Jack-O-Pepper Field Trip Bento

Jack-o-pepper Field Trip Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Here's a quickie, and my first Halloween bento of the year. It makes use of the very handy mini sweet pepper as a carvable cutie. I posted a tutorial here. All you need is a smallish, sharp knife and some steady hands. The rest of the bento is composed of TinySprite's favorite summer rolls (a nice finger food that requires no disposable utensils on the road) -- these contain pickled cabbage, lettuce, and boiled chicken. There're also some strawberries, carrots and broccoli, and a little recycled fruit cup container of grapes (not olives). Funnily enough, she actually brought that home because she wanted me to use it again. ^_^

Summer Rolls Bento, part 3.

Summer Rolls Bento, part 3., a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

We just came off a long 3-day weekend due to a teachers work day, and it's a little tough to get back into bentomaking and blogging again. And did I mention the whole weekend was the most gorgeous, summery, sparkling weekend we've had all year?! That's right; we hit our year's high temperature yesterday. The bay area is notorious for cool summers and late warming, so this is pretty typical. While everyone else is planning pumpkin soups and pot roasts, we're thinking refreshing salads and ice teas. So here's today's no-cook bento: the ever-popular summer rolls in rice paper wraps, filled with lettuce, pickled carrots and cucumbers, deli nitrate-free ham and salami. Yeah, I know it sounds weird. But the kiddos cannot get enough. Plus, the rice wraps stay closed so well (compared to tortillas) that they're hard to beat mess-free fun finger foods. How can you argue with that? Two little Okinawan sweet potato lovebirds perch upon a broccoli branch above a radish heart. Awwwwww. Summery peaches and berries complete the meal. I wonder if they'll go for summer rolls all week?

Added to What's For Lunch. 

Summer Rolls Bento, part 2.

Summer Rolls Bento, part 2., a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

My TinySprite is so predictable; of course she asked for summer rolls again. Now I keep a stash of cooked shrimp in the freezer ready to roll anytime I need a quick no-cook bento. I'm getting better at rolling these now, too. I was able to fill the rice wrappers with lettuce, cilantro, pickled carrots and cucumbers, deli ham and a few shrimp. I made two rolls of about the same size and shape, without tearing either, and they both happened to fit exactly right in this cool new stainless steel lined double bento box set! I like the idea of the stainless interior, which is great for food which might stain, and it also seems cooler to me, like the food will stay fresher. The exteriors are plastic, and the lids are the locking gasketed type with 4 latches. They are completely watertight, which I take to mean the moisture stays in too -- thus I can pack the summer rolls without worrying that they'll dry out. One of the boxes has a removable divider, and the stainless liners of both boxes come out for easy cleaning. Look how cute the lids are, too! I love them. Along with the rolls, she gets a bunch of fruit (peach, strawberries, blackberries, champagne grapes, regular grapes, corn and a little Okinawan sweet potato bunny shape). Everything packed perfectly snugly and visibly through the translucent covers. They stack atop one another and even come with their own matching bag. Wow! Super super love them. So did she. ^_^

Chicken Rice Wraps Monbento

Chicken Rice Wraps Monbento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Today's bento is packed in the gorgeous Monbento Original bento box. This company has only a few products in its line, but this particular box comes in a rainbow of colors, with a multitude of colorful accessories to go with it. It's a beautiful, substantial piece of lunchware. I never would have considered getting one of these fancy bento boxes for my kids, but the generous folks at Monbento offered to send me one to try out. How nice! The first thing I realized is that this two-tiered box is BIG. The company says it holds 4 cups, which is nearly twice what you might need for a school age kid. It'd be nice for an adult, though. I decided to try it out with TinySprite first.

I made two "summer rolls" for her, which are basically a rice paper wrap containing shredded chicken, lettuce, and pickled carrots and cucumbers. She LOVES these, and always begs for them at Vietnamese restaurants, where she promptly eats the entire plateful. I'm not that skilled at packing and rolling them tightly, but I did manage to seal the deal without any rips or holes. I wrapped the wraps in plastic, which I don't usually like to use, because otherwise they are prone to dry out if not eaten right away. As you can see, they take up quite a bit of room, so it was nice to have some extra space to snug two of them together in one tier along with a hard-boiled egg buddy and a couple of Okinawan sweet potato slices. The bottom tier has its own black lid to help keep things contained (and probably would keep things from drying out as well). I filled the top tier, which comes with a removable separator, with assorted fruit: peach wedges, strawberry, grapes, lychee, homegrown cherry/pear tomatoes, and broccoli. I didn't have to squeeze the fruit in, and an appropriate amount fit very nicely. I was very pleased with the space I had to use in this bento. It was a bit heavy, but I coached her on how to open it safely (without dropping the whole thing), and she reported that everything went well. And she did end up eating the whole thing! MisterMan was a bit put out that he didn't get to use it. I said "But it's fuschia. You don't mind using a fuschia box?" To which he replied, "It's kind of purplish. And boys can use purple you know." OH. Well, now I know! I'm glad, too! Okay, next one is for my purple-friendly boy. ^_^

Summer Rolls Bento

Summer Rolls Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

Today the kids get summer rolls; these rice wrappers are filled with lettuce and lemongrass chicken. You could also use shrimp, pork, or veggies alone. Since the wrappers tend to dry out, it's best to seal them in plastic wrap to keep them fresh and soft. The two-tier bento boxes are ideal for this purpose, since I can put the wrapped rolls together in one section and keep the fruit and veggies separate. MisterMan gets blood orange slices, carrots, a strawberry, grapes and a cup of cottage cheese with blueberries on top. Here's a closer look at the top tier.

TinySprite gets 3 mini-rolls in her bottom tier, and in the top tier: grapes, edamame, carrots and a strawberry. I totally forgot about this bento box since it had been shoved all the way in the back of the cabinet behind the stainless steel section. I really like it a lot, and I'm so happy I (re)found it!

Here's the recipe I used (from allrecipes):

Lemongrass Chicken Summer Rolls

2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast

2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger root
2 tablespoons minced fresh jalapeno chile (I omitted)
1/2 cup peeled and thinly-julienned seedless cucumber
1/4 cup minced fresh Thai basil leaves
1/4 cup minced fresh mint leaves
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro
1 1/2 tablespoons minced lemon grass
1/2 cup ground peanuts
1/4 cup fish sauce
3 tablespoons lime juice
2 teaspoons white sugar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon peanut oil
Rice paper wrappers
Lettuce leaves
Boil the chicken until no longer pink in the center (about 10 minutes depending on your pieces).
Remove, allow to cool, and shred into small pieces.
Toss together the chicken with the vegetables. Mix the fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, sesame and peanut oils, then add to chicken mixture and stir.
Dip one rice wrapper in a shallow pan of warm water to soften. Remove after a few seconds, drain a bit, and lay on flat surface. Place lettuce leaf on top, then some chicken (I drained the chicken a bit so that there wouldn't be so much sauce dripping out), then roll semi-tightly but be careful not to tear the wrapper. Set aside and repeat for the rest of the ingredients. Eat immediately, or wrap in plastic to seal in moisture and prevent drying out.