Chicken Burger Bento

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Chicken Burger Bento - 31.01.2011

I spent the whole weekend being sick and feeling miserable, so I was not really in the mood to make an elaborate bento last night.  The savoury part only has some steamed potatoes, mini chicken burgers and braised mini endives (witloof). Considering that the only ingredients to be counted are the cooking oil, potatoes and chicken burgers, this bento is very low on points, only 5 WW propoints.

As I need as much vitamins as I can get at the moment, I packed the second tier full of fruits : white grapes, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, apple, clementine wedges and some pomegranate seeds.  With all this healthy stuff, I should be back to good health in no time.

No bento post tomorrow as I am having a business lunch then and I can't really show up at the restaurant with my bento and furoshiki :o)  But I'll be back on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, bon appetit !

Salade Liegeoise Bento

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Salade liegeoise bento - 27.01.2011

As I was feeling a bit under the weather last night (and unfortunately not any better today), I didn't feel like whipping up something extra special for my bento.  Quick and tasty were my only objectives.  So I opted for another typical Belgian dish to add to my bento : Salade Liegeoise, although in a slightly less calorific version.
Salade Liegeoise, is a one pan dish that is usually eaten hot, but which you can eat at room temperature too so perfect for bento.  It is a mix of green beans, potatoes, onions and bacon although I substituted the bacon by diced ham.  I didn't know it was "popular" outside my little country's frontiers, but apparently the recipe even made it to the New York Times at one point :o)

So, for lunch today I have : some salade Liegeoise, more ramiro pepper/beansprouts stirfy, carrot kinpira, a few green asparagus tips, a few radishes for decoration and some zucchini slices as a baran. Like the previous days, the fruity vitamins consist of strawberries, white grapes, blackberries, blueberries, apple, half a banana and a few clementine wedges.

As the only ingredients to be counted are the oil, potatoes and ham, this bento is very low on points, only 6 WW propoints.

This also happens to be my last bento for this work week, as we are having or corporate New Year's Lunch tomorrow at noon and I don't have to pack anything.

See you all next week and I hope you'll have a great weekend!

Vegetarian bento

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Vegetarian bento - 26.01.2011

I'm having a vegetarian bento for my midweek lunchbreak, as I still had some vegetarian "meatballs" in the fridge that had to be consumed by today. Even though I couldn't possibly do without meat or fish, I appreciate the vegetarian alternative every now and then.

My sakura bento has some of these "meatballs", white rice topped with green asparagus and a cheese sakura, a beansprouts/ramiro pepper stirfry, carrot kinpira (recipe here) and more steamed veggies (romanesco, cauliflower, green beans, zucchini).  The fruit section has like most days, strawberries, white grapes, blackberries, blueberries and a few clementine wedges.

And like yesterday's bento, this one also totals a value of  9,5 WW propoints.

Smakelijk !

Chicken Sausage Bento

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Chicken sausage bento - 25.01.2011

First of all, yes I am aware that the furoshiki I used as a background is in bad need of ironing, but as the main focus of the picture is supposed to be the bento, I thought that all in all it didn't look too bad. Call it artistic freedom :o)

When looking at all the bento boxes last night and considering which one to pick for today's lunch, I was again drawn to my favourite M4SB, with its colourful compartments. As usual I didn't really plan on the box to be (rather) colour coordinated but halfway through packing, I realised I was doing it again ... OCD anyone? :o)

Anyway, today I will be having a sliced up chicken sausage, green veggies (being romanesco, edamame, snowpeas, cucumber slices and green asparagus tips), steamed potatoes with spring onion and the usual fruit selection i.e. grapes, clementine, strawberries and two banana chip slices.

And all this for a total points value of  9,5 WW propoints.

Bon appetit !

Chicons au gratin bento

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Chicons au gratin bento

Today's bento features a typical Belgian dish : (Belgian) Endives rolls, locally knows as Chicons au gratin (in French) or Witloofgratin (in Dutch). Basically these are braised endives, rolled in a slice of ham, covered with bechamel (or as I did cheese sauce - although I didn't add any liquids to the bento) and generously sprinkled with grated cheese, before getting a tan in a hot oven.

It is a typical winter dish as well, as endives are very much in season now.  I always go for the field-grown variety as I find those more savoury and less bitter than their greenhouse counterparts.

So besides, the endives, my bento has a few cherry tomatoes, shredded carrots and cucumber slices.  The sweet dessert portion consists of half a banana, white grapes, apple and a few strawberries.  And all this for a total points value of  6,5 WW propoints.

Bon appetit !

Green Curry Chicken Noodles bento

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Curry noodles bento - 19.01.2011

To tie in with the green curry bento I posted back in October, I decided to make my first bento post of 2011, again a green curry one. I still owed you all the recipe to that one anyway.

A rather straigthforward bento, to get back into the groove : green curry chicken with brocoli, zucchini and noodles, and the finishing touch radishes for that little dash of colour.

Since the beginning of this year, I have decided to address the weight issue (again) and I think bento-ing will be very helpful for this as well.  I will therefore try to add the WW propoints totals for all bentos.

How to green curry bento : (3 servings - 12 propoints per serving)

Ingredients:
* 4 tsp of vegetal oil
* 400g boneless chicken thighs, diced
* 1 zucchini, diced
* a few broccoli rosets (but you can use green beans, or eggplant or whatever vegetable you prefer), cut up
* 4 spring onions, diced
* 3 cm of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
* 2 garlic cloves, diced
* 1 Tsp of fish sauce
* 1 tsp of green curry paste
* 250 ml defatted chicken stock
* 200 ml coconut milk
* 400 g pre-cooked noodles
* coriander
* lime juice

Heat one tbsp of oil in a wok and fry the diced chicken.  Remove from the pan and set aside.

Add the remaining oil and sauté the vegetables for about 4 minutes.  (If you use eggplant, it will suck up the oil at first but release it afterwards.) Add the spring onion, the curry paste and the ginger and stirfry for a minute.

Add the garlic, the fish sauce, the chicken stock and the coconut milk, bring to a boil and let simmer for 10 minutes. Add all the chicken you set aside and the noodles and let simmer for an additional 4 minutes. Before serving sprinkle with coriander and lime juice.  Done.

Bon appetit !

Happy 2011 !

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Yes, I know ... New year is already like three weeks ago, but I think etiquette permits you to send your best wishes until the end of January. So, that is what I am doing :o)

2010 was a year with lots of ups and downs for me and the blog updates were few and far between.  I will try to make a fresh start in 2011, by uploading some nice bentos for you too look at.

Wishing all of my bento friends a yummilicious, bentolicious 2011 !