 tins of tuna chunks in oil
• 1 tin of sweetcorn
• 1 small onion; fine chopped
• 1 pepper (I used half a red one and half a yellow one, just to add a bit more colour)
• 2 large celery sticks
• ½ iceberg lettuce
• ½ lemon; juiced
• 3tbsp of mayonnaise
• 1/2tsp fresh ground black pepper
• 1/2tsp sweet smoked paprika
• Spring onion to garnish

Method:

Cook your pasta as per the instructions on the packet, be careful and do not overcook it; then drain and allow to cool. Oh, and don’t forget to salt the water.

Whilst your pasta is cooking you should have just enough time to prepare everything else.

Chop the peppers and celery up into small chunks – ideally you want to have more or less the same amount of peppers as celery – and place in a large bowl.

Finely chop the onion; add to the bowl.

Cut the lettuce into small pieces and also pop into the bowl.

Open and drain the sweetcorn, pop it into the bowl.

Open and half drain the tuna – you don’t want to get rid of all oil just the excess bit.

Gently mix all the ingredients, ready for pasta.

Once your pasta is cooked, cold and well drain; add it to the bowl holding all your other ingredients; add lemon juice, pepper and paprika as well as mayonnaise and mix gently.

Garnish with spring onions and serve… or place in a monbento container ready to be taken for lunch.

What’s your favourite packed lunch idea?

What would you put in a monbento bowl?