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!

Fried Egg Open Face Sandwich

 

Today TinySprite's snack is on the plate because we have a little time before we have to take off for activities. This sandwich might seem unusual to some people. Is it? But maybe not. I'm trying to load as much nutrition on the toast (her favorite means of caloric intake) as possible.

I already mentioned the dill pickle hummus; it has an extra tang. The split pea and quinoa I cooked on the stovetop and kept it on the spreadable consistency side. I added curry to it for flavor. The egg is sprinkled with turmeric and paprika, and the Sichuan pickles condiment I found at the Asian market. Hope she likes it!

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: 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!
😊❤🍱

Hummus Snack Bento

Just a quick one today. Lots of running back and forth between afterschool activities means they need to keep their energy stores up. My favorite sourdough has always been the one from Tartine in San Francisco, but since As Kneaded Bakery opened a storefront in my town recently, I have found a new replacement favorite. SO good. Especially since I can pick it up anytime and eat it fresh out of the oven. I prefer whole and ancient grain sourdough with a chewy texture but the rest of the family likes olive bread. So they get theirs at Crispian.

In TinySprite's Hello Kitty snack box: Crispian Bakery Olive Sourdough bread, homemade hummus (with paprika), grape tomatoes. 

Hummus Rollup Bento

Hummus Rollup Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

What's that? Didn't we just have rollups? Um, yes. I wish I had taken a cross-section photo of this one to show you the goodies inside. I smeared a whole wheat tortilla with homemade hummus (I made mine pretty thick so it would act as a sticky spread rather than a runny dip), added shredded baby spinach, caramelized onions, roasted red pepper strips and rolled the baby up. I stuck a few cute picks to hold it in place, but as it turns out, this sushi box accomodates the rollup perfectly. How's that for multipurposing? I tucked a few steamed peapods on the sides and topped with Okinawan sweet potato heart shapes. There's a strawberry, blackberries, carrots, broccoli, and sliced plum. These plums are nowhere near as sweet as the pluots of last month, but they'll have to do. And if you have been looking at my bentos for the past few years you'll know I never put these in: chocolate covered raisins! I couldn't resist. They fit so perfectly in the chopstick slot. What do you think?