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!

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. 

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.

Broccoli Biscuit Muffins - Easy Make Ahead Bento Box Lunch

If you have tried bento-ing at all, you know by now that prepping is the key to making things fast and easy. But how can you make the prep part fast and easy, too? One awesome way that I've discovered is the biscuit muffin. Just grab a can of those refrigerated biscuits, prep what you'd like to eat with them (broccoli, ham, cheese, asparagus, cauliflower, whatever), and put it all into a muffin tin. Bake according to the directions on the package, and voila!

The first time I made it, I used the whole biscuit in each muffin tin, and they came out kind of doughy. Not raw dough, but too much dough, not enough filling. This time, I tore each biscuit in half horizontally (along one of the flakes) and used only half the biscuit per muffin tin. They came out much better:

These were broccoli and fresh mozzarella balls (in retrospect, I think I should have used shredded swiss because fresh mozzarella doesn't melt as well as I would have liked). Right out of the oven, they're amazing. Cold, they're decent, but they would be better warmed at least a touch, if you use cheese.

Regardless, they are quick and easy to make, and they work well for bento lunches:

For this lunch, we are broccoli heavy - leftover broccoli and bell peppers, with ranch and hummus (in the chick and piggy), and blackberries. If you want to add more protein, a boiled egg or some nuts would be great, or some peanut butter and celery. Easy, quick and simple bento!

Field of Flowers Bento Box Salad

Mike didn't need a lunch today, so I made one for myself. Below is an example of a super quick bento, using only one tool and a knife. The salad is romaine lettuce and cilantro, with mozzarella and bell pepper flowers, and a few black olives. Very simple. Dressing is in the bottle to the right. In retrospect I should have added some nuts for additional protein, but I've got pita chips and Greek yogurt at work, so it should be a filling lunch.

Stay tuned for Friday's review and bento, I've got a super cute one planned for tomorrow!

Back to Basics - Simple Egg Salad Bento Box Lunch

After Monday's and Tuesday's crazy bentos, it was time to tone it back down and get back to 10-minute bento making! To be honest, this morning's bento took me more like 20 minutes because I had to make the egg salad, but if I had prepped it the night before, this would have totally been a 10-minute bento.

Although it's super fun to make bentos all creative and cute, the real point is to have a healthy, portion controlled, colorful and visually stimulating meal. I kept that in mind with today's lunch. Although all the components are simple, we have lots of color and a good balance of protein, fiber, and fruits/veggies. 

On the left there's egg salad sandwiches with lettuce. On the right, we have celery sticks with peanut butter in my favorite panda container, blackberries, and sunflower seeds. I added fruit roll up flower garnishes to brighten up the box a bit.

As a side note, I would like to say to whoever invented fruit roll ups - thank you! They are the perfect color splash to bento lunches. Tip: be sure to dry off your veggies or whatever you put fruit roll up flowers/stars/etc on, because if they are wet, they get all goopy. Ick.

And just a final close up pic of the blackberries, which are coming in season here, and look just delicious!

REVIEW: Both Mike and I agreed that the blackberries have been delicious!! Just another reason why it's so important to eat fruit in season and local, if possible. It just plain tastes better. 

Kiwi and Strawberry Peacock Bento

Some people make their bentos around a character or idea that they have, and they build it. I do the opposite. I look at a piece of food and think, "what does this look like?" or, "what can it be?" Today, the kiwis (especially since our "old vine" kiwis grow weird) and strawberries looked like a peacock to me, so that's what we went with. Do you see it? 

On the bottom we have an onion bagel with Cuban style fillings - ham, pickles, mayo, mustard, and lettuce, flanked by potato chips. I cut the middle of the bagel out to lessen the carb load. This way the top and bottom are a little thinner and the whole sandwich fits into the bento box. 

REVIEW: Mike ate the whole sandwich and chips, and the strawberries. He left ALL the kiwi. Partly this was because there was a lot of food, but also because I made the kiwi peacock the night before. If your kiwi is already ripe, prepping it the night before will just make it juicier (not a good thing). It sort of stuck to the bottom of the container. Kiwis are like avocados - there's a very small window where they are still firm, but perfectly ripe, and you've got to eat them right at that moment. 

Dress Up The Leftovers Bento

Today we are taking a mini vacation! So for our daily post, I have a version of Tuesday's bento that I made "adult style" for myself. I had leftover turkey tenders and sauteed brussel sprouts with green apple and almonds, cheddar cheese flowers and crackers, melon stars, and a few of the leftover strawberries for color, and a giant mango star. It's so easy to make your own lunch beautiful, even if it's just leftovers from last night's dinner! Don't forget yourself if you're making lunch for others (your kids or special someone) - it's very simple to just prep extra and throw it into your own lunch or dinner.