Deconstructed Fish Tacos LunchBot Quad Bento

Deconstructed Fish Tacos LunchBot Quad Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

We've done the deconstructed fish taco many times before. This one is pan-fried snapper seasoned with lemon pepper. I packed it with cheesy tortilla strips, homemade tartar sauce (in container; just yogurt with sweet relish), a cabbage tomato onion green onion salad, and a selection of cherries and strawberry. I find that presenting the food like this, in the LunchBot Quad, works better than actual fish tacos because she's still at the stage where everything always falls out of the tortilla, causing quite a bit of frustration. Here she eats everything individually, without incident (or tears). Yay!

Easter Bunny Pals Deconstructed Fish Tacos LunchBot Bento

Easter Bunny Pals Deconstructed Fish Tacos LunchBot Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Today's bento is deconstructed fish tacos in the LunchBots Trio. I've packed fish tacos like this before (here and here and here and here), because there's no good way to pack fish and salsa inside a tortilla without everything getting soggy and falling apart. In fact, I'd rather just omit the tortilla altogether, but the kids love their bready carbs, so I added two bunny shaped tortilla pieces in this one to appease them (and make it count as an Easter bento as well. Score!). I put the fried snapper on a bed of spinach in one compartment, with the cabbage tomato onion orange pepper slaw next to it. The last section holds strawberries, sliced steamed Okinawan sweet potato, and carrots. In case you didn't notice the Easterness right away, the little chickies should give it away. Happy Easter! ^__^

Furikake Fish Bento

Furikake Fish Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

I wanted to use salmon, but there wasn't any at the market so I used wild snapper instead. This fish doesn't stay together as well, so you have to be more careful if you pan-fry it. I used butter, flipped once, then sprinkled with furikake after it was nicely browned. In the same pan I tossed the pencil asparagus, which cooks up pretty quickly. There are two colors of steamed sweet potatoes cut into flower shapes, and a fruit section of strawberry, cherries and cara cara oranges rounds out this LunchBots Trio. She ate it all. If you think your child won't eat fish, try smothering it in furikake (I used a no-salt no-msg variety). Suddenly, it's delicious!

Furikake Snapper Hello Kitty Quail Egg Bento

Furikake Snapper Hello Kitty Quail Egg Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Another TinySprite bento. Actually, MisterMan's lunch was provided during this last week of Summer Adventures, so I've been making only the little girl's bento. She doesn't eat nearly as much, so I feel like I can make hers in no time at all! For example, in this bento I gave her a few pieces of pan-fried snapper sprinkled with furikake, then a section of steamed corn on the cob, a few carved carrots, a little piece of steamed broccoli and Okinawan sweet potato heart shapes, some grapes and a sliced strawberry. I had one more spot left, just big enough for a quail egg. And you know what my favorite quail egg character is! I didn't even bother to shape the egg into an oval. Once I add the nori eyes, corn ears and nose, somen whiskers and trademark red ribbon, she becomes instantly recognizable. I can make this Hello Kitty in just a few minutes now. I keep a little container of punched oval and circle shaped nori bits, so I don't even need to dig out the craft punchers. She really is the easiest charaben ever!

Pandapple Fish Bento

Pandapple Fish Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

Today's bento has Chinese style steamed snapper: just salt & pepper the fillet, steam in a little shoyu and mirin to taste until done, 10-15 minutes depending on size of the fish, and top with shredded ginger and green onion and a drizzle of sesame oil. I also steamed the brussels sprouts and cauliflower in the same pan to save time. By the way, the vegetables taste really good in the shoyu mirin sauce too! If you're concerned about the fish taste/smell getting into the rest of the food, you could use a box with a separate tier for the fish. Or, you might be able to simply put another lettuce leaf over to keep it more contained. My boy has never complained, so I just pack it as you see here.
I added a few tiny yellow carrot flowers (as usual) for visual interest on the brussels sprouts, and cut a radish into a Pandapple face with nori details. There's also purple cauliflower, raw carrots, a half supersweet apricot, some local cherries and my very own homegrown strawberry. For some reason a whole bunch of them are ripening at a very tiny size; maybe tomorrow I'll cut a whole sprig of them together. They are SO mini and cute. And dark dark red! I ate a few today and they're pretty good!

Autumn Bento

Autumn Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

Here is my contribution to the "Autumn" theme bento!
Pan-fried snapper in olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. We ate them with sour cream/lime juice, cabbage, scallions and cilantro in tortillas for dinner. MisterMan gets leftover fish for his bento, along with mushroom & zucchini sauteed in garlic and olive oil, various color carrot skewer (purple, yellow and...I found MAROON carrots!), peapods, and lotus-cut radish. I tried to cut the lower petals more curving -- for this I used a rounded cutting edge. I think next time I'll make the petals wider.
Fruit side has strawberry, red grapes (under), Asian pear and red raspberries.
"Autumn" part comes in with sweet potato maple leaves with sesame seed detail ~ this is how my Japanese maple is starting to look these days.... less red and more bronze....