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When life takes over, its hard to keep up. I’ve missed my fresh tasting bento lunches and after making batches of ready-for-bento staples I was very exited to have this one for lunch. In the top tier are banana and kiwi flowers, blackberries, and apple rabbits. In the bottom tier is a sesame-soy whole wheat pasta salad.
Sesame-Soy Pasta Salad
- 2 cups cooked whole wheat pasta
- 1 carrot, diced
- 1 stalk celery, diced
- 2 scallions, sliced thin
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp sesame oil
- 2 tsp ground ginger
Mix all ingredients. Simple, no? What can I say, I like my lunch prep to be fast and easy.
Two delicious bentos for two different people, all tied up in one photo! Its like a two for one, only better. And, my lunch was the best because of the tofu. After experimenting, i made grilled honey terriyaki tofu to great success at dinner, and it was even better with my soba. I used the same marinade/sauce chicken for D, but even he agreed the tofu was superior (score!).
In the yellow bento (my lunch) are soba noodles with sauce container, honey terriyaki grilled tofu, edamame, grapes, pomagranate arils, and kiwi slices. In the blue bento (D’s snack pack) are soba noodles with sauce container, veggie gyoza, grapes, pomagranate arils, and kiwi stars.
Honey Terriyaki Marinade/Sauce
- 1/2 cup terriyaki sauce
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp grated ginger
mix together. marinate for at least ten minutes. cook. yummy
Yay bento! I’ve been neglecting my bento durring busy times at work, which means more expensive lunches with less nutritional content and mass dissatisfaction. I’m so happy to be making them again, its really amazing. This was my first bento celebrating my break from overtime. Simple really, leftover olive pizza, grape tomatoes, cheese, and fruit. The highlight here is in the center of the left tier… pomegranate arils!
Pomegranate arils are the edible section, tiny little juice filled sacks surrounding the seeds. Now, I’ve heard that each pomegranate holds more than 300 of these, but I’ll take their word for it. These little juicy, crunchy bites are excellent on salads, desert, or just to eat. Its really much easier to get this fruit out of the pith than you’d think and definately worth the time. You simply score the skin of the pomegranate into about 6 sections. Lower the pomegranate into a large bowl of cool water and break apart. Using your fingers, gently push the arils out of the pith. Because the fruity arils are dense, they will sink to the bottom, and the lighter, inedible pith will float to the top. Skim off the pith, drain the arils, and you’re ready to go!
More free courgette (aka zucchini) from a coworker, means an excuse to make even more courgette dishes, and some again! Last night I made baked courgette fries again as a side dish for with the hotdogs (and tofu pups!) we had for dinner. This can only mean one thing… courgette fries for bento!
In the top tier of D’s bento are baked courgette fries with honey mustard dipping sauce. The bottom tier has sliced mango, dates, and pie glazed pecans (no, really! they taste like pecan pie!). Again, this proves that leftovers are perfect fodder for bento. Actually, leftovers are perfect fodder for any meal (I had some for breakfast, too).
I could wax poetic about fruit all day (but not wax fruit). I love the sweet and tart flavours, the juicy burst after the outer crunch, and they way it always leaves me feeling satisfied. I guess that’s why you see a lot of fruit in my bentos. These are two that I made for D and myself. The one of the left is mine, and the one on the right is D’s snack to go with a larger lunch of leftovers from our African Inspired dinner.
In my bento you can see i’ve packed myself some of the red lentil stew. I used this recipe from Eating Well, partially because i could stick it all in the crock pot and forget about it. The only differences was that instead of using the squash the recipe called for, I added another 1/2 cup lentils and I omitted the saffron entirely. I love saffron as a spice, but its just too expensive for me.
Peanut… peanut butter, and spinach! I’m all for finding new ways to use my favourite spreadable food. I peanut butter in cookies, breads, grits (no, really – my Zimbabwe friend got me into that one), and as a pasta sauce. I guess that’s another reason why I love this new dish of curried peanut butter spinach. The influence is kind of African, and its darn tasty.
On the right is some steamed rice with furikake. On the left are mango chunks, steamed potatoes and carrots, and curried peanut butter spinach
Curried Peanut Butter Spinach
- 1 lb spinach
- 1/2 onion, sliced fine
- 1/2 cup coconut milk
- 2 tbsp peanut butter (natural, unsweetened works best)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tbsp curry powder
- 2 tbsp oil
Wash spinach, removing stems. Roll tightly and make fine cuts so that you are left with ribbons of spinach. Fry the onion with salt, chili, and curry powder in the oil over a low-medium flame until the onions are translucent. Add spinach and cook until wilted. Mix together peanut butter and coconut milk, then stir into spinach. Once the spinach and sauce begin to bubble, its ready to serve!
oh no! more squash?!?! Well, when its free, you use it. thankfully, summer squashes are great carriers of flavour and can be used with a great number of seasonings and sauces. The yellow crook-neck squash in my bento was some I made to go with some general tso’s tofu, and honestly, it was better than the tofu.
In my top tier is edamame, onigiri, and ginger-lime roasted squash (mmm… just as good at room temperature, maybe even better!). The bottom tier as an orange, a kiwi, and a strawberry for a bit of colour.
Ginger-Lime Roasted Squash
- 1 medium-large yellow summer squash
- 1 lime, juiced
- 1 inch thick ginger root
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
Preheat oven to 400F. Cut the squash into sizable wedges, and grate or chop the ginger finely. in a bowl, toss squash with lime juice, ginger, and soy sauce. Put mixture in a baking pan and roast in oven 20 minutes or until squash is tender.
its bento time! I found a set of egg molds at the Tokyo Outlet in Little Tokyo and just couldn’t resist. While I do find the idea of oddly shaped eggs alittle frightening, my curiosity won over. To make my fishy shaped egg, I first hardboiled it, peeled the shell off while it was still warm, and clamped it inside the little mold. i let it sit for a few minutes, and when I opened it, my egg had scales. I don’t know how often i’ll do this, but it is interesting…
In the top tier is an onigiri, my fishy egg, spinach, and oven roasted summer squash with lemon and basil. In the lower tier are peach slices, kiwi flowers, and dates. yummy!
I make fish dishes for D all the time, but i was tired of making the same standards. So for Friday’s dinner I tried something new: a dijon dill sauce. It was savoury and creamy and absolutely excellent on my roasted vegetables. So much so, that I made sure to put it in D’s side bento for with lunch. So here, in the right tier is salmon with dijon dill sauce and a potato latke. In the left tier is a sliced peach and blackberries.
Dijon dill sauce
- 1 small shallot, minced
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard
- 2 tbsp dill
- 3 tbsp butter
- salt and pepper to taste
In a small saucepan over med-low heat melt 1 tbsp butter, and saute minced shallot until translucent. Add wine and simmer until reduced by half. Whisk in dijon mustard and dill. Cut in remaining 2 tbsp cold butter until well incorporated. Season with salt and pepper and serve.
I know I’ve mentioned it before, but one of the best perks of summer is the fresh fruit. Its inexpensive, its delicious, its healthy, and its everywhere! For me, another perk is being able to find so much greater variety of fruits at the farmers market and the 99 cent store (yes, i’m cheap).
Here is bento full of lunchy goodness. On the right is some spanikopita that I made regardless of using the oven in the heat, just because i love it so much with some pita. On the left is the cool, sweet crown jewel, a rainbow of fruit. Strawberries, mango, and honeydew, finger friendly and fresh.
