Chinese Leftovers Bento

Chinese Leftovers Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

This is a true no-cook bento; gotta love those Chinese takeout leftovers, right? We had a lot of food left from feeding the babysitter the night before, so in they went to the round stainless lidded bowls from Daiso: there's chow mein, sauteed green beans, eggplant, shrimp, chicken and more. I added some three bean salad and sliced up a half plum, then filled in the rest of the space with a few grapes, and I was done! Which was great, since it ended up being thrown all together at quite a late hour. But please say you can't tell?

Vegetarian Spices LunchBots Bento

Vegetarian Spices LunchBots Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

So today we are starting a week of unseasonally warm temperatures over here in the Bay Area; today was predicted to be the warmest, and it reached the upper 70s in my 'hood. It was a fantastic harbinger of summer! I decided I wanted to not-cook tonight, and just have salads, in honor of the heat and also the fact that it's Earth Day. I almost did no cooking, but I did griddle up some veggies to go with the chickpea salad. It didn't take long, though. I sliced some eggplant, zucchini, shallots, tomatoes and garlic, and fried in olive oil until tender. I drizzled honey and sprinkled oregano to taste -- very simple. The chickpea salad is simply fork-mashed chickpeas tossed with sliced onion, cilantro, cumin, lemon, salt and pepper. The next section has grated carrot and beet salad (tossed with cider vinegar, pomegranate juice, a sprinkling of ground ginger, salt and pepper), beside the pickled cucumbers, daikon, baby turnips and kumquats. I also added pickled red onion since she likes that. Some fresh farmers market strawberries and a little sprig of broccoli for color round out this fresh vegetarian bento for TinySprite. Happy Earth Day!

Eggplant Curry Without Okra Panda Bento

Eggplant Curry Panda Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

I packed eggplant curry for this TinySprite bento (see my method and recipe here), although I had to omit the okra (my favorite element) because I couldn't find any. Perhaps it's out of season. It was still tasty, just without the added special texture that okra brings. It's topped with chopped cilantro. The top tier of the panda bowl holds strawberries and blueberries, a baby satsuma mandarin, grapes, pumpkin seeds, and a tomato with some carrot curls. We have a short week due to the Presidents Day holiday and other activities, so after Valentines Day parties and fun we'll be closing in on the weekend. Woohoo!

Added to What's For Lunch.

Chickpea Cauliflower Curry LunchBot Bento

Chickpea Cauliflower Curry Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

I decided to make a vegetarian dry curry today, using a recipe that called for simply tossing chopped vegetables with olive oil, curry powder and brown sugar, then roasting the whole thing in a baking pan at 400F until tender and fragrant, about 30 minutes. I used diced eggplant, onion, red capsicum, cauliflower, potatoes and chickpeas. It's a nice mild flavor that the kids can handle, and a good way to get them to eat eggplant. I served it over some fresh spinach leaves in their bento, but it's good over hot rice as well. It's on the dry side, which makes it idea for bento, with no thick sauce to drip all over everything. This Lunchbot Quad keeps the curry separate from the rest of the food, which includes: carrots, corn, Okinawan sweet potato and broccoli; strawberries and raspberries; and pluots and blueberries. I thought this was a pretty big meal for my kindergartner, and I was pleased that she was able to finish it all. Score!

Eggplant Curry Thermal Bento

Eggplant Curry Thermal Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

I packed eggplant curry in the LunchBot thermal; a perfect warm meal for a cold rainy day. See my method and recipe here. I made it once before and the kids seemed to like it fine. Previously I'd been afraid to cook okra because I know it can get slimey but the key is to add it last and then cook it only until it becomes tender; not too long. Also, don't toss it around too much. It will hold its shape and firmness, and it adds an interesting texture to this otherwise soft curry. You may be seeing a lot of this and our other thermals for the next several weeks, at least until the weather starts warming up. Since discovering the practicality and usefulness of thermal food jars, I am hooked. Since there are so many veggies in the meal, I can pack the other dish with colorful fruit and fun Okinawan sweet potato cutouts.

Chinese New Year Dragon Bento 3

Chinese New Year Dragon Bento 3, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

One more Chinese New Year of the Dragon bento and that's it; I promise! I made eggplant okra curry, which I think is a misnomer because there isn't any actual curry in here. Perhaps it should be eggplant okra stew. Anyway, it's completely vegetarian, which rounds out our second meat-free bento week. Wow! We haven't become vegetarians, and have no plans to completely quit meat, but I thought it would be a fun challenge to see how long our family could go without eating meat, voluntarily. Now that week #2 has come to a close, I can say that all of them took it like real troupers. No complaints from anyone. Pretty pleased about that! I even got them to all participate in my daily green drink resolution. They don't all love it equally, but they'll all drink it. Heh.
The thermal jar contains the eggplant stew, and the side box contains a selection of colorful fruit: grapes, strawberry, cara cara orange, and Okinawan sweet potato stars. I topped them off with a cheese dragon cutout, using my ultimate elaborate dragon cutter.

 I used it last year to cut a dragon from dragonfruit; you can see that one here. The dragon is playing with a red ball on a stick. I think it represents the sun. Welcome Year of the Dragon; I hope it's an auspicious one for all!

Eggplant Okra Curry Stew

Ingredients

2 large eggplants
1 bunch scallions, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp turmeric
1 tsp salt
14 oz can chopped tomatoes (if you like it extra tomato-ey, you can add another can)
water or broth as desired
1/2 bunch kale, torn into pieces.
1/2 pound okra, trimmed and cut into 1/2 inch slices, angled
1 Tbs chopped cilantro (or more, if you like it, like me)

Preheat oven to 400F, wrap the eggplants in foil and bake for 1 hour, until soft.
Cut each eggplant in half and scoop out the soft flesh into a bowl. Mash.
Heat 2 Tbs oil in a wok and saute the scallions and garlic for a few minutes.
Add the chili powder, cumin, coriander, turmeric and salt and cook 3-4 minutes.
Add tomatoes and simmer 5 minutes.
Add the mashed eggplant, kale and cilantro. At this point you may need to add water or broth to make it saucier. I think I added about a 1/2 cup. If you like it soupier you can add more.
Bring to a boil and simmer until sauce thickens, about 5 minutes.
Add okra, stir well to mix, reduce heat, cover and simmer for another 5 minutes.
Remove cover, turn up the heat and cook another 5-10 minutes, until the okra is tender but not too soft.

Eggplant Tofu Bento

Eggplant Tofu Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

Today's bento has stir-fried eggplant and tofu in chili garlic sauce, which I thought for sure might be met with some resistance in the under 7 group, but they both gobbled it up! So in it went to MisterMan's lunch bento, with yellow pepper flower details, purple potato "chips", carrots, broccoli, grape tomato, grapes and a RED apple heart.

Eggplant with Pork Bento

Eggplant with Pork Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

For this bento I made eggplant with pork, since I happened to find the cutest tiny eggplants at the farmers market on the weekend!

Besides that, MisterMan gets a veggie section with purple and gold cauliflower, cherry tomatoes, peapods, flower-shaped purple carrot & potato skewer, and romanesco (underneath). Fruit section has grapes, satsuma mandarins, strawberry, blackberries and raspberries.
Also, I put rice under the eggplant; it has a nice sauce so he is sure to like it together :)

To see the making of the eggplant recipe, see this post. It's a nice, tasty dish -- would you be surprised to learn that my kids wolfed it down?

Eggplant with Pork

I found these baby eggplants at the farmers market last weekend, and they were so cute! I picked up a bunch so I could make eggplant with pork. It's supposed to be a spicy dish with chili peppers, but I call it Eggplant with Pork because, as you'll see, I omit the chili.

First, make the sauce with the following:

2t. minced fresh ginger

2t. minced garlic

3T shoyu

2t. sugar

2t. vinegar

1t. cornstarch

(crushed red pepper, to taste)

Then, cut the eggplant into 1 inch slices. Heat oil in a frying pan until hot, and add the eggplant and fry until tender. I kind of browned mine a bit, but it's okay. Remove from pan and blot excess oil. Then add 1/2 lb. ground pork to the pan and cook, remove and drain oil. Heat the sauce in the pan, then add back the eggplant and pork. Mix together until thoroughly mixed.

It would look redder if I added the chili! But with my kids, I have to leave it out, and add it to adults' portions later. Serve over rice. Yum! See it in my boy's bento today.