Bento 34 – Bird’s Nest Bento

Last night I was inspired by birds when I was making this bento. Birds are really cool, so I thought it would be nice to make a little nest of my own. I had some alfalfa sprouts that need to be finished off, so I used them to make the nest and then cut some baby carrots in half to make the “eggs”. I think it turned out cute. I put some vegan ranch dressing in a little piggy sauce container to eat with the veggie nest.
Then I found some kiwi and bananas in the fridge and had to put them in the bento because they’re some of my favorite fruits. Kiwi and banana is a good combo too. For the main dish, I decided I would have some kimchi potstickers, but as I was making my bento I forgot and got out a bunch of food for tortilla wraps. Then I remembered about the potstickers, so I made a little of both.
I’m really happy with how the wraps came out and will definitely make them again. I got a tortilla and put a layer of plain soy yogurt on it. Then I sliced up some avocado and cherry tomatoes and lined them up in there. Then I added some of the vegan ranch and some tobasco sauce… delish!

This bento was entered into a competition on Not Exactly Bento

Bento 28

Today Jason and I went to my favorite Japanese Market and we got all kinds of goodies. We had a simple asian dinner with boiled edamame pods, miso soup with nori, brown rice to go into the soup, and kimchi. It was really good but I was still in the mood for asian food. So I came up with these bentos for Jason and I tomorrow. Unfortunately we won’t be able to have lunch together tomorrow, but at least we’ll both have similar meals! I made some carrot and avocado sushi and put a little container of soy sauce for Jason. I filled up a container for myself, plus filled a little hello kitty bowl with pickled ginger and wasabi. Then I added some kimchi to his,and apple pieces and mixed nuts to both. Because my bento box has so much space it took me a while to fill up all the spaces. Our kitchen is a little bare, so it was hard coming up with things that would go together but I think it works out well.

First the man’s

And mine. I added some snack peas, star shaped peanut butter with sugar free jelly, and edamame.

Bento #21 Mock Shrimp Sashimi

Yesterday I was at Whole Foods looking through the frozen vegetarian section and I found some vegan shrimp. I immediately thought of shrimp sashimi for my bentos and I had to get them. I still haven’t tried the canned mock meats that I got, but since these were frozen I figured they’d be easier to try out without having to make a whole meal. I also got a big tub of vegan yogurt and some soy nuts.
So last night I set out to make a great bento for lunch today. First I had to make the rice for sushi. Since I was at my parents house I didn’t have my usual rice maker, so it was difficult to make a small batch of rice, but finally I got it done. Then I used a new toy that I hadn’t got to try out yet – a sashimi rice mold. Here’s a picture of my sashimi molds and rice mold.

It had some funny engrish writing on it that I find amusing.

Although the rice was a little juicy, the mold worked well and I was actually able to get some of the excess water out with it. I let the mold set for a few minutes and boiled up some water and threw in some edamame, the vegan shrimp, and three kimchi potstickers. Once that was done I popped the rice out of the molds and was so happy they turned out well. I added some furrake and sesame seeds on top. After the shrimp cooled I made little sashimi with it. They look so cute! I like how the shrimp have little lines of color on them like real shrimp. Jason got me some little fish containers so I filled one with soy sauce and one with the sweet sauce that came with the shrimp.
After that I mixed up some dried fruit, almonds, and soy nuts together and put that some yogurt in cupcake cups and arranged everything. I added some home grown tomatoes for good measure with the edamame. I think this bento turned out really well, now I just have to wait for lunch to try it out.

Bento #18

Yesterday Jason and I went to an oriental market that we had never been to before. It was large and I found lots of interesting things there and even got a few! I got some loose jasmine tea (my favorite), kimchi pot stickers, all sorts of canned mock meats (I thought they’d be interesting to try), and a Lock & Lock bento box. I even talked my boyfriend into getting one so I could make bentos for him and he wouldn’t have to worry about using one of my cutesy ones. So of course I had to them to make us bentos for lunch today.
So here they are! Jason found a ginger drink he wanted to try so I added that to the picture. Sadly is has honey so it’s not vegan, but it looks cool anyways.

I made matching bentos for us, they both had brown rice with furikake, kimchi potstickers, black beans, and avocado. I just got finished with mine and it was very good. The Lock & Lock boxes are much larger than I’m used to though, so I couldn’t finish everything like usual. It was nice being able to heat my food in the microwave though, my other two boxes aren’t microwave safe.

And here’s a closeup of the ginger inside the bottle.

Bento #1

Yesterday I bought another bento box. I went to the local Japanese market to get bento accessories and found some snacks. When I was checking out I saw a cute bento box and decided to get it. My other one that I ordered is still en route so I needed something to tie me over…
I decided to make a snack bento so Jason and I would have it after we started drinking last night. It’s not that fancy, but it did the trick!

In the bottom layer is has brown rice, kimchi, and spicy sprouts. The other layer has nori maki, rice crisps, and a little fruit bar.

I am excited about making bento for my lunches at work. I get pretty bored sometimes, so a cute lunch might be the pick me up I’ve always needed! I’m going to work on the presentation some more, but I think this bento isn’t too bad looking. I’m also still looking for bento accessories (soy sauce containers, rice molds, separators, etc.) but I’ve started saving little items that would go great in a bento, so stay tuned to check it out.

Older Recipes

I thought I’d go ahead and post some pictures and recipes that I already had from another website. They don’t have the best presentation, but I’m going to work more on presentation when taking pictures from now on… I just need to get my camera!

Kimchii – This is a traditional Korean staple. It can be eaten as an appetizer or as a garnish with other dishes. It may seem kind of scary at first, but it is spicy and delicious. In this recipe I used vegan kimchi base, make sure you check the label carefully because many kimchii brands have anchovies in them.

1 small bottle kimchi base
2 cups chopped (in big chunks) Napa cabbage
a few green onions, in 3-4″ pieces
radishes, cut into quarters
1 tsp salt

Add all the veggies into a container that has a lid and add kimchi base, about 1/4 cup water, and salt. Can be enjoyed as is, or wait a few hours or days and it will be spicier.

Haluski AKA “Cabbage and Noodles” – This dish is Polish and is traditional in New England . I got this recipe online and changed it around a bit to have more of an asian feel to it.

Original
1 cabbage
1 lb. of noodles
1/2 to 3/4 cups of vegan margarine
salt & pepper

Directions:
Cut cabbage in half and cut out the core. Cut each half into long, thin-ish strips. Put cabbage strips in a large pot along with the margarine over medium heat. Use 1/2 to 3/4 cups margarine (1 to 1 1/2 sticks) depending on how big your cabbage is. Let the cabbage and margarine simmer until cabbage is wilted and yellow. While cabbage is simmering, boil your pound of noodles. When both cabbage and noodles are done, drain the noodles and mix them with the cabbage. Stir. Add as much salt and pepper as you desire.

Mine
5 cups Napa cabbage
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ small onion, minced
1 cup noodles (I used macaroni b/c that’s all I had)
3 tbsp vegan margarine
hot sauce or chili paste to taste
salt and pepper
Add margarine to skillet, once melted all garlic and onion. Once the onion is lightly cooked, add cabbage. As this is cooking, boil noodles. Add the hot sauce or chili paste, and salt and pepper to skillet. Once noodles are done, drain them and add them to the skillet. Stir and cook a couple more minutes.