Monday, March 7, 2011

Summer Rolls Bento


Summer Rolls Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.
Today the kids get summer rolls; these rice wrappers are filled with lettuce and lemongrass chicken. You could also use shrimp, pork, or veggies alone. Since the wrappers tend to dry out, it's best to seal them in plastic wrap to keep them fresh and soft. The two-tier bento boxes are ideal for this purpose, since I can put the wrapped rolls together in one section and keep the fruit and veggies separate. MisterMan gets blood orange slices, carrots, a strawberry, grapes and a cup of cottage cheese with blueberries on top. Here's a closer look at the top tier.
TinySprite gets 3 mini-rolls in her bottom tier, and in the top tier: grapes, edamame, carrots and a strawberry. I totally forgot about this bento box since it had been shoved all the way in the back of the cabinet behind the stainless steel section. I really like it a lot, and I'm so happy I (re)found it!
Here's the recipe I used (from allrecipes):

Lemongrass Chicken Summer Rolls
2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger root
2 tablespoons minced fresh jalapeno chile (I omitted)
1/2 cup peeled and thinly-julienned seedless cucumber
1/4 cup minced fresh Thai basil leaves
1/4 cup minced fresh mint leaves
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro
1 1/2 tablespoons minced lemon grass
1/2 cup ground peanuts
1/4 cup fish sauce
3 tablespoons lime juice
2 teaspoons white sugar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon peanut oil
Rice paper wrappers
Lettuce leaves
Boil the chicken until no longer pink in the center (about 10 minutes depending on your pieces).
Remove, allow to cool, and shred into small pieces.
Toss together the chicken with the vegetables. Mix the fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, sesame and peanut oils, then add to chicken mixture and stir.
Dip one rice wrapper in a shallow pan of warm water to soften. Remove after a few seconds, drain a bit, and lay on flat surface. Place lettuce leaf on top, then some chicken (I drained the chicken a bit so that there wouldn't be so much sauce dripping out), then roll semi-tightly but be careful not to tear the wrapper. Set aside and repeat for the rest of the ingredients. Eat immediately, or wrap in plastic to seal in moisture and prevent drying out.

16 comments:

  1. Lemongrass chicken sounds delicious - do you have a recipe you can share for this one? xx

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  2. so delicious and colorful! :)
    BTW, I have stop blogging on the wordpress site, and hosted to a new site:

    http://www.icteduc.com/emily/

    Please change your link to this new address. Thanks so much!! ^^

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  3. I love the colors in your bento and the rolls looks mouthwatering. :)

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  4. Thanks Marfio, I can put up the recipe, sure :)
    Thanks Yenny!
    Thanks Emily; I switched your site :)
    Thanks mama elaine :)

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  5. I love how you use colorful food cups and put colorful foods for MM's bento. And the summer rolls look so yum!

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  6. So... if I eat those summer rolls, Summer comes here? >__< (how I wish)
    Love the colors, the fruits and the rolls! I will try your recipe someday, looks yummy!

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  7. I am apparently a southern girl through and through. When I saw your blog post title today my mind immediately jumped to sweet dinner rolls, lol. I love your summer rolls, they are very yummy looking!

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  8. Lemongrass chicken.. so fragrant.. This looks so bright and beautiful, it also reminds me of your 4th of July bentos Sheri. I love it! These are great ideas to make in advance, wrap up in the fridge and pop some in my lunch bag for work. :p

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  9. I recently found out I am gluten intolerant with a lot of additional allergies. I am new to trying to cook without gluten and am hungry for something new. Then I visited this post of yours. Rice Paper! Yes! I never thought about trying them and your rolls look yummy. So I am off the the store and only hope one of the two grocery stores in my town has them. Thanks for the idea!

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  10. Beautiful and yummy bento!!! The kids must have loved it!

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  11. Delish and delightful, what a winning bento! Recipe looks perfect as does the chorus of radiant produce...in smiles!!

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  12. karaimame, yes... if we all think hard enough, summer will come for everyone! *dreaming* Thank you :)
    Thanks Natakiya!
    Chantale, so true. Since these are eaten at room temp, it's really ideal as a packed lunch. Go for it! Put anything you like inside :)
    Konnie,
    I always forget about rice wrappers too. The thing that's great about them is that they stick together fabulously, unlike tortillas, which need to be fried to stay in place. And they have little taste, so I imagine anything you put inside will taste perfectly. Good luck; I hope you find some!
    Thanks Susan! They did :)
    Thank you Bentobird, for your lovely words as always :)

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