Another double bento day, and perhaps you've noticed that I've started simply making identical ones in two sizes. Well, you'd be correct. Even though my 7 year old boy is a much more adventurous eater and I can fill his bento with more interesting foods, I'll admit that often it's just easier to figure out what my 3 year old girl will accept and just go with it twice. So today I fried some leftover rice with ham and egg, and that went in one of the squares. I usually add green onion on top for color, but I forgot this time. I picked up a kabocha (Japanese squash) this weekend and decided to make curry with some of it today. Kabocha is a very versatile food and can be prepared in just about any way you can think of (baked, steamed, simmered, roasted, fried, pureed, etc.) I simply cut into cubes, microwaved a few minutes to soften, then added to a pan with a bit of ginger, garlic, 1 cup coconut milk and 1 Tbsp curry powder. Simmer until curry is desired consistency and kabocha is tender, about 15 minutes depending on how much you use. The rest of his bento contains cucumber, tomatoes, carrots, sweet Fall plum slices and a purple carrot and cauliflower skewer for contrast.
I topped TinySprite's fried rice with the always-popular quail egg Hello Kitty. If you haven't seen me make this before, it's very easy. This one is a half egg, and is decorated with nori eyes, a carrot sliver nose, radish ears, rice stick whiskers and the cutest little red bow pick. That's it! I have made so many of these I can now whip them out in a couple minutes. It's a quick and easy way to add a cute touch to an ordinary bento. I feel like I've used this phrase so often ("add a cute touch to an ordinary bento") it should be my motto. Haha! She also gets a few curry kabocha and chopped plum. Today when I picked her up from preschool her teacher said, "I noticed you gave her a big lunch today." When I asked whether she ate it all she answered "Yes, she's a very good eater!" Really? TinySprite is an *interactive* eater, and is known to spend lots of lunchtime talking, singing and gesturing. Maybe she's growing out of that phase. Or maybe she just loves her bento that much. ^_^
Looks delish and I should really try the egg HK, i'm sure C would love it!
ReplyDeleteThanks Mommyof2girlz. And yes, you totally should!
ReplyDeletethe fried rice looks delish. Maybe I'll try the HK egg :) Btw, I like your motto!
ReplyDelete"Make the quail egg HK your cute bento touch today!"
ReplyDeleteNow I sound like a commercial. Thanks Sysyl :D
Your bentos always full of stunning color, I love to see all your bentos. :)
ReplyDeleteThe kabocha look yummy, I like pumpkin/squash, but not my sons. So, I seldom cook but try to use to bake cake.
Thanks for posting yet another way to prepare kabocha! Curry! You're a genius.
ReplyDeleteOur TS is growing up before our very eyes! Her own "real" lunchtime bentos. *sniff*
Thanks Emily~ I wasn't sure if my kids would like it either. I made mild curry and they like it! I am also a fan of pumpkin baked goods. Yum!
ReplyDeleteThanks Debra; I wanted to recreate the Thai pumpkin curry which I love. It's good like this! She is growing up so fast. I feel like I get to share all her milestones with her bento aunties around the world. ^^
extreme beautiful and yummy bento! I love all the fresh colors! It's just a perfect lunch box! *_*
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot Token!
ReplyDeleteKabocha is a fav around here too. I'm jealous you still have plums to work with. Your quail egg really does look exactly like Hello Kitty :-)
ReplyDeleteThe colors are awesome! And I would love some of your kabocha curry. On Halloween night we had some yummy curry-in-a-pumpkin for dinner!
ReplyDeleteI LOVED your motto! "add a cute touch to an ordinary bento" ^_^ .. and girl, you are the best on that!
ReplyDeleteYummy looking fried rice! ... And I would eat the kabocha without anything else... ;)
Yum! Curry and kabocha.. what kind of curry do you use? Thai or indian? Japanese curry? I'm not sure about the 'add a cute touch to an ordinary bento..' motto. There's nothing 'ordinary' about your bentos! : ) Great to hear TS is a great eater!
ReplyDeleteStretching My Imagination: Kabocha is awesome. Don't know why, but we have lots of fall season plums around here.Some are pretty sweet, too! Thanks a lot :)
ReplyDeletegnoegnoe, curry in a pumpkin bowl sounds SO good! Like clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl; I love that. Thanks!
karaimame, thank you! Yes, kabocha has a sweet delicate flavor all its own :D
Chantale, I used Japanese curry, S & B. But adding coconut milk is Thai. You could omit the coconut and I think it would still be good. Thanks a lot for your always sweet comments :D
wow, i have never thought of using curry on a squash, can't wait to try that with my frozen bento-stash of pumpkin (bet it would taste similar to kabocha).
ReplyDeleteglad to hear TS is eating well at school! who wouldn't want to dive into such a cute lunch, HK egg and all!
megan, great idea to have frozen pumpkin on hand. I should probably store some too!
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot once again :D