New Bento Box Review: Eshly Deli Box

Hello Bento Friends!

Hope your summer is going swimmingly! If you're like us, you've been making sure you enjoy every last bit of summer vacation before it's gone -- and it's always gone too soon, isn't it? I sometimes feel like we're actually busier during summer than during the school year. Is that weird? Anyway, one of my summer goals was to make sure to try out some new bento gear and develop some new lunchpacking ideas to put in use for the upcoming school year. And I am starting on that project now!

The first new bento box I want to show you is a knockout stunner of a beauty. It's called Eshly Deli Box and it's manufactured in Berlin, Germany from European Ash wood; each round box from a single piece of wood.

This is the interior: the box comes with two removable interlocking pieces which divide the box into four sections. I've also used one of the pieces by itself to create two sections, and because of slight variation in the wood, the piece can wedge into position in certain locations and it works fine.

The craftsmanship is delightful. The lightweight wood is smooth, splinter-free, and the grain and color variations add to the natural good looks of the box.

The loose-fitting lid is grooved on top to allow the elastic band to secure the box snugly without moving around or accidentally slipping off.

Here is my inaugural bento in the Eshly Deli Box. I placed the food inside silicone cups because I was anxious about staining the brand new wood! I need not have worried, though. The product designer assured me that although the wood may take up color from certain foods like beet or berry juice, over time it will fade just like wooden cutting boards. I packed ume soba with halved grape tomatoes, chopped green onions, scallions, romaine lettuce leaves and a tiny bottle of tsuyu as a deconstructed soba salad. I also included homemade roasted five-spice chickpeas, carrots, and lightly steamed corn on the cob. A tiny mandarin and a black apricot round out the meal.

My lunch looks like summer in a box! I found the Eshly box to clean up easily with damp wiping. It is fine to wash with soapy water if necessary, as long as you promptly dry it completely. I imagine the care should be the same as that taken with unvarnished Japanese magewappa wooden boxes as well.

Overall I was very pleased with the performance of the Eshly Deli Box. It is lightweight, well-made, comes with a secure elastic band dyed with natural dye, and is very practical with removable section dividers. I love the fact that it is made of natural and ecologically sound hardwood, of a variety that is more elastic, more resistant to abrasion, more easily bent and less subject to splintering than most other kinds of wood (taken from company info sheet). Furthermore, and perhaps most of all, it is beautiful. I might not send it to school with younger children (not for any reason except the possibility of dropping and damaging), but I'm sure middle schoolers and up will have no problems caring for this box. I love this box and you can be sure I will be packing many more bento in it in the future!

For more info on this box, you may contact the company Atelier Britta Knuppel at www.brittaknueppel.de or on Instagram @eshlyberlin.

      

Beet Kohlrabi Latkes Bento

Beet Kohlrabi Latkes Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Kohlrabi: never heard of it? Me neither, but I saw other people buying it at the market so I thought, why not? Latkes I've never made either, but it seemed pretty straightforward. The recipe called for coarsely grated kohlrabi, beet, and onion mixed with a beaten egg and 2 tablespoons of flour, to be formed into round shapes and fried 4-6 minutes on each side. I added grated zucchini and some cheese, because that's how I roll. I had to squeeze quite a bit of liquid from the ingredients before forming the patties, which ended up holding together very loosely. I'm not sure if that's the way regular potato latkes look or not. I was kind of expecting a more "burger-y" type of patty, similar to the beet patties I made here. The recipe also recommended serving with a horseradish sauce, which sounds great, but I had mine with chimichurri (this stuff is very versatile!). I sprinkled some green onion on TinySprite's two patties, which I packed into the divided container along with a homegrown mesclun microgreens salad topped with shaved iberico and yellow tomatoes, some marinated mini peppers, and a selection of white peach, blueberries and a super ripe dark orange apricot.

Seeing as tomorrow is the last day of school, I made shoyu hot dogs (by request) for the kids to share at their snack party. Can't believe the year is all over and we have the long hot summer ahead of us at last! I don't know who is more excited: me or them! Counting down the hours starting now...
Added to What's For Lunch.

Portobello Ecolunchbox Bento

Portobello Ecolunchbox Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Welcome back from a long Memorial Day weekend! Since we did a lot of grilling over the weekend, I decided to have a meatless Tuesday bento today. I broiled portobello mushrooms with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, then garnished with green onion, cilantro, and various other herbs from the garden. I personally had mine with chimichurri, with which I am currently obsessed. It's a very intense and aromatic dressing/sauce, and I use garlic and sherry vinegar to give it even more bite. I like it with meat, pork, even just with bread or pasta, like pesto. MisterMan has sliced portobellos with savoy cabbage - carrot - daikon - sesame slaw, watermelon, corn, peapods, tomatoes, Okinawan sweet potato, blueberries and apricot. All packed in the 3-in-1 Ecolunchbox set. Super refreshing to kick off this brand-new SHORT week. The last week of school for us!
Added to What's For Lunch.

Fish Sticks Lunchbots Bento

Fish Sticks Lunchbots Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Remember those perfectly rectangular fish sticks from elementary school? Do they still serve those? I've never made them at home, but I saw this oven-baked version of fish sticks and decided to try. I used cod which I cut into strips, coated with egg and seasoned panko, sprayed with oil and baked in a 425F oven until golden. I also baked some diced purple potatoes under the rack of fish at the same time, and we also had kale chips (which we ate for dinner; no leftovers). I packed the LunchBot Quad with vinegary cabbage carrot onion daikon slaw on the side, and a selection of springtime fruit: cherry tomatoes, cherries, apricot and strawberry.
Added to What's For Lunch.

I Love Watermelon (Radish)! Bento

I Love Watermelon (Radish)! Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

You can't see the burger in the photo, but I tried a new meatless recipe. It consists of about a cup of roasted sweet potato, a cup of brown rice / barley, and a cup or two of black beans, processed along with sauteed onions, garlic, cumin, and Worchestershire sauce to taste. The patties stuck together pretty well, which often is not the case (in my experience) with bean burgers. I melted cheese and served with tomato slices next to a side of cabbage / onion / carrot slaw tossed with vinegar, shoyu and a bit of superfine sugar. The last section of the LunchBots Trio contains the miniature spring selection of fruit at my farmers market: strawberries, apricot and nectarine. We have watermelon too, but the cheddar bear is actually enjoying a slice of watermelon radish. Those are good too, even if they're not quite as sweet!

Rubber Ducky Curry Bento

Rubber Ducky Curry Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Packing some curry today (see the recipe I used here). I made it a lot more "soupy" than the recipe calls for, because I like it that way. TinySprite's Hello Kitty thermal food jar is topped with a handcut yellow capsicum "rubber ducky" taking a swim. The side box holds: a perfectly sweet and unblemished organic (tiny) apricot, sliced nectarines, baby strawberries, a steamed Okinawan sweet potato, and some pickled stuff. The weather's been cooling down a bit (a bit; down to the upper 60s), so this warm bento should be welcome!

Chicken and Rice Lunchbots Trio Bento

Chicken and Rice Lunchbots Trio Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

This is the first time I packed TinySprite's bento in the Lunchbot Trio, I think. It doesn't look too big because the separate sections keep things compact. There's furikake rice and shoyu chicken in one section, carrots, broccoli, corn and strawberries in another, and some cherries, blueberries and a soft ripe apricot in the last part. A few cute picks make it nice and girlish, in case she tried insisting it's a boy's box. Looks like bunnies galore in this photo, doesn't it? ^_^

Hello Kitty Onigiri Bento!

Hello Kitty Onigiri Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

This bento is one I made for myself, and it was also meant to be my entry for the annual Bento & Co contest. The theme was onigiri, so I made two Hello Kitty mini-onigiri using my mold. I decorated their faces with nori, corn, and radish bows. I think this is the first time I've used this mini-onigiri mold, which was a gift from a dear friend. It's so cute! I added some oven-baked mochiko chicken pieces to the side, and then squeezed in some sweet fresh steamed corn off the cob, edamame, broccoli, carrots, and grape tomatoes. The second tier contains cherries, a homegrown apricot, raspberries, white peach, strawberries, blueberries and a few slices of steamed Okinawan sweet potato. I think I represented just about all the rainbow colors in this one! I packed it all inside my favorite stainless steel boxes. Each comes with its own gasketed lid, which don't have latches but which will stay leaktight if bound with elastic. You can use only one oblong box if you like, or stack two together and bind them with one larger band, which is what I did. There were 237 entries to the contest this year, and sadly I didn't make the final 10. But you can click over to see the ones that did, and cast a vote for the one you like the best (you have until Monday, July 16th). There are some unbelievably beautiful bento crafted by folks from all over the world; I was amazed and so inspired! Contests like these just go to show you how widespread the bento culture has become, and it's heartwarming to see all the healthy, delicious bento created by people influenced by this meal tradition from Japan. Very cool^_^

Bolognese Panda Bento

Bolognese Panda Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Who says gluten-free has to be boring? Here's a bento for TinySprite I whipped up quickly using leftovers from dinner: pasta bolognese (naturally gluten-free) tossed with brown rice tube pasta, topped with romano and parmesan, and oregano. She's a meat lover, this girl, and meals like this are very satisfying for her. I'm happy to be able to pack it in her favorite panda bento bowl. She had previously asked to "always use this box please" - so I'm trying. The upper tier contains some super sweet dark cherries, a couple of pristine white lychee, Okinawan sweet potato flower shapes, a baby homegrown white peach, a homegrown apricot, some black splendor plums, and fresh corn off the cob.

Bolognese Sauce (from Real Simple)

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large yellow onion, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
1 carrot, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 pound pancetta, chopped
1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
1 cup dry white wine
1 cup whole milk
1 6-ounce can tomato paste
1 14 1/2-ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained
1/4 teaspoon red pepper (I omitted)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano, or 1 tablespoon dried
1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (I omitted)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan

In a Dutch oven, over medium heat, heat the oil. Add the onion and cook for 2 minutes. Add the celery, carrot, and garlic and cook for 5 minutes more. Add the pancetta and cook for 5 minutes, then add the beef and cook until brown. Add the wine and the remaining ingredients and simmer for 45 minutes. Serve with cooked pasta. Sprinkle with Parmesan.

Mabo Tofu Dragon Bento

Mabo Tofu Dragon Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Today's bento is ma bo tofu (recipe here), over mixed rice in a lettuce leaf. I attempted to cut a tofu dragon with my awesome cutter. I first cut a thin slab, about a half inch thick, of tofu the length of the cutter, then pressed. The cutter made a precise cut; the problem was removing the dragon in one piece. As you can see, I got most of it out pretty well, using the rounded end of a chopstick. The only problem was that one of the hind claws broke off. I simply replaced it on top of the meal, and it looks fine. I added a nori eye and some fancy cut radish halves, which kind of look like lanterns. This would make a nice celebratory bento, I think. I have now used this cutter on tofu, cheese and dragonfruit. It's very cool. The rest of the bento contains a variety of early summer fruit: apricot, blackberries, cherries and strawberry.

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By the way, Happy Little Bento got a mention at KoreAm Journal, and a short interview with me, in an article on the power of social media in bento box popularity. Take a look to see mentions of other bentomakers such as HapaBento, OhayoBento, Bentobird and Adventures In Bentomaking. Cute pics too!

Up Bento

Up Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

Can you see Carl Fredricksen and Russell? And their tomato balloons? I showed it to MisterMan and he said right away "Oooh, I know him -- he's the young Wilderness Explorer!" So I guess I did ok :) There's also some salmon, broccoli, lettuce baran, and carrot flowers. Underneath is also a layer of very cool rice: I made white + black quinoa and it came out pretty neat-looking. Fruit side includes cherries, white nectarine, homegrown apricot and blueberries.
Wonder what else I can do with quail eggs?
They've sure been a lot of fun to play with this summer!
Hmm...

Ponyo Bento!

Ponyo Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

We watched Ponyo yesterday, such a sweet and funny film by Studio Ghibli. It really spoke to me, as so much of it centers around the sea. Have you seen it? I especially loved the scenes where Ponyo is running on the giant fish to find Sosuke. She's so joyful you can't help but smile. Something else I noticed is that Ponyo kind of reminds me of TinySprite, in her very um.. high-energy way. Like when they're on the boat and Sosuke is trying to start it while Ponyo is bouncing and chatting non-stop (Is it hot? It's hot isn't it? Are you starting it? Is it starting? It's starting! Yay! Is it working? It's working!)

Today's bento is a tribute to Ponyo using one of my field trip favorites, the char siu bao. I cut her hair and fins from sweet pepper, and tucked some broccoli in the fishbowl as well. Her eyes are blueberries and her nose and mouth are nori stuck on with honey. I should have taken a picture of the (recycled) bowl with the clear lid on, since it kind of looked like a bubble or jellyfish. So cute. The other (recycled blueberry) box contains the fruit: strawberries, grapes, cherries and homegrown apricot. Yes, it's field trip day! They're going to the Lawrence Hall of Science. Have fun, MisterMan!

Napping Kitty Bento

Napping Kitty Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

Quick-baked chicken bites get packed in a lettuce leaf wrap next to some steamed broccoli, tiny heirloom cherry tomatoes and a sleeping quail egg kitty. I tried to make a gray kitty using blueberry juice for fun. I should have let it sit longer in the dye but I ran out of patience. I added nori facial details, radish ears, rice stick whiskers and tail, and a teeny spot of sriracha for cheeks. This is a single quail egg cut in half. I was happy to find a curly tail; isn't it cute? Fruit tier has white nectarine, blueberries, homegrown apricot and lychee. You may be asking, is this box new? Nope; I've had this urara box for a long time just sitting in my cabinet. I also have the onigiri snack set too (and the matching fork, come to think of it). I really don't know why I never used it, but I'm using it today because I just got a new insulated tote bag for my boy, and it's tall and narrow. The stainless and 3-sectioned bento boxes I usually use won't fit in it, so I find I'm having to dig these two tier boxes out and give them a try. What do you think?

Pikachu Summer Bento

Pikachu Summer Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

Today's bento contains more ravioli; this time tomato-basil-spinach whole wheat ravioli. Instead of using the ravioli for a face, I added an egg decorated as Pikachu. For some reason my beet didn't stain the hen's egg as well as it did the quail egg from the Kiiroitori bento; not sure why. After dyeing the egg yellow, I cut two ears and added nori detail for ear tips, eyes and nose. His cheeks are imitation crab and his mouth is salami. I poked a few roasted asparagus in the gaps to keep his ears in place as well. The fruit side has lychee, homegrown apricot and dark red super sweet plums. These were so juicy they were practically liquid when I cut them. Of course, I can't remember the variety since I bought a whole bunch of different ones from a bunch of different farmers' markets last week. I packed everything in the cute Pokemon bento box I got at Ichiban Kan. It's kind of small, but the small size means things are packed more closely together and hopefully stay in place somewhat. When MisterMan got home he told me one of the visiting dads, Mr. L, took a picture of this bento to show Mrs. L. Hope she liked it. Hehe! ^_^

Rilakkuma and Kiiroitori Field Trip Bento

Rilakkuma and Kiiroitori Field Trip Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

Can you guess what day it is? That's right: field trip! They're going to visit a working farm with tractors and everything. I packed another recycled strawberry tub for him, with the standard field trip fare -- sandwich, veggies and fruits.

But this burger is even more awesome than yesterday's. I used the same burger mix and stuffed today's burger with cheese and salami, then pan-fried. The cheese oozed out the side and got all crispy and golden around the edge of the burger, and the parts of the salami that stuck out got crispy-fried too. Yum. And remember, he still gets the carrot and broccoli bits in the turkey burger too. Super score. I lay some dandelion greens in the whole wheat bun and placed the patty on top. I found these little buns and thought they would make a cute Rilakkuma. I used Susan's idea for raisin eyes and nose (but I later pb'd them on), and added a radish muzzle and nori mouth. His ears are salami rounds. And Kiiroitori is there too, to make sure he doesn't fall asleep. I dyed a hard-boiled quail egg with golden beet juice, and it turned a super dark shade of yellow. I love it, especially since it's totally natural! Facial details and feet are nori and carrot. I used grass baran to keep the fruit and veggies separate from the bread. Along with carrot sticks and romanesco, I tossed in a bunch of strawberry cherries, a half plum and a homegrown apricot.

Have fun MisterMan!

Smoked Salmon Rollups Bento

Smoked Salmon Rollups Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

I'm on a "roll"! Get it? No sushi or kimbap today, but whole wheat bread rollups. These eight mini rollups resulted from two slices of bread, flattened with a glass jar (or rolling pin, but mine wasn't handy), then smeared with cream cheese, layered with arugula, capers, and smoked salmon, then rolled up tightly and sliced. Like sushi, hehe! I even gave him a pair of chopsticks to eat them with, for fun. To fill in the gaps I stuck steamed yellow cauliflower and romanesco. Also broccoli, strawberry cherries and yes, homegrown apricot. Another fresh summery bento, to go!

Added at What's For Lunch Wednesday!

Happy Pancakes Toddler Bento

Happy Pancakes Toddler Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

I have been thinking about pancake sandwiches ever since I saw the picture of one in Yum-Yum Bento Box cookbook that I referred to in my mouse post. Well, I didn't get around to making a real sandwich because I wanted to try adding vegetables to the batter in order to improve the nutritious quality of these pancakes, and by then the little girl was too impatient to wait for a sandwich. I used beet juice and grated zucchini to this batch and I was hoping it would turn red so I could cut them into cute heart shapes, but I think I need to use a lot more beets for that to happen. The zucchini bits made the batter less than smooth, so the reverse of the pancakes turned out kind of lumpy as well. At least one side looks pretty good, and it's cool that she's getting a whole grated zucchini and a baby beet (for the entire batch -- which made about 12 pancakes) along with her lunch! I used a silicone flower shape to pour the batter in, and it works a lot better than metal shapes (in my experience). You don't even have to spray the silicone at all; it just pulls away cleanly as soon as the pancake is cooked on the bottom. For my 3 year old, I smeared cream cheese between two pancakes and added a chocolate chip face. She also got a little cup of edamame, a homegrown apricot, some sweet cherries and a lychee. All packed up in our new Hello Kitty bento box that I got in Little Tokyo over the 4th of July weekend. So cute.

Happy Monday, bento friends!

Kimbap Summer Bento

Kimbap Summer Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

I am often influenced by food tweets on twitter, and yesterday everyone seemed to be having Korean food. I saw a pic of kimbap go by, and clicked to find a recipe for making shoyu tuna kimbap. Well, I didn't have tuna but I did have sardines. Could I substitute? Before you go "eww", I have to say, it came out really good! I adapted a recipe by Maangchi I found here.

Make seasoned tuna flakes
1.Open a can of tuna and remove the oil or water. Put it on a heated pan and drizzle some sesame oil over it. Toss it and cook it for 2 minutes.
2.Add 1 tbs of soy sauce, ½ tbs of sugar, 1 clove of minced garlic, and 1 ts of ground black pepper.

3.Keep stirring for another 3 minutes.
4.Turn off the heat and add 1 chopped green onion, 2 ts of sesame oil and 1 tbs of toasted sesame seeds.

I also realized I didn't have avocados or pickled radish, but I did have cucumber and crab stick. After cooking the shoyu sardines, it smelled so good I ate some straight out of the pan. Yum. Even better rolled up. I put almost the entire roll in his bento, two-deep. This stainless steel bento is deep enough to accomodate pretty tall food. I separated the kimbap from the fruit with a piece of green leaf lettuce and placed a bunch of Rainier cherries, a lychee and a half homegrown apricot on the side. There is shoyu in the yellow container. I used a dipping container instead of a squirt bottle so that he wouldn't have to squirt the shoyu all over the rest of the food. So good, quick and easy!

Sushi Bento

Sushi Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

More warm weather is on the way here, and I thought sushi would be a nice way for MisterMan to have lunch. I made a white & brown sushi rice mix with quinoa, and made a roll using steamed carrot and asparagus. For added protein I also made some tamagoyaki, which I decorated with nori faces and cute picks. The hat and heart picks are both part of gifts from thoughtful bento pals, and I guess they know how much of an accessory fanatic I am because I am SO excited to add them to my collection!! I wanted to add more yellow heart picks all over to suggest a lion's mane, but I restrained myself. I tossed in a few extra asparagus pieces since there was room on the sushi side, and on the other side I placed bright red "strawberry" cherries, some lychee and some homegrown sweet Blenhein apricots. I put shoyu for sushi in the bottle.

Isn't this a unique bento box? It is actually a sushi container, made especially to carry two makizushi rolls. There is a narrow slot in the center to hold a pair of chopsticks, and a separate section I assume for shoyu (or maybe pickled ginger). It's so cool I could barely stand it. I got this one and a single one (half the size, holds only one roll). The lid is domed too, to accomodate the roll. Told you = too cool!

Posted at What's For Lunch? -- You can add yours there too!

Mameshiba Bento

Mameshiba Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

It's the end of school / beginning of summer bento! This one is for TinySprite. I got the idea for the mameshiba hot dog rolls from Sofia of From Japan With Love, who posted a picture of mameshiba hot dog sushi that were so cute. I didn't have rice, so I substituted bread which I flattened by rolling with a glass jar, then wrapped the cooked turkey dog and sliced to fit the box. I added nori detail for the faces. I also made a one-egg tamagoyaki with shredded spinach, some cucumber, steamed purple cauliflower, sliced plum and golden apricot. All packed up in my cute Hello Kitty box. She ate it this afternoon before going with her brother to his kung fu class, and I was happy that she ate everything. Even the "purple broccoli", which she bragged about. Next time I'll put a bigger piece in!

Happy Summer bento friends!