Sticky Rice and Canadian Bacon Bento Bowl

Sticky Rice and Canadian Bacon Bento Bowl, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Twitterfoodparty showed up this month in the form of bacon. You can check out this month's submissions on twitter by searching the hashtag #twitterbaconparty. I rarely cook bacon at home but happened to need a gluten-free alternative to lup cheong for the sticky rice (method here) I was planning to make. Most Chinese sausages and deli meats are marinated in shoyu, making them no-nos in a gluten-free diet. I steamed some sliced lup cheong separately to be mixed in everyone else's servings, but TinySprite was satisfied with diced and pan-fried Canadian bacon in hers. The overall flavor just wasn't traditionally the same, but it'll have to do, since I don't plan on learning how to make my own Chinese sausage! It was still tasty enough, though. I packed some in her favorite panda bento bowl, along with a selection of fruit in the top tier: cherries, lychee, blackberries, peach, and sweet potato. Next month's theme will be strawberries!

Quesadilla Corn Salsa Bento

Quesadilla and Corn Salsa Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

This was MisterMan's bento from last week. I didn't get a chance to post it then, but it turns out to be relevant for today's twittercornparty. How nice! I made some rolled corn tortilla "quesadillas" which I love to use this LunchBot for (since they fit so perfectly), and made some black bean, tomato, corn and cilantro salsa on the side. I tucked a couple of carrots in the lettuce cup as well. The delicious fruit section contains ultra-juicy cantaloupe, super-juicy pluots and fresh local cherries. Okinawan sweet potato "fish" add colorful decor to the bland tortillas. I attached the little fish to the tortilla with rice sticks through their eyes.

For our twittercornparty I made a variation on Fu Fu balls, which are a traditional West African (and Caribbean) staple made usually from steamed plantains or yams. I made mine using Japanese sweet potato (satsumaimo), cornmeal and fresh corn kernels off the cob. After steaming and mashing the imo, I added cornmeal mush until I got the consistency I liked. I stirred in the corn kernels, and added butter, salt, and parmesan to taste. I shaved some parmesan on top too. Voila!

Hey, I just realized this is a Meatless Monday bento. Maybe I'll try to make a habit of it? Happy Monday ^_^