Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Chili Rice Panda Bowl Bento

,Chili Rice Bowl Bento by sherimiya ♥
Chili Rice Bowl Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.
This was the result of my last crockpot meal: turkey chili with beans and vegetables. And this bento is MINE! I packed the two kids' lunches in their thermal jars in the morning, and didn't feel like taking the time to snap a picture. I don't know when the last time was that I made a bento for me, but I am going to start doing it more often. I used the cute panda bowl bento set, which is perfect for rice bowls. When I was a kid growing up, my favorite thing to get at Zippy's was chili rice. That's how you order it: chili rice. I loved it for a long time until someone told me you get a lot more chili if you order chili cracker instead. I can see the logic there. After all, there's only so much chili you can pour over a giant scoop of rice. So I switched to chili cracker, but I always loved chili over rice. So I made it for myself. This chili is so jam-packed with healthy stuff you practically get younger after you eat it. There's tomato, carrots, zucchini, kidney and black beans, ground turkey, onions, sweet peppers, and kale. I topped mine with grated cheddar and a sprinkling of cilantro. Really hits the spot on a brisk fall day, don't you think? And I prepared a fruit tier for myself too: fall pluots, cantaloupe balls and three raspberries. And I cleaned it all up!

Slow-Cooked Turkey Chili

1lb. ground turkey (or whatever meat you like, or you can omit this entirely)
2 cans kidney beans, black beans, white beans, or other beans of your choice
1 32-oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 8-oz. can tomato sauce
1 onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 carrot, sliced
1 bunch kale, chopped
2 zucchinis, chopped
1 tsp. chili powder (or 2 tsp, if you like)
salt, pepper

Brown the meat in a skillet and drain. Add to slow cooker along with all the other ingredients. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours. Garnish with cheese if desired.

Added to Allergy-Friendly Lunchbox Love.

14 comments:

  1. I want one too...it is full of healthy stuff!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yours? How about mine? hahaha ... Delicious looking bento Sheri! Such a nice treat for yourself. And panda box is so you (^.^)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Okay, one for Yenny and one for Lia! Come on over! ^^

    ReplyDelete
  4. You're right! Lotsa great stuff in there! Yum

    ReplyDelete
  5. OMG. I love chili over rice too! I love just about anything over rice. This looks so perfect, especially here with the snow outside and me wanting to hibernate inside. : )

    ReplyDelete
  6. I want that chili rice too!! It looks so yummy and the bowl of fruit seems so refreshing :)!

    ReplyDelete
  7. There's nothing like taking time to make things look nice just for yourself. Good on you, Sheri!

    ReplyDelete
  8. wow wow wow colourful and it looks so tasty

    ReplyDelete
  9. Sheri, your chili looks really great. Would you be so kind and share the recipe?

    ReplyDelete
  10. Love the panda bento and beautifully cut fruit, sweet rays of sunshine! Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

    ReplyDelete
  11. This looks yummy! :D I want a mom like you!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Thanks so much shaz, Chantale, CG, melonpan, einfachbento, Bentobird and [anon] -- appreciate it!

    einfachbento, thanks for reminding me that I should really post recipes. I'll edit the post to add it. So glad you are interested! ^_^

    ReplyDelete
  13. Thank you for sharing. A great recipe - for a big pot ;-) I'm playing around with the slow cook feature of my new (and first ever) rice cooker. This is a 5 cups only, so I had to adjust a little ;-) The chili came out great, exactly the stuff you need on these grey, cold and wet days (1 C to 3 C daily high).

    ReplyDelete
  14. I'm glad it worked out for you! You're absolutely right that slow-cooked meals are just what we need on these cold cold days, especially when they cook themselves :)

    ReplyDelete