Piggie Norimaki Bento

Piggie Norimaki Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Did not feel like cooking anything for bento, so I prepared the quickie backup bento of turkey dog rice and nori rolls. Not technically "sushi" but along those lines. I used a mixed rice (red, white and brown plus quinoa) for these rolls. After cutting into bite-size pieces, I decided to add little piggie faces to them, pink as they are. The rest of the bento contains the usual carrots, peapods, steamed broccoli and Okinawan sweet potato, strawberry, blackberries and lychee. Yes, lychee! I spied them in the markets here this past week, and I am extremely excited about it. As you can see, they are wonderfully white, juicy and sweet: my favorite fruit of summer. Well, early summer. Until mango season. Heh.

Added to What's For Lunch.

Piggie Bento

Piggie Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

Today's bento is the very convenient "More Leftovers" bento; yay! Are you familiar with this type of bento? It happens when you make an extra large batch of kiddos' favorite meals, some to eat over the next day or two and perhaps some to freeze for later as well. Love them. I tucked the balsamic chicken pieces in a lettuce leaf and snuggled some steamed broccoli next to them (sound familiar?). I made a fresh batch of mixed rice: this one consists of Thai red rice, white, brown, bulgur, tricolor quinoa and oats. Adding a mix of various grains to your rice gives an extra nutrional boost. Plus, it adds interesting texture and flavor too. It's a lot more substantial than plain white rice and goes great alongside all kinds of food. Luckily we all love it, but if your family is hesitant, try adding just one or two extras, like quinoa or pearl barley, to start. You might be surprised at how much you grow to like it!

Okay, so back to the bento. I used the mixed red rice to form an onigiri, since yesterday's came back totally eaten (yippee!). Piggie details are made from purple and white potato and purple carrot. The usual sides are here: carrots, strawberries, blackberries, grapes and tangerine half. All packed in my new LunchBots divided stainless steel lunchbox. It's very cool; the divider is permanent and the stainless steel lid "snaps" on without latches. It seems pretty secure but I wouldn't put liquids inside since it's not watertight. We'll see what my boy thinks of it tomorrow. Happy Hump Day, bento friends!