Curried Lentil Farro Soup Bento

Curried Lentil Farro Soup Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

This winter has been extremely cold around these parts -- 30s at night and only 40s-50s during the day! It definitely calls for warming foods at lunch time, such as those that can be packed in a thermal food jar. Today I made curried lentil barley soup for protein-packed nutrition. For TinySprite I left it a little "dry" to make it easier to eat without spillage. She toted along a little side container containing: a mini cup of blueberries, steamed broccoli and Okinawan sweet potato, a satsuma mandarin and a dried pluot. My favorite local stone fruit farm sells the dried version of my favorite summer fruits so we can pretend it's peak summer. They don't add sugar but the pluots, nectarines and peaches are unbelievably sweet. Just one will overwhelm your tastebuds with a sublime explosion of sweetness. Can you tell I like them a lot?

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Curried Lentil Farro Soup
(from "Super Natural Every Day" by Heidi Swanson)

2T olive oil
Large onion, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1T curry powder
1/2 cup farro
1 cup lentils
6 cups vegetable broth (or water)

Heat the oil in a large soup pot over medium-high heat, and saute onions, celery and carrots until softened, a few minutes. Add the curry powder; stir until fragrant. Add farro, lentils and broth. Bring to a boil, lower heat, and simmer covered for 30 minutes or so. Taste; add salt or more seasoning as desired. You can also add other vegetables too, like squash or potatoes, or add more of the ones in the recipe as you like. It's quick and easy. I added extra cumin (because I like it). You can also top with yogurt mixed with lemon juice.

Garlic Shrimp and Farro Bento

Today's bento contains farro topped with pan-fried garlic shrimp and spinach. This grain is pretty hearty and substantial, and I cooked it so that it had just a little chewiness to it. Seems like it would be good as a breakfast meal (like oatmeal, with cinnamon and brown sugar) to me. Or does that sound strange? Anyway, you can use this grain as rice, pasta, and tossed with just about whatever vegetables or meat you like. It's very versatile. I roasted some asparagus and added a steamed sweet potato bear face. Fruit section contains the usual strawberry and grapes. Pretty quick one, but healthy and satisfying for my growing boy.