Falafel bento

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Falafel Bento

A quick bento for lunch today, because I just wasn't up to cooking up something special last night. So, I have some taboule (couscous with cucumber, tomato and spring onion), store bought falafel, curried cauliflower with carrots, brocoli and bell pepper on top and for dessert the regular red and black fruits.

Bon appetit.

Ginger pork bento

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I am not really happy with the looks of this bento. Kind of like the pull apart bread of this weekend : lovely taste but horrible looks.

In this bento I have some ginger pork (recipe in this old post), potatoes, curried cauliflower, carrot swirls, cherry tomato and radishes.  Fruits are well represented with strawberries, cara cara oranges, white and black grapes, blue and blackberries, a piece of apple and some pomegranate seeds.

Hello Monday. Welcome back to the rat race.


Weekend baking : Sugar Cinnamon Pull Apart Bread

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Sugar Cinnamon Pull Apart Bread

For the first time since I joined pinterest, I tried my hand at one of the recipes I pinned on my Foodie Heaven board. The pictures on the blog looked scrumptious but somehow my version of the pull apart bread doesn't look at all the way I intended it to.

Luckily, although the looks leave much to be desired, tastewise it is perfect.  I'l just have to work on the aesthetics of it now.

You can find the recipe over here : Joy the Baker.

Obviously considering the amount of sugar in this, it is far from a diet dessert.  You can't have it all I guess.

Nameless Bento

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I couldn't think of any name for this bento a there isn't really anything that sticks out or characterises it.  It has all the usual vegetables that are crowding my fridge (brussels sprouts, ramiro pepper, snow peas, asparagus, carrots, brocoli, mini corn) which accompanied by a purple rice onigiri and some veal.  Fruits are all blue and red today : grapes, blueberies, blackberries, strawberry and pomegranate seeds.

This will be my last bento of the week. We are having our annual New Year's lunch with the whole office tomorrow in some fancy restaurant, so I don't have to prepare anything for lunch.

Nothing left to do, but to wish you all a great weekend.

See you back on Monday.

Saveurs d'orient bento

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Saveurs d'orient bento

As the title already suggests, today's bento is inspired by the Orient and more particularly, Morocco and its cuisine. I made some taboulé (couscous with tomato, onion and cucumber) to accompany a bit of lemon chicken, sprinkled with green olives.  I need to finetune the recipe a bit so I will post it later on.  The "greens" are mini corn cobs and cauliflower hidden under some carrot slices, brocoli rosets and ramiro pepper slices.  The dessert section is composed of black and white grapes, blueberries, blackberries, redcurrant, a strawberry and orange slices.

Bon appetit.

Shrimp Stirfry Bento

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Shrimp stirfry bento 

Again pressed for time last night, so the bento is again an easy stirfry one.  The noodles are a killer for my diet, but they are so good :o)

Besides the obvious shrimp, the stirfry also has cabbage, zucchini, carrot, onion, mushrooms and leek.  I added some black bean sauce to the stirfry for a bit of extra flavour.

Second tier is all fruit : cara cara orange, apple, redcurrant, blueberries, blackberries, pomegranate seeds, strawberries and clementine.

Bon appetit.

Scaloppina alla Milanese bento

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I hope you all had a great weekend.  I spent a nice couple of days off work but am not really looking forward to getting back into the rat race.  In order to cheer me up a bit (much needed on this cold and windy winter day, I put lots of vibrant, colourful foods in my bento. 

In this Monday bento, I have scaloppina alla Milanese, some black/purple rice (which will probably be a regular this week as I made a batch of it on Sunday), assorted steamed veggies (cauliflower, brocoli, carrots, brussels sprouts, mini corn, snow peas, green beans, green asparagus), radishes and cherry tomatoes.  My daily fruit vitamins come from white grapes, clementine wedges, apple, strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, redcurrant and pomegranate seeds).

Bon appetit !

Berberechos a la cataplana

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No bento making in the weekends, but that doesn't mean no food is prepared, of course.  During grocery shopping yesterday, I came across a little box of cockles in the seafood aisle and I knew immediately what I would make for starters on Friday night : Berberechos a la cataplana, or Portuguese cockles.  [Although it is originally a Portuguese dish, I gave it a Spanish name as (a) I don't speak Portuguese but do speak the language of Cervantes and (b) I put Spanish chorizo in this dish].

I am sure that there are as many versions of this dish as there are cooks in the world but this is how I made them.

Ingredients (for 2 servings):
* 1 Tbsp olive oil
* 330g fresh cockles (strange quantity but that was the contents of the box)
* 4 shallots
* 4 garlic cloves (you can use less, but we love garlic over here so always use a lot)
* 50g diced chorizo
* 50g smoked ham
* chiseled coriander
* a pinch of chili powder (the original recipe would call for a tsp of piri piri or tabasco)

How-to :

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and fry the diced garlic and shallots, until they are soft but not coloured.

Add the ham and chorizo, season with a bit of chili (or tabasco if you prefer) and cover. Let simmer a bit, shaking up the pan every now and then.

Add the cockles and the coriander, cover and let simmer for an additional 5/6 minutes, shaking up the pan again.  As soon as the cockles have opened up, the dish is ready.

Serve hot with some bread.





Ginger & Sweet Chili Turkey Bento

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Ginger & Sweet Chili Turkey Bento


I didn't have much time to prepare my bento last night, so I opted for a one-pan dish, a stirfry.  It doesn't make for an attractive view but the taste definitely makes up for it.  In the bottom tier , the stirfry has noodles, turkey slices, zucchini, carrots and white cabbage, all seasoned with ginger and sweet chili.

The top tier has a piece of mini pineapple, a clementine, white grapes and a piece of apple for the fruit section.  The second half has a mini babybel, raw carrot sticks and cherry tomatoes.

The end of the week, so no more bentos until Monday. I wish you all a great weekend.

Brocoli Stoemp Bento

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Brocoli Stoemp Bento


Sakura bento again today and I carried the sakura theme into the food as well. My sakura cutter is my favourite of the bunch, simple but pretty. :o)

As for the contents of today's lunch, I have brocoli stoemp (for more info on stoemp, you can check out this old post), topped with cheese sakura. All around there : diced up chicken chipolata, the usual steamed vegetables (brussels sprouts, snowpeas, green beans, sakura carrots and mushrooms). The fruity vitamin section features grapes, apple, kiwi and clementine.

Bon appetit.

Terriyaki Beef Bento

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Terriyaki Beef Bento



Strange how despite the numerous amounts of bento boxes in my cupboard, I usually end up using the same ones over and over again. So unsurprisingly, I grabbed the M4SB again today.   I think what I like most about that box is that I can keep everything nicely separate, sometimes colour coordinated, but always looking neat.  Someone told me yesterday that I am a control freak with a longing for things to be square and orderly.  Maybe that's the reason that my bentos look the way they do. :o)

Anyway, today's bento has some boiled potatoes, an assortment of steamed greens (brocoli, green beans, snowpeas, asparagus), carrot sticks, a mushroom skewer and cherry tomato, terriyaki beef and a sweet section for dessert (golden kiwi, white grapes, apple slices and a piece of blood orange).

Hump day today ... and I am already starting to look forward to the weekend. :o)
Happy Wednesday everyone.



Vegetable méli-mélo bento

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Vegetable méli-mélo bento 

Lots of vegetables in today's bento, hence the title.  Next to some chicken patties, I have two brocoli rosets, mini corn cobs, green asparagus, sugarsnaps, snowpeas, carrots, a couple of mushrooms and cherry tomatoes for that necessary splash of colour.  Dessert is the same as yesterday : clementine, apple, grapes and a mini babybel cheese.

Bon appetit.


Mini burger bento

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Mini Burger Bento

For the first bento after a very long absence, I chose my M4SB ... nothing I put in this box can ever go wrong (even if I am a bit rusted in the bento making). As far as the content goes, nothing fancy today : potatoes for carbs, mini burgers for protein, mini zucchini, sugarsnaps, green asparagus and mini corn for greens and dessert is made up of white grapes, clementine wedges, a piece of apple and a little babybel cheese.

According to scientists the third Monday of January, called "Blue Monday", is the most depressing day of the year. As if to prove them wrong, I am in an excellent mood today : although it is freezing outside, the sun is shining, the air is crisp and frost is making everything glisten like little diamonds.

I am bursting with energy and ready to start a new workweek. Are you?

Have a nice week everybody !

Happy New Year 2012

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Happy New Year


2011 has been a very eventful year with lots of ups and down in my personal life. One of the consequences has been that I have completely stopped blogging, tweeting and flickr-ing for the most of last year and disconnected from all the bloggers I followed and most of my online friends.

I don't know how many of the persons who followed my bento adventures will still be around to read this post, but I wish you all a great 2012!

One of my resolutions for the new year is picking up (again) where I left off and make myself a bento every workday, so stay tuned for a real post tomorrow.