Showing posts with label radish. Show all posts
Showing posts with label radish. Show all posts
Nicoise Bento
I was planning on taking a salade nicoise for the bento tonight, but I haven't figured out how I can pack lettuce without the leaves becoming all mushy. So this is my alternative for nicoise : steamed potatoes, tuna with black olives, green beans, carrot and an orange tomato with radish and spring onion.
For dessert I have a couple of litchi, a piece of apple, white grapes and a piece of peach.
Bon appetit.
Tomates crevettes bento
Labels:
apple,
apricot,
brocoli,
brown rice,
cauliflower,
cherry tomatoes,
nectarine,
radish,
tomate-crevettes
·
Today I have a skinny version of a typical Belgian dish in my bento : Tomate-crevettes. Tomate-crevettes can be a starter or a main dish and is basically an raw tomato, emptied out and filled with a shrimp stuffing (peeled sand shrimps with mayonnaise in the original version) which is commonly served with fries and salad.
Instead of the kcal bomb that is mayonnaise, I used a light petit-suisse and blended everything together, adding a bit of herbs and a radish for more taste. No fries neither in the bento, but the usual amount of rice and some brocoli and cauliflower rosets for greens. The cherry tomatoes and radishes supply the necessary dash of colour. For dessert, I have half a nectarine chopped up half and apple and a little apricot underneath it all.
Bon appetit.
Falafel bento
Labels:
bell pepper,
blackberries,
blueberries,
brocoli,
carrot,
cauliflower,
falafel,
orange,
pomegranate,
radish,
strawberries
·
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
Labels:
apple,
blackberries,
blueberries,
carrot,
cauliflower,
ginger pork,
grapes,
orange,
pomegranate,
radish,
strawberries
·
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.
Shrimp Stirfry Bento
Labels:
apple,
blackberries,
blueberries,
carrot,
clementine,
noodles,
orange,
oyster mushroom,
pomegranate,
radish,
shrimp,
stirfry,
strawberries,
zucchini
·
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
Labels:
apple,
blackberries,
blueberries,
brocoli,
brussels sprout,
carrot,
cauliflower,
clementine,
corn,
grapes,
green asparagus,
green beans,
pomegranate,
purple rice,
radish,
redcurrant,
snow peas,
strawberries
·
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 !
Terriyaki Beef Bento
Labels:
apple,
beef,
blood orange,
brocoli,
carrot,
cherry tomatoes,
grapes,
green asparagus,
green beans,
kiwi,
mushroom,
potato,
radish,
snow peas
·
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.
Chicken Sausage Bento
Labels:
apple,
bell pepper,
blackberries,
blueberries,
brocoli,
carrot,
cheese,
cherry tomatoes,
chicken chipolata,
grapes,
peach,
radish,
scallion,
snow peas,
strawberries,
witloof,
zucchini
·
Another day, another bento. And for today's lunch I dusted off my sakura box which had been laying fornlorn in the bento cabinet for these last few months.
In this single tier box I squeezed in everything I will be eating today : a stirfry of all the veggies I had in the fridge (i.e. carrots, zucchini, bell pepper, endives, snowpeas, spring onions), a steamed broccoli roset topped with a cheese maple leaf, a diced up chicken chipolata, some grenaille potatoes with a cherry tomato on top and a radish for decoration. I also packed my usual fruit selection (the advantage of summer and its abundant supply) : white peach, strawberries, apple, white and black grapes, blueberries and blackberries.
Bon appetit.
Terriyaki Turkey Bento
Labels:
apple,
bell pepper,
blackberries,
blueberries,
carrot,
cheese,
cherry tomatoes,
grapes,
nectarine,
peach,
radish,
scallion,
snow peas,
strawberries,
turkey,
witloof
·
Today's bento is already looking a bit better than yesterday's (if I may say so myself). Proof that I am slowly getting back in a certain routine :o)
Bottom tier has terriyaki turkey (I was planning to make duck but they were sold out), glazed carrots, a bell pepper/snowpeas/endives/spring onion stirfry, some grenaille potatoes and radishes and cherry tomatoes for decoration. I also added a little container of orange sauce (I deglazed the frying pan with some orange juice after frying the turkey).
Top tier holds the dessert and snack section : white peach, nectarine, strawberries, pink lady apple (my fave), white and black grapes, blueberries and blackberries, a piece of Camembert, and two mini tartines russes. I don't know how they are called in English, literally translated these are "Russian sandwiches", basically two crispy biscuit slices with some buttercream in between. Yumm.
Usually, I don't use a same box two days in a row but as I am housesitting for my parents at the moment (who are enjoying some happy time far from cold and rainy Belgium) my packing possibilities are rather limited. I already dragged along my "bento accessories" storage box, so I couldn't take all my bentos with me as well. I'll try to pick up a couple of other ones at home tonight, so I break the monotony. Somehow the vivid red of this box, is just too much for the camera to handle.
Talking about boxes, I encountered some wonderful boxes and tiffins while perusing some (food) blogs yesterday and a couple of them just scream out "come and get me". I don't know how long I will be able to resist their siren song, but I will do my best. And because shared happiness is always better, these are the ones I am talking about.
First of all, this gorgeous handpainted Lolita tiffin on sale at monbento.com. The price is steep and its volume and weight quite impressive, but you have to admit that this stunning container is one of those "got to have".
The second box that charmed me is the Jenggala Rantang from the Indonesian factory Jenggala Keramik Bali. Unfortunately the post on Decorablog dates from last year and I couldn't find this ceramic and wooden box anymore in Jenggala's online catalogue. At 32 EUR, it would have been a wonderful addition to my growing collection. Maybe I'll get lucky on ebay. Anyway, this is what this beauty looks like. If anyone sees it on sale somewhere, please drop me a line.
Until tomorrow, enjoy your bentos ! :o)
Ginger Pork Bento
Labels:
apple,
blackberries,
blueberries,
brocoli,
cauliflower,
cherry tomatoes,
ginger pork,
grapes,
green asparagus,
green beans,
olives,
orange,
pomegranate,
potato,
radish
·
Because I still had ginger to use before it went stale, I decided to make some ginger pork for my bento last night. It's an recipe I already used for bento (and which you can find here). This time I did as Maki suggested in her book and coated some new potatoes with the ginger sauce, to accompany the meat. It smelled divine and I am sure the taste will be equally satisfying. In between the gingery elements, I added green beans, green asparagus tips, some broccoli rosets, radish, a mini cauliflower, a cherry tomato and a few olives (inspired by Ohayobento's post from yesterday). The WW total for today is 7 propoints.
As I am still battling the nasty germs, I stocked up on as many fruit vitamins as possible : white grapes, blueberries, blackberries, apple bunnies, blood orange slices, pomegranate seeds and some dried fruits (pineapple, papya, cranberries, banana).
Wishing everybody a healthy bento lunch today !
Bon appetit
Salade Liegeoise Bento
Labels:
apple,
banana,
bean sprouts,
blackberries,
blueberries,
carrot,
clementine,
grapes,
green asparagus,
green beans,
ham,
potato,
radish,
ramiro pepper,
stirfry
·
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!
Green Curry Chicken Noodles bento
Labels:
brocolini,
chicken,
coconut milk,
green curry,
noodles,
radish,
zucchini
·
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
* 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 !
Chicken Gyoza bento
Labels:
bean sprouts,
brocoli,
carrot,
edamame,
gyoza,
radish,
ramiro pepper,
white rice
·
Today's bento had something special : chicken gyoza. It may not seem that spectacular but for someone like me who never ate these before today, it's big news :o) And now that I have tasted them, I don't know why I never made them before : these are so yummy. I wonder what other delicious foods I have been missing out on. I'll have to make up for lost times soon, maybe even this weekend. And I know for sure that I'm not the only one in this house who likes them, because this box actually holds the second batch I made last night. Somehow, while I was waiting for the bento to cool down before taking my pic, P. went behind my back and ate all the dumplings I had put in the box. I guess that could be considered a compliment :o) I think they could be a bit browner and crunchier on the bottom, but these were fine too.
Anyway, this bento had a few chicken gyoza on a bed of lettuce, more of yesterday's bean sprout/ramiro pepper stirfry, broccoli florets and radishes, edamame and the usual white rice. Dessert consisted of a nice apple which didn't make it to the picture.
Sukiyaki style beef bento
Labels:
beef,
blackberries,
blueberries,
carrot,
enoki,
kiwiberries,
leek,
plum,
radish,
redcurrant,
shitake,
snow peas,
strawberries
·
A rather straigthforward bento, to get the groove back : sukiyaki style beef on a bed of rice, topped of with some carrots, snowpeas and radishes for that essential dash of colour. And a little sidecar filled with fruity vitamins.
How to sukiyaki style beef :
I can't take credit for this recipe as I found it in Maki's JustBento book (which is a fab book btw, go out and buy it, you won't be disappointed :o) )
Ingredients:
* enoki mushrooms (+/- 90g)
* 10 cm thinly sliced leek (white part)
* 2 fresh shiitake, sliced without stem
* 100g thinly sliced beef
* 1 Tbsp (brown) sugar
* 60ml dashi stock
* 2 Tbsp soy sauce
* 1 Tbsp mirin
* 1 Tbsp saké
Remove the stuck together roots from the enoki and separate them. Heat a bit of oil in a pan and sauté the leek until limp. Add the enoki en shiitake and sauté further for 4 minutes. Add the beef and sugar and stirfry until the meat starts to brown. Add all the other ingredients and cook for an additional 4 minutes. Done.
My apprehension was totally unjustified: not only did I fold the box in a record time, it is also nicely sized (640ml), microwave safe and didn't leak at all (although I have to add that using common sense, I didn't transport it upside down). Compared to other boxes, this one is cheap, easy to use and doesn't take up a lot of room in the cupboard (reason to buy more of them? :o) ), so don't hesitate to get one.
Empanada de atún bento
Labels:
bento,
blueberries,
cantaloup melon,
cherry tomatoes,
cucumber,
empanada,
grapes,
lettuce,
mozarella,
nectarine,
olives,
orange,
radish
·
Spanish flavours in today's lunch, as I decided to make empanadas de atún last night to pack in our bento boxes. As it was a kind of a "spur of the moment" idea, I didn't have the time to make it completely from scratch as my MIL used to do. Luckily for me, the "organised business woman" I am, has everything she needs in her fridge and cupboard to produce these savoury pastries in a relatively short time.
As my (Spanish) Sweetie grew up with these flavours and with MIL's comida casera, cooking up a Spanish dish is always a bit tricky. No matter what I do, I'll never make things exactly the way she did. And as she sadly passed away a few years ago, I can't ask her for advice anymore neither. Nevertheless, I had to shoo someone out of the kitchen last night, who had picked up the familiar scent, trailed it back to the kitchen and was intent on stealing a few scraps out of the hot pan. I guess I can consider that a compliment :o)
So both our bento have an empanada de atún on a bed of young lettuce leaves, radishes, cucumber, tomato/mozzarella skewers and a green olives skewer. It's nice to include raw veggies again, it reminds me that sunny days are on their way and that it will soon be BBQ weather again :o)
The dessert section has grapes, cantaloup balls, orange parts, nectarine and blueberries.
How-to speedy Empanada de Atún :
Ingredients for 8 empanadas:
* 3 garlic cloves (or less, if you're not a garlic fan as we are)
* 2 red onions
* 400g of canned tuna (I used tuna in olive oil, but on brine would work too)
* 2 (bell) peppers (traditionally you'd use green ones, but I used the two red ramiro peppers I had in the fridge)
* 1 jar (400 ml) of tomate frito (my fave brand : Solis)
* 2 hardboiled eggs
* 1 egg
* 2 puff pastry sheets
Preheat the oven to 200°C.
Dice the onions and peppers and finely chop the garlic. In a skillet, fry the onions and garlic in a bit of olive oil, and add the peppers when the onions have glazed over.
Once the peppers are starting to tender, add the tomate frito and let it simmer for a while on low heat.
Meanwhile, drain the tuna and crumble it. Chop up the hardboiled eggs and add them together with the crumbled tuna to the tomate frito. Stir all the ingredients together and let it simmer a while longer. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and let cool a bit. The filling should now be rather consistent and not watery or liquid.
Roll out the pastry sheets. The ones I had in the fridge were round ones, which aren't the easiest to use. If you make your own pastry dough you can make roll it out in a sheet, cut out round shapes, reshape the remaining dough into a new flat sheet, cut out again, etc. (empanadas are normally presented as half circles, like goyza)... But I just cut the round doughs in four, filled them and then (painstakingly) tried to close them.
Whisk the egg and brush it on top of the empanadas, before putting them in the oven for about half an hour (depending on your oven).
The empanadas are delicious hot and cold, which makes them ideal for bento.
Jambalaya bento
Labels:
apricot,
babybel cheese,
bento,
blueberries,
cherry tomatoes,
clementine,
cucumber,
grapes,
jambalaya,
olives,
plum,
pomegranate,
radish
·
However a new week has started and I have boarded the bento train again, at least until next Thursday. On Friday at noon, we are going to a restaurant with the whole office for our traditional New Year's lunch and after lunch we are free to go home as well. So no bento then, but an early start of the weekend. :o)
But first let's get back to today's bento. I tried for the first time to make Jamabalaya last night and the leftover portions are in today's lunchboxes. This is most definetely not the most traditional jambalaya around (I guess any real Cajun would shake his head in disbelief at my makings), but you have to try somewhere, right? Moreover as I am on a diet (yes, yes, still haven't given up :o)), I tried to keep it as low-fat as possible and it still turned out a yummy hearty winter dish.How-to Jambalaya :
First of all, I encountered a little problem with the rice while making this dish. I had to cook it for 45 minutes in order to get it tender instead of the normal 25 minutes O_o, but otherwise, it came out very tasty. I think the problem might be linked to the small burner I had to use as button operating the large burner of the stove is out of order :o( , so I'll keep the normal cooking times in this recipe.
* 120g lean breakfast bacon (can be replaced by chicken as well)
* 1 onion
* 2 garlic cloves
* 250g mushrooms
* 1 red bell pepper
* 1 tsp olive oil
* 120g brown rice (uncooked)
* 400g sifted tomatoes
* 150ml vegetable stock
* 400g gambas (pealed & cooked)
* 1 TBS parsley* a pinch of sugar
* to taste : salt, pepper, thyme (and if you like spicy, you can add tabasco sauce as well)
Bake the bacon in the teaspoon of olive oil, add the vegetables and stew.
Add the uncooked rice, tomatoes and vegetable stock. Season with salt, pepper, a pinch of sugar (and tabasco if you want) and cook for 15 minutes.
Add the gambas and heat for an additional 5 minutes, finish with the tablespoon of parsley (and thyme).
Sweetie's monkey bento had the same ingredients (1) in the square tupper : jambalaya, cucumber, green olives and some cherry tomatoes. and (2) in the fruit sidecar: clementine, white and blue grapes, apricot and plum.I am wishing you all a great and yummilicious new bento week !
A long overdue update
Labels:
babybel cheese,
bell pepper,
bento,
butternut pumpkin,
carrot,
cucumber,
daikon,
fennel,
kumato,
quail egg,
radish,
snow peas,
surimi,
sweet potato,
witloof
·
An overview of the bentos of the last few days :
Nov. 12, 2009 : Quinoa pancakes & sweet potatoes bentos
Reading other bento blogs is always an inspiring process a browsing through HapaBento's blog is no exception to the rule. This week she posted bentos with quinoa as well as sweet potatoes, and her recipes seemed so easy and yummy that I decided to give them a try.
Then I added the quinoa/red lentils pancakes, the sweet potato mash in a silicone muffin cup, the regular carved cucumber and radish, three little rolls of cooked ham topped with cheesy stars and carrot triangles, a quail egg, the last of the snowpeas, alternating carrot and parsnip slices and a parsnip/carrot flower with a tomato heart.
For the recipes for the sweet potato mash and the quinoa pancakes, I refer you to the postings on hapabento's blog I linked to above. I didn't use mirin (because my other half isn't a big fan of the taste) for the pancakes but added nutmeg (a spice I add in every dish, I have to admit) and my sweet potato mash is chili-free.
My other half also had a bento of course, containing roughly the same ingredients : Quinoa/red lentil pancakes and sliced sweet potato in the bottom tier; ham roll skewer,brocoli, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, radish, snowpeas and carrot/parsnip slices and flower (with a quail egg heart).Nov. 11, 2009 : Armistice Day -> holiday -> no work -> no bento :o)
Nov. 10, 2009 : Butternut pumpkin bento
As the main part of my bento was going to be a mixed salad, I took my little round bento again to work, filled with lots of beggies.
For the vegetables in the top tier I tried out some of my new carving equipement, with varied success : a cucumber garland, a carrot twist and flower, cherry tomato, babybel cheese, radish, leek sprouts and half a kumato filled with the potato/butternut pumpkin puree leftover from last night's dinner.
The same ingredients also went in the other bento :
In the pink tier : another carrot swirl, a radish which was supposed to be Crysanthemum Flower but ended up strangely spiky, a bit of the witloof salad from the other bento and an ovenbaked sweet potato. It was the first time that I tried making a sweet potato and apparently P. found it so yummy that half of what I baked, never even made it into the bento. :o)In the black tier : butternut pumpkin/potato puree rolled in ham, yellow zucchini, olives, carrot flower with a cherry tomato heart.
How to butternut pumpkin/potato puree :
It wan't really my intention to turn this into a puree, but running back and forth between the study (facebook addict), the TV (trying to catch some of the news) and the kitchen, I overcooked the potatoes, leaving me with no other aesthetic possibility than mash them up.
What I used :
1 butternut pumpkin
1 onion
4 potatoes
Dice the onion and flash fry it in a bit of olive oil. Peel the butternut pumpkin, remove the seeds and other mush interior, keeping only the firm flesh and dice it. Add the pumpkin to the onions, add a bit of water to cover the bottom of the panand let it simmer until the pieces are tender. Keep an eye on your pan and make sure your pan always has a bit of water in the bottom to prevent scorching your veggies. I let it simmer for half an hour, but everything depends on your cooker of course. As for the seasoning, I always cook my vegetables using a bouillon cube (a half one or a complete one according to the amount of water I am using), making it unnecessary to add salt or a lot of spices (especially since I cook with very little salt, much to my dinner's partner dismay). The only thing I always add is freshly ground nutmeg, but then again, I'm a nutmeg addict :o)
Meanwhile, boil your potatoes in salt water as usual. When cooked, drain them and put them back on the heat for a few seconds, to evaporate the remaining water. Take off the heat, add the pumpkin to the potatoes and mash everything into a even puree. I added freshly chopped parsley, but you could also add coriander leaves. And that's it, can it be easier?
What I used :
1 butternut pumpkin
1 onion
4 potatoes
Dice the onion and flash fry it in a bit of olive oil. Peel the butternut pumpkin, remove the seeds and other mush interior, keeping only the firm flesh and dice it. Add the pumpkin to the onions, add a bit of water to cover the bottom of the panand let it simmer until the pieces are tender. Keep an eye on your pan and make sure your pan always has a bit of water in the bottom to prevent scorching your veggies. I let it simmer for half an hour, but everything depends on your cooker of course. As for the seasoning, I always cook my vegetables using a bouillon cube (a half one or a complete one according to the amount of water I am using), making it unnecessary to add salt or a lot of spices (especially since I cook with very little salt, much to my dinner's partner dismay). The only thing I always add is freshly ground nutmeg, but then again, I'm a nutmeg addict :o)
Meanwhile, boil your potatoes in salt water as usual. When cooked, drain them and put them back on the heat for a few seconds, to evaporate the remaining water. Take off the heat, add the pumpkin to the potatoes and mash everything into a even puree. I added freshly chopped parsley, but you could also add coriander leaves. And that's it, can it be easier?
Nov. 9, 2009 : Apple/fennel bento
In case you're wondering about the different colours of top and bottom tier : I only realised after I filled them up, that I inverted the bentos, so P. and I both got bentos in Swedish colours today. If I had known beforehand, I might have made köttbullar to stick with the theme :o) Maybe I should hold on to that thought, it might come in handy ...
My blue top tier had a organic rice mix I found in the supermarket consisting of red, black and white longgrain rice as well as wheat; and a leftover of the fennel with apple I made for Sunday night's dinner (made this with a yummy salmon/scallop "roast" ~ I'm not sure if the word is also used for fish in English, but you catch my drift).The yellow bottom tier had surimi, green asparagus, yellow beans with spring onion, daikon flowers/carrot slices and yellow turnip flowers on green salad bowl.
Again, rougly the same things in the second bento :
Top tier : same rice mix as in mine with smoked trout on some salad leaves.Nov. 6, 2009 : Symphony of green & orange
Last Friday, the neko bento had the privilege to accompany me to the office, filled with a orange & green colour scheme.In the top tier : radish, olives, leek sprouts, cherry tomatoes, carrot stars and carrot/orange bell peper bundle, green veggies stirfry (brocoli/asparagus/snowpea) and a strangly cut cucumber (which should have been star shaped but ended up alien-like :o))
In the bottom tier : crayfish with spring onions and spirulina tagliatelle with cheese flowers.
And P. needed lunch as well, so the second bento I made had :
On the left : two kumato halfs filled with surimi salad, spirulina pasta (Again I wisely omitted to inform the other half that spirulina are algae :o) ; orange bell pepper flowers, another attempt at creating a lotus cucumber flower (I hope I'll get better results with the carving tools I ordered today), cherry tomatoes and olives.That's it, an extra loooong post to make up for my absence last week. See ya tomorrow :o)
First single tier bento
Labels:
bento,
brocoli,
carrot,
cucumber,
daikon,
green asparagus,
quinoa,
radish,
red lentils,
snow peas,
teriyaki salmon
·
Inspired by sherimiya's awesome single tier bentos, I decided to leave my tow-tier bentos in the cabinet tonight, which means that I will be taking a plain tupper to the office. The contents will have to make up for it. :o)
My single tier bento has (from L to R) : quinoa with red lentils and carrots, teriyaki salmon, a carrot/daikon skewer, snow peas, green asparagus with sesame, brocoli, radish, cherry tomatoes, cucumber flowers with a carrot heart and a little jar of carrot/ginger légumaise (everything on a bed of leek sprouts).
How to : cucumber flowers with carrot hearts
Ever since I saw this amazing Thai woman carving vegetables and fruits at the kokerello fair, back in 2007, I have been fascinated by the beauty of these carved veggies. Given the additional space I had in this box, I decided to give it a try. Googling carving let to a wide array of websites, but I found this site, with what seemed to be a rather straightforward cucumber flower. "Seemed" because when you don't really have the proper knifes for carving, it can be a bit messy. But still, I'm quite pleased with the final result :o)
The radish was carved following the tutorial from FrenchBento.
How to : teriyaki
I usually always have a store-bought mix of teriyaki marinade in my cabinets, but I emptied my bottle last time and didn't come round to buy a new one yet. However, I found a simple recipe to make the marinade in one of my books and as it is so simple, I thought I'd share it with you.
Put 3 tablespoons of soy sauce, 2 tablespoons of mirin and 1 tablespoon of sugar in a pan and heat the mixture up until it thickens. Take off the heat and marinate your fish/meat in this liquid for a least half an hour, and that's it.
Smakelijk.
Mid-week bentos
Labels:
babybel cheese,
bell pepper,
bento,
brocoli,
cappellini,
carrot,
cucumber,
kumato,
olives,
pasta,
radish,
smoked salmon,
surimi,
yellow turnip
·
Yesterday evening was a bit hectic and I didn't have a lot of time to spend on my bentos. So these ones ended up in the quick and easy range :o) But that doesn't mean they aren't tasteful of course!
A little round bento for me today, perfect for leftovers from last night's cappellini alla bolognese.
In the top tier : yellow turnip slices, brocoli, babybel cheese, half of a kumato filled with homemade surimi "salad", cucumber stars and red bell pepper flowers on leek sprouts and 2 green olives to fill in the remaining space.
For those who wonder about the kumato, you should check out this website. It's a sweet, dark tomato, that not only taste devine but looks fabulous in any dish (although granted, you can't see too much of it in the top picture).
The surimi salad is very easy to make and can be used as spread or as a filler for tomatoes or other veggies.
How to :
Take two surimi sticks and roll them open in order to have two small "sheets". Slice them up (horizontally and vertically) until you have small pieces. Mixed these pieces with freshly chopped parsley and chives and add a teaspoon of mayo or sour cream. And that's it :o)
The second bento I made, seemed Ok last night, but looking at the picture now, it seems a bit empty ... :o(
Top tier : smoked salmon/salad/zucchini wraps, olives and a red bell pepper filled with the surimi salad.
Bottom tier : kumato and yellow turnip slices, brocoli, radish and my first attempt at "merging" vegetables. Not the crisp look I was going for but I guess it takes some practicing. Better next time :o)
Bon appetit.
Vegetarian & non-vegetarian bentos
Labels:
bell pepper,
bento,
carrot,
corn,
cucumber,
goat cheese,
green asparagus,
onigiri,
purple rice,
radish,
snow peas,
soy nugget
·
I wasn't very inspired by the contents of my fridge yesterday. Nice ideas, but not the ingredients to work them out. :o/
Anyway, P. got the large bento today, so I could include the dessert section in the box instead of in a sidecar. This bento ended up being vegetarian, which is wasn't really my goal :
Top tier : clementine with grape, peanut M&Ms, pineapple slices covered with white chocolate, little gem salad with carrot and cucumber rolls and sliced radish
Bottom tier : mini green asparagus/raw ham roll, soy nuggets, purple rice onigiri with zucchini slice, babybel cheese, mini red bell pepper filles with corn and goat cheese/zucchini "maki" rolls.
Not a vegetarian bento for me but neveretheless lots of veggies. My Tuesday lunch consisted of :
Top : "indian" chicken filet rolls, purple rice on a bed of leek sprouts, a small purple pepper filled with the goat cheese (left over from the rolls in the other tier), cucumber, carrots & bell pepper sticks
Bottom : goat cheese "maki" rolls, corn, radish, snow peas and green (sesame) asperagus wrapped with raw ham.
I didn't take pictures of the dessert I had, but I brought me some Leopold III grapes again (it's the season) and a clementine.
Buen provecho!
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