Japanese Rock Garden Toast

 

TinySprite gets a peaceful toast today: hopefully it helps her wind down after a long hard week at school. I was inspired by the food artist Manami Sasaki. She's so creative. We love toast over here so it seems like fun to use the bread as a canvas for imagination and beauty. And I always love a miniature! 

Happy Friday friends!

Sardine Melt Sandwich Bento

Throughout the pandemic while the kids were distance learning at home, they handled their own lunches and snacks. Since they were on completely different schedules and the kitchen is steps away from their workstations it was easy for them. One of TinySprite's favorites was toast. Toast with all kinds of various toppings. So today I will copy one of her standards... 

Sardines on toast! Now before you make a face, did you know that sardines are high in omega-3 fatty acids, calcium and selenium, and much lower in mercury than your usual tuna? They are high in protein and very good for you. Here's how I made mine.

Toast bread til crunchy. Smear on some dill pickle hummus, then zhoug sauce (or your preferred tangy sauce; maybe even pesto, salsa or hot sauce). Drain the sardines and add them in chunks to cover the whole toast. Add cheese on top, put the sandwich back in the oven, and broil to melt.

Take out of oven and add baby spinach and pickled red onions on top. That's it! I used a slightly larger bento box today so I could add a cup of sliced dinosaur pluots. These are my favorite stone fruit and I'm surprised they're stil in season right now. Still so sweet and juicy too. Hope she likes it!

Toast Of The Day: Colorful Tomatoes!

Nice to be able to look at my colorful toast and feel cheerful!

These are some of my favorite flavors, tossed together like a salad on a piece of crispy bread. Can you get rainbow-hued tomatoes where you are? It may be nearly fall, but just looking at this pretty snack makes me think of summer.

Happy toasting, friends! 😊❤🍱🍞

Toast Of The Day: Avocado Egg Salad Edamame

Super sunny day here in self quarantine, so a made a sunny toast to reflect my mood: avocado, egg salad, edamame, radish sprouts, cracked black pepper on whole wheat bread. It was good but I will need to make more pickled slaw for next time. 

😊❤🍞🥑🍳🌱

Toast Of The Day: Omega-3 Sardines!

I gotta say this is my favorite toast thus far. But then I'm a fan of sardines! Are you? And because I piled so many other ingredients on my english muffin, it's not overwhelmingly sardiney, either.

I especially love that I was able to use so many healthy add-ons. I made them all; nothing is pre-processed. The tangy flavors come from the pickles, sprouts, and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. 

I can't wait to make (a variation on) this one again!

😊❤🍱🐟🥑🌱

Toast Of The Day: Another Breakfast One!

By now I've settled on a kind of formula for an ideal toast. It starts (usually but not imperatively) with a spread, in this case creamy polenta. I thought about firming it up and pan frying it, but decided to use it in its softer form for contrast here. I also like to have some greens and a protein, then some textural contrast like something crunchy, and finally some interesting tangy or spicy top note.

This one was overwhelmed by the sausage flavor, which was tasty enough, but not as exciting or original as it could have been. I'd mix it up a bit next time.
😊❤🍱🌽🥬🍳🐖

Toast Of The Day: Tofu and Broccoli!

I've never pan fried a slab of tofu before but I figured I'd try since I've seen this broccoli-tofu combo before.

And then I figured, might as well put an egg in it too, right?

I fried the broccoli bits til they got nice and crispy, and with chili oil drizzled over the whole deal, it was really good!

I'd definitely make this again.
😊❤🍱🥯🍳🥦🌶

Toast Of The Day: Avocado, Cheesy Eggs, Hummus & Tomato!

Why did it take me so long to discover cheesy eggs? My feelings toward scrambled eggs have changed forever. 

You guys might already know this, but the key to fluffy eggs is to cook low and slow. That is, low heat with constant stirring until you feel the liquidy cheesy egg start to develop form. I mixed my egg with a big spoonful of cottage cheese; you could use ricotta or whatever cheese your little heart so chooses. At that point, turn off the heat and let finish to your desired fluffiness. If you want to pile sky high on avocado toast, who's stopping you? 

And then just because I happened to have a pretty gradient of grape tomatoes, I made another toast on hummus. Come to think of it, I could have combined everything into one deliciously massive towering architectural wonder.
Architoastual wonder.
Next time!
😊❤🍱

Toast Of The Day: Mushroom Swiss!

Okay, okay, it's not really toast. But it's an open faced bagelwich so that's what counts here. 

I absolutely loved the confluence of flavors here.

First I melted the swiss onto the bagel half, then lay some dandelion greens atop. After frying the mushrooms on the stovetop until crispy-ish, I piled them on, followed by pickled cabbage and radish sprouts, two ingredients which added tang.

The only issue I had was the toppings falling off such that maybe next time I might consider putting the swiss on top to act as a glue of sorts. But if I did that I would sacrifice the pleasing aesthetics of the overall structure, which really comprises a large part of the appeal of this toast series for me. Also, it might have benefited from something lightly sweet. Maybe.

Besides that, this was a definite winner of a "toast."

😊❤🍱

Toast Of The Day: Artichoke Hearts!

Today's Artichoke Heart, Arugula & Purple Cream Cheese Toast idea came about after I read a recipe for marinating plain quartered artichoke hearts instead of buying the kind in those tiny jars. I used white wine vinegar and olive oil, as well as shallots, lemon slices and oregano. It came out tasting nothing like the jarred stuff, but still delicious!

Sure, you could eat it just as is, but why not make a fun toast with it? I used whole wheat pita again, schmeared cream cheese (into which I mashed a piece of steamed Okinawan purple sweet potato because, look how pretty!), scattered some arugula and piled on the home-marinated artichoke hearts.

Um, SO good!

😊❤🍱

Toast Of The Day: Beets!

I know it's not a bento but my toast was just so good today I had to share it. I got the idea for this one from the cookbook Umami Bomb by Raquel Pelzel. The bomb is provided by the caramelized onions. I think I'll be adding it to all my meals from now on.

On this whole wheat pita: no salt cottage cheese, caramelized onions with thyme, pea sprouts, chopped beets, cracked black pepper.

Perfect. You should try this combo! 😊❤🍱