Fancy Tea Sandwiches Bento Box Lunch

This weekend I took our niece out for tea, and it reminded me how fun and savory those little tea sandwiches can be! So I went all out and made herb butter with dill and chives to go on egg salad sandwiches with turmeric, celery seed and mayo/mustard, and prawn and dill sandwiches (also using the herb butter). They came out really cute and I'm totally making these for a picnic we're taking to a concert later this week!

The rest of the lunch is fresh strawberry tomatoes (from the Farmer's Market, of course) and organic carrots with goma shabu dipping sauce (Japanese sesame sauce) in the little pig container, some organic green grapes (so sweet!) and string cheese. Simple and easy.

Lebanese and Armenian Mezze Bento Box Lunch

This weekend we were fortunate enough to be invited to our friend Sheila's for a Lebanese/Armenian feast! I wasn't going to pass up an opportunity to learn to make some of these traditional dishes, so I went over early and got a hands-on course on making hummus and baba ganouj, two of Mike's and my favorite dips.

Let me tell you, it's a lot of work! Lots of prepping and chopping, but absolutely and totally worth the effort. I wish I had thought to take pictures of the preparation, but I was too busy measuring and mixing. When I try to recreate this at home, I'll do a step-by-step for the blog. There was SO much food that we got leftovers as party favors, and this is what I put together for today's lunch:

On the left, we have homemade hummus (garbanzo beans, lemon juice, tahini, garlic, cumin and salt), and baba ganouj (eggplant, tahini, garlic, salt, lemon juice), with some Armenian pastries below that. The two on the right are made from phyllo dough and are sort of baklava-ish, with rose scented honey and pistachios. They are DELICIOUS.

On the right, we have taboulleh in the yellow cup (parsley, mint, bulgar wheat, little heirloom tomatoes and lemon juice, cumin, salt, etc), Mediterranean olives, and lavash bread. 

All I can say is, these are the prettiest leftovers I've seen in awhile!

How To Use Up Bento Leftovers

Lots of people have been asking, "what do you do with all the leftover bread from those cute sandwiches?" Which is a very good question. We hate waste! But when you're cutting out cute shapes, waste is inevitable. Luckily, there's lots of things you can do with leftover crusts. 

I will admit, I've saved tons of crusts with the intentions of making bread pudding (YUM!), but then the bread molded before I remembered my intentions! While bread pudding is delish, and uses tons of crusts, you do actually need to make it, which does take some time and effort. If you can't be bothered, you can always toast the crusts and then dump them in a food processor to make bread crumbs, which can be stored for quite awhile and used in all sorts of recipes from meatloaf to meatballs to chicken parm to casseroles, etc. However, my usual default for bread crusts is croutons. Mike and I love soups and salads, and croutons are the perfect accompaniment.

Here is my simple tutorial for croutons:

See all the leftovers from my dino sandwich? Don't worry!

Chop them up into uniform square-ish shapes. They can be as big or small as you like, but smaller is a little easier and faster for cooking.

Melt some butter in a pan on medium heat. I like to use at least 1 tablespoon per slice of leftover crust. It needs to be enough to lightly coat all your pieces. Dump your croutons into the pan and toss them to coat. 

Once they are all coated, sprinkle on whatever seasonings you like! I used a chicken seasoning which has garlic, salt, pepper, onion powder, tumeric, fennel, and parsley. More is better, so your croutons will pack a flavor punch!

You can try all sorts of herbs, or even things like lemon or orange zest. 

Let them sizzle a bit and toss everything every couple of minutes, so they get brown on all sides. Tah-dah! You've got homemade, delicious croutons. They're so crunchy and yummy that I sometimes eat them as a snack.

Desert Camel and Palm Bento Lunch!

I attempted a Japanese-style bento today with rice, scrambled egg with mirin, miso-seasoned ground pork, spinach and steamed carrots. Not shown is a tiny bottle of soy for extra seasoning. It could be eaten at room temperature, but it's probably better warm. Since I am paranoid about using plastic in the microwave, I used a flat rectangular glass Pyrex dish we had as the bento box.

Also, as long as you use wheat-free soy, this is a gluten free meal!

I think it came out pretty cute! I made the rice this morning and put a layer of it on the bottom. It's pretty thin, so there should be enough toppings to mix in. The camel was made by using a camel cookie cutter. I put it down on the rice and filled it with the cooked miso ground pork, and just tapped it down with a fork. When I pulled up the cookie cutter, it surprisingly stayed in perfect shape. The palm tree is made from a slice of steamed carrot, which I sliced up so Mike can mix it in later. The leaves are boiled spinach leaves, and the sand is scrambled eggs with a little mirin added for seasoning. Mirin is a seasoned Japanese cooking wine that is just a bit sweet. It's delicious!

I hope he likes it!

CuteOBento Website Review

A lot of my bento inspiration comes from the internet. Whatever did we do in the days before internet? Today, you don't even have to have an "ah-ha!" moment, because someone out there has already had that moment and is kind enough to share it with you!

Today I'm reviewing this adorable bento site: www.cuteobento.com. Maki Ogawa is the mother of two who creates these delicious looking bentos, and she also has a book out called "Yum-Yum Bento Box." She is very talented and her bentos are just beautiful. A lot of them are Japanese style bentos with rice, but you can totally adapt her ideas to American lunches and sandwiches, salads, etc.  A few things I just love about her bentos - one, she colors everything with natural spices (like tumeric) or uses natural foods that are vibrantly colored, like radishes, beets, and heirloom potatoes. Two, she really doesn't use any fancy cutters or anything to make her creations. She uses simple tools like straws, knives, or works with the shape of the food itself. 

Some samples of her work:

In this rice bowl bento, some little fried chicken pieces are artfully arranged with lettuce, a cherry tomato, etc. The purple toadstools are made from purple potatoes. I'm not sure what the dots are made from, but you could totally use cheese or egg whites. The Japanese have a ton of different pickled radishes that are bright yellow and red and other colors, which she may have used for the cute flowers. For American tastes, you could use cheddar cheese, bell peppers, carrots (boiled, to soften them a bit and make them easier to cut, or use stainless steel cutters), or even mustard to draw a flower.

The colors and arrangement of this bento are just gorgeous!

In this bento, she used fish cake (which is white and can be cut into flat pieces) for her elephants. For American tastes, you could easily use any white cheese (like provolone), egg whites, cooked lasagna noodles, or turkey cold cuts. Ears could be made from carrots, sliced almonds, etc. 

The beautiful purple stars are purple potatoes or yams. The orange stars are carrots  (which have been pre-cooked). Again, her colors are just stunning. 

Oh, but I forgot to mention the most clever part - the little cut outs for the elephants were made using one of those large straws that they have for boba drinks; she just squeezes it a bit to get it to be the right size to cut out in between the trunk and front leg, and in between the front and back legs. So creative! 

It just goes to show you, you just need to think outside the box and add a little detail to the most basic shape to turn it into something else. I hope my brain will catch on so I can think of these more quickly in the mornings. In the meantime, I have the CuteOBento blog for inspiration. 

Owl Sandwiches Bento Lunch

I used some of our new cookie cutters today to make this owl bento lunch. I thought I'd share the whole process so you can see how the sandwiches are made, and how you can get your fixings to fit inside the sandwich. My sandwiches today were simple, just mayo and turkey, with lettuce as the "wings" of the owl. You can totally put in cheese and other things if you want, using the same method.

First, you have to find the best way to maximize the bread! I made two sandwiches from the two slices of bread. It's much easier to cut the bread first, before making the sandwich.

I'll post some recipes soon for using up all that leftover bread! I actually have a couple days worth of scraps saved in a bowl right now.

Next, you'll want to lay out your deli meat on a paper towel. Ours is from Whole Foods and it's an actual turkey breast that they roasted, so it doesn't have all that filler stuff and seasonings/water, etc to hold it together (so it's a bit dry). 

Just cut down and then use all the extra meat that's outside the cutter and pile it inside, so it fits in an owl shape.

Once they're in there, I just put mayo on the bread shape, put it on top of the meat (mayo side down, obviously), and flip the paper towel over.

That way, it fits perfectly onto your owl bread, it's all nice and even, and this way even the little ears have meat/fillings, etc. Yum!

I used my oval cutter to cut the wings out of lettuce, and a sharp knife to cut little triangles for the beaks. Almond slivers and (don't laugh) balled up bits of brownies are the eyes. Weird, I know. On the side, we have Rainier cherries from the farmer's market this week, black seedless grapes, and some pieces of skewered string cheese. Delish!

Spanish Tapas Adult Bento Box Lunch

One of my favorite easy week night dinners is to just make an antipasto or "olive" platter with various olives, cheese, grapes, dates, prosciutto, salami, etc. Throw in a crusty loaf of bread and some aged balsamic and olive oil, and you've got a delicious dinner (especially paired with wine!). Since I'm only responsible for feeding myself (and sometimes Mike), this meal finds its way into our rotation quite a bit. It's healthy, it appeals to my snacky cravings, and it's got a great balance of savory and sweet. 

The leftovers also make the greatest bento meal, as you can see below. I've got delicious Castelvetrano olives, and if you haven't tried them, or think you hate olives, PLEASE try these, you will love them! They are not cured in vinegar, so they taste mild, with no bite, and have a really appealing firmness. You should buy them with pits, not pitted, because they'll lose some of their texture. They don't have a long shelf life, so eat them quick (not a problem, usually!), and buy them in the refrigerated or olive bar section. If you like olive oil, you'll like these olives, I promise.

I've also got little Emmentaler cheese stars, seedless organic black grapes, cubes of crusty country loaf, and fancy Medjool dates wrapped in prosciutto. YUM! It was also really easy to eat while I read a book! :)

Close up of the prosciutto wrapped dates below. My dates come pitted, but I cut them in half, remove the pit, and then fold a strip of prosciutto around half a date. You can also stuff your dates with almonds or goat cheese for an added treat!

These type of bentos are easy and really satisfying for your taste buds. If this sort of meal leaves you still hungry, up the protein factor by adding hard boiled quail eggs, or nuts such as walnuts, pecans, or almonds.

We're Back! Faces Bento and New Bento Schedule

Our vacation was rejuvenating! We had time to reflect, meditate and refresh our creative juices. These last two bento months were a blast, but as we continue, I think it's more important to present to our readers some bentos that can be easily duplicated. 

Each week we'll feature:

• one cute bento
• one adult bento
• our review on a bento product, technique, or website that we find inspiring, awesome, or helpful 

As always, please feel free to comment or provide suggestions on what you'd like to see or what you'd like to know. Thanks!

Today's bento features our fresh Southern California produce - we're hitting the beginning of stone fruit season and that means lots of peaches, plums, apricots, cherries, etc. at the farmer's market! It's difficult to cut up stone fruit, especially cherries, without totally damaging them, so I settled for making some cute faces, using my nori face punches, on the apricot and Rainier cherries (my favorite!). I also cut some "hair" out of a fruit roll up for the apricot. On the side, we have some sugar snap peas and some homemade jalapeno-spiced pickles to go with the ham, cheese and mustard sandwich. 

Close up of the apricot face:

I forgot to put lettuce in the sandwich, so to add some color I used my silicone grass. It ended up looking cute!