Salmon and Polenta Jack Bento

Salmon and Polenta Jack Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

In today's LunchBot Trio I've packed some wild salmon marinated then broiled in a molasses, shoyu, garlic and ginger sauce. There are some diced roasted potatoes and quartered brussels sprouts in the next section, topped with a polenta jack-o-lantern. Polenta is excellent for carving, in case you were wondering. It's a perfect consistency and quite easy to cut. I recommend it. I made mine with grated white cheddar, but I bet if I had used yellow cheddar it would look more pumpkin-colored. The rest of the bento contains carrots, Okinawan sweet potato, grapes, strawberry and raspberries. Have I mentioned how much I love this three-sectioned box? It's so practical and handy for keeping separate flavors separate. It's hands-down one of my favorite bento boxes.

Salmon Teriyaki Bento

Salmon Teriyaki Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

The kids got to pack Copper River Salmon in their bento today; I made a teriyaki glaze for them. I also roasted some quartered baby new potatoes in olive oil and a little black pepper. They really love those. There's more of the beautiful Okinawan sweet potato (which I love), steamed broccoli, and bicolor corn on the cob with the various fruit of summer: cantaloupe, strawberries, cherries, grapes. Oop, forgot the pluots. They'll definitely make it into the next set of bentos. Until next time!

Triple Chickie Meatballs

Triple Chickie Meatballs, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

I made meatballs for this bento, using a mix of ground turkey, oats, onion, and yes -- kale! You're not really surprised, are you? If you keep the container of lightly steamed, chopped kale in the fridge, you yourself might also find lots of fantastically healthy uses for it too. And after bathing the meatballs in homemade barbeque sauce, they tasted yummilicious -- just ask the kiddos :)

Since everyone's putting Easter-y type creatures in their bento, I thought I would make some chicks. Okay, they're brown, but can you use your imagination? I gave them carrot beaks and sweet pea eyes, and used the barbeque sauce to "glue" them on. Also tossed in some roasted baby potatoes -- two kinds: new potatoes and rose fingerlings. I really like these little taters. They crisp up quickly and taste great with just olive oil and garlic powder. Nothing could be easier. A fancy cut carrot, some cherry tomatoes and some steamed broccoli fill in the gaps. In the cup (included with this EcoLunch stainless steel bento) is cottage cheese, triangles of sweet Cara Cara oranges, slivered almonds and wheat germ. This is my last Cara Cara, because even though I bought a whole bag's worth last weekend, the fam has been sucking them down like mad! Should have bought more.

I'm pretty happy with the look of this bento. Even if there's only one flower today!