The Chopped Salad

 Nothing like a fresh cold salad on a hot summery fall day, right? This is my take on the Nancy's Chopped Salad, of Pizzeria Mozza fame. I've eaten it many times and it's so satisfying I think because it doesn't feel like you're eating a salad so much as having an italian sub sandwich minus the bread, a thought smitten kitchen put into my head.

I didn't add the radicchio but otherwise it's pretty much on the money. Just add what you see here, plus whatever else you want, in the proportions you like. Add your favorite red wine vinaigrette and it's ready to eat.

This salad will be a hit with the whole fam, even the ones that hate salad. Plus, it's so quick and easy to put together. Yum!

Anpanman Egg Salad Sandwich Bento

Anpanman Egg Salad Sandwich Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

We're baaaa-aaack! Did you notice a dearth of bento over here on this little page of the internets? We were on Spring Break last week. Anyone else? Yeah, it seemed a bit early to us too. But we did enjoy some time off to play and have some fun in the sun. We went to the beach, scarfed down the requisite shave ice and malasadas, and generally warmed up our winterized (well, California winterized) bodies. After a nice relaxing week, we're ready to get back into the bento habit! Actually, this one was from before the break: an egg salad on whole wheat sandwich thin with baby spinach. Couple of carrots, the usual pickled condiments, and a few berries make up the rest of the lunch. Happy Meal!

Okay, this photo was not taken by me (thanks and photo credit to Steve Anderson), but we saw some humpbacks breaching just like this, from shore. It was spectacular! And very "Life of Pi"-like: we also saw fish leaping over the waves and slow-floating turtles poking their heads up for a look around while they fed on coral reefs. There was even a report of a first ever shark sighting in the Ko'Olina swimming lagoons, but luckily we missed that.

So Cute TinySprite EcoLunchbox Cube Bento

So Cute TinySprite Cube Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Wow, I just realized that I've taken a week-long hiatus from bento-posting. I kind of missed you all! After Halloween last Wednesday, we had the following two days off (for parent-teacher conferences), so we spent the long 4-day weekend at the coast. We stayed in Aptos, a town on Monterey Bay, and explored Pacific Grove, Santa Cruz, and most of the rest of the quaint towns in between. The kids had fun at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and we built sand sculptures on the beach and visited a real lighthouse. After we got back, what with the time change and all the election excitement, blogging fell to the wayside. But now I'm back! Today's bento is another cute one using the EcoLunchbox Solo Cube that is my current favorite box. I decided to squeeze in four silicone cups to fill with a variety of goodies. From upper left: two hard-boiled quail eggs and skewered nitrite-free salami, pickled cabbage and cucumbers, steamed corn and broccoli, and a fruit mix of cantaloupe, blackberries and raspberry. It turned out to be just enough for my kindergartner's highly unpredictable appetite.

Speaking of the awesome Ecolunchbox, I picked a winner from among the 50+ of you who commented on my giveaway post (fantastic, clever, ingenious ideas for going green, by the way~! I loved reading each and every one of them!) -- it was Michelle, who uses flannel baby wipes and cotton diapers. Wow! She has four kids so I hope her new EcoLunchbox helps make her lunchpacking easier and more fun. Let us know how it goes, Michelle! Thanks to all of you for entering and sharing your eco-ideas with the rest of us. Happy bento-making!

Calzone Rollups Bento

Calzone Rollups Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

It's a calzone bento, kind of, except this time I rolled up the dough with the fillings inside (salami, pepperoni, cheese, spinach), then baked and sliced into little bite-sized pieces for fun. Yeah, I'm having way too much fun with the calzone-styled foods. It's such a convenient, sandwich-y way to pack a school lunch bento, with so many filling possibilities. The rest of the bento contains roasted red kabocha, steamed Okinawan sweet potato slices, and a cup of grapes and raspberries.

Pizza Face Bento

Pizza Face Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Look at those luscious lips! Okay, you might need a bit of imagination to see it, but there are supposed to be tomato eyes and red pepper lips on this cheesy, salami, arugula flatbread pizza. I used Mediterranean whole grain flat bread, which is thick enough to stand up to toppings, but which bakes crispy for a cool mini pizza. The other sections of this Sistema double-sided box contain Okinawan sweet potato, corn on the cob, pluots, nectarines, strawberries and blackberries. Smooch!

Sweet O'Potato Bento

Sweet O'Potato Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

Tomorrow there's no school for MisterMan since they are having first quarter parent-teacher conferences. So instead, I'm posting a picture of the snack bento I made for TinySprite this afternoon. She ate this when she got up from her nap. We didn't get her brother right away because he had music class after school. On these days I give her a snack to tide her over until I start dinner. Even though it's just a snack, I still like to put as many nutritious foods (including vegetables) in there as I can.

Today I cut a slice of steamed sweet potato with a pumpkin cutter, and stamped a face using triangle and square cutters without pressing all the way through. I added a couple of salami and mozzarella cheese stick skewers (the rest of the cheese stick is behind the sweet potato), some cherry tomatoes, sliced peaches, a strawberry and a tiny crab apple. I filled in the gaps with blanched peapods. First thing she said when she took off the lid of (my new Cinnamoroll) box was "Scary!" But she picked up the jack o'lantern and ate it first! Are you surprised to learn that she ate everything in this box? I was! I didn't expect her to eat all the peapods, but she did. It's cool because soon I'll be sending along a bento box lunch to accompany her to preschool, and I'm hoping the cute presentation will encourage her to finish everything there, even with all the distractions of other kids (and possibly junk food). Stay tuned and we'll see...

Froggie Sandwich Bento

Froggie Sandwich Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

No-cook sandwich bento: salami and aged white cheddar with spring greens and pickles on crusty multigrain bread. Too bad the bread I chose didn't fit the box I chose! I had to slice off a tad bit; oops. I decorated the bread top with cucumber, salami and a halved quail egg to make a happy frog face. Two carrots filled in the gaps, and the rest of the box is stuffed with summery fruit: delicious ripe peach, strawberry, rasp- and blueberries, and grapes. Yes, it's a standard sandwich lunch, but it's still got some fun with it ^_^

Hello Kitty Egg Bento

Hello Kitty Egg Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

Here's the next installment of kawaii quail egg bento: baby Hello Kitty! I just happened to have been given the perfect red bow by a super-sweet bento pal, and so what else could I do? It's obviously Hello Kitty's bow! The quail egg has cheese stick ears, rice stick whiskers, nori eyes and a mustard nose. The rest of TinySprite's snack consists of cherries, white nectarine slices, steamed broccoli, carrots, grapes and salami. These little bento snacks are a lot of fun to make! I think I can get used to this. ^_^