Mochiko Chicken and Kabocha Bento

Mochiko Chicken and Kabocha Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

Today's bento for MisterMan contains pseudo-mochiko chicken (oven-roasted instead of deep-fried), roasted cherry tomatoes, and broccoli and kabocha which I steamed in the rice cooker. That's right, it's kabocha yet another way. I've had my Zojirushi Induction Heating rice cooker for years now, and I never realized you could open the lid during cooking to add other food to be steamed toward the end of cooking. In fact even though someone told me it was okay, I was still afraid the thing would blow up, shut down and catch fire. I tested it a few times, opening and closing the lid, before adding the steaming rack with my broccoli, satsumaimo and kabocha. I added them the last 12 minutes of cooking and it came out pretty good. The kabocha was just perfect. My kids don't like it too mushy so I left it with a little crunch and it's so sweet you don't even need to add anything else. Look how the beautiful golden hue of this squash adds to the appeal of the bento! If you haven't tried kabocha yet, I hope you can find some to try. There are nearly countless ways to enjoy this healthy and nutritious squash. I ate some, fresh steamed, atop a bowl of the fresh-cooked rice it steamed along with; and it was a simple and delicious snack. Also in this bento: fall plum, raspberry, kiwi and carrot flowers. Everything packed up nice and snug in my LunchBots Duo, which happens to be exactly the right size for my second-grader. I love it ^_^