Feisty Bento #323 & 324: Nomminess

I think this will be my lunch bento.  I'm not sure yet.  It's kind of interchangeable.  But I made this one first this morning, so I'm showing it first. 

Spaghetti with marinara (same one used here - it is so good! I would have added cheese but I decided it wouldn't be too good by the time I eat it).  I'd frozen small bundles of spaghetti so this morning I just microwaved it then mixed it with the jarred sauce, yummy.  Oh, and fresh basil leaves top it - they're straight from the plant on my windowsill which, yes, is still going strong!

Green bean salad.  So remember a while back, I talked about this Italian deli I like?  And how they have green bean salad, then I showed it to you in a few bentos - this one, this one, this one, but mostly, this one?  So I had a big bag of green beans yesterday and didn't want to make them the way I always do (blanched and plain, or mixed with mayo for salad, or um, sauteed with a bit of ground pork and soy sauce) so I decided to sort of recreate that.  Only I didn't feel like going to the store for Italian dressing (which is what I'm pretty sure they use to marinate the green beans in), so I used what I had: olive oil and Petrossian raspberry red wine vinegar.  Thinly sliced onions (I didn't have any red onions, though I'd prefer to use those), thinly sliced red bell peppers, and blanched green beans, tossed together with salt & pepper... yummy!  (I marinated them overnight.)

Green bean salad again.

And that messy looking blob?  Really delicious, I assure you.  It's round two of spinach smashed potatoes.  Except this time I was going for way more spinach than potatoes (I don't think I quite hit that mark), and I steamed the spinach a little on top of the potatoes for a minute or two before mashing them all together, because last time I had issues waiting for the spinach to wilt so I could mash.  I added a lot of butter and a bit of heavy cream, so it still isn't super healthy for you, but it's delicious.  (Salt, pepper as well.)  I'm discovering that eating a vegetarian diet makes avoiding carbs really, really hard.  So, oh well, this is what I have.  At least it tastes good.

For those wondering, I didn't eat meat this weekend. 

Think outside the lunchbox!  :)

Feisty Bento #299: Oh my, a recipe

That, my dear friends, was last night's dinner.  (No bento yesterday because Wednesdays are gym days; didn't have class so no dinner bento!  Tomorrow is Friday which is another gym day, no bento tomorrow!) 

So, I'm actually going to post the recipe here, because I don't have any more pictures of it beyond that, and it turned out much better than I'd really expected.  I mean, I didn't expect it to turn out yucky, just that I wasn't expecting much for the first time out.  I had a bunch of chicken thighs in the fridge defrosted and needed to use them, and I was bored of everything I've ever made in the past, Google'd up some recipes and decided upon one called "Spanish Style Chicken Stew" and promptly ignored most of the recipe.  (Even though I had all the ingredients on hand, I just didn't feel like a stew, oddly enough.) 

Here's what I did~

A bit of olive oil in the bottom of a heavy bottomed skillet.  Two small onions diced in the bottom of the pan, along with 3 cloves of garlic minced up.  Once that was going for a little bit and softened, not browned, I added one sliced chorizo link (I'm sorry I don't know if it was Mexican or Spanish chorizo, I'm pretty sure it's this kind as I did buy the pack at Murray's Cheese a few months ago and froze what I didn't use last time), taking care not to burn or overcook that, since last time they came out a bit dry for my tastes.

At this point, I added a lot of red pepper flakes because I wanted some heat to my dish, then covered the whole thing in a thick layer of paprika (it smelled sweet after I did this, so that may answer the question as to whether my paprika is sweet, smoked, or what). 

This entire time, I was chopping up 5 boneless/skinless chicken thighs.  After I'd added those to the pan, I added another generous layer of paprika, kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper, and then let it start browning.  I stirred it all up in the pot a bit to evenly coat it with the seasonings, mmm smell that?  That's what "delicious" smells like on the stove. 

After the chicken was mostly cooked through, I added a box of frozen chopped broccoli and half a lb. bag of frozen carrot coins.  Mostly to get rid of them and also because the colors were pretty; had I been thinking more clearly, I'd have added some of the fresh celery I have in my crisper.  I wasn't thinking clearly enough though so this is what you get. 

The recipe I found also added a can of tomatoes, a can of beans, and some potatoes, so you can totally do that (it also included an oven step, which I wasn't interested in performing).  Perhaps next time I'll follow the recipe more closely, but I was pleased with the results - it was spiked with heat, a bit of sweetness from the veggies, and very meaty.  But loaded with veggies and packed with flavor!  Love it! 

I chose to serve it above with a toasted, buttered English muffin and an intense dollop of sour cream (with parsley flakes for color) on top to temper the heat.  The heat seems to get worse the more days it is since I made it - I may need to go buy another container of sour cream to finish this off, eeps.  It was absolutely delicious with the sour cream mixed in, a bit of a sour tang, but creamy, coating each piece of chicken... yummm!!!

Enjoy~!

And today's bento:

Left cup: yu choy (some may say broccoli rabe?), cut up to fit (stems AND leaves are in there, I don't waste)
Right cup: two Ajinomoto pork&chicken gyoza, with gyoza sauce in the little bear cup
Jar: Spanish style chicken "stew"

The gyoza sauce leaked out of the bear.  Ah well, it stayed in the container at least.  Mmm... delicious.

Happy bento!  As tomorrow is another gym day, don't expect a bento from me... which means #300 will be on Monday!  Gasp!  300 already?!

Feisty Bentos #294 & 295: Egg foo young... I think?

Ooh, another doozy of a post!

First, I totally missed National Carrot Day!  Thankfully, someone (from the Carrot Commission?) emailed me to let me know and also sent along this little video to celebrate.  Check it out, it's really cute!

There's also a $2 coupon if you go to Yes to Carrots!  You do have to install that coupon printer thing that a lot of websites (including Hershey's... yes, I know this from experience, haha) use now, unfortunately I only have a printer at work and I can't install that... boo :( 

Oh, and how is this related to bento?  Um, duh?  Who has NEVER used carrots in their bento?!  :)  It's such a common bento food!  We should all praise the carrot!  Hahahahaha.  (I did not get paid for this post, I just find this really funny and cute!)

Moving right along, we've got some interesting things today! 

So, if anyone's been reading my bento blog lately, you'll have noticed I've been eating a lot of bean sprouts.  That's cuz they're cheap (59c a lb.) and super easy to prepare - I make a big container of it and then take from it throughout the week.  This is probably Week 3 of such a preparation making it into bento.

Unfortunately, because I haven't been eating dinner at home, I haven't been eating bean sprouts at night, so they've been going bad and I've been kind of getting bored of them.  This will probably be the last I eat of them (maybe?) for a while.  So I was trying to come up with variations or ways to use them to make them something different, something I won't mind eating or rather that doesn't taste like the same gently sauteed bean sprouts! 

Therefore, I came up with this... and later realized it might be similar to egg foo young (a dish I've never eaten but I think is like this?).  Basically, I put some bean sprouts in the bottom of a small skillet and when they were nice and hot, I poured 2 beaten eggs over the top.  I covered it and when it was mostly set, I flipped it once to fully cook the top and voila!  What you see above, with some hoisin sauce squirted on top.  Quite tasty if you ask me ;)

... and perfect for bento.

You might remember today is my "running instead of eating a big lunch" day... well, I get really hungry after I run.  The top is slices of a Harry & David Royal Riviera pear (I bought 10 lbs. at $2.79/lb, whee! - gave a bunch to my mom & sister), to be eaten before hitting the gym.  The bottom is one dumpling and another egg-foo-young-ish thing, cut into quarters and stacked, with a bit of hoisin sauce over the top, to be eaten after the gym.  Yum! 

And here's dinner, to be eaten before class tonight!  Top left cup is more slices of a Harry & David Royal Riviera pear (these are sooo good), the right cup is three dumplings (yes I smushed them in!), and the jar part holds udon mixed with Japanese curry.  From my freezer stash... mmm, I am excited.  It looks so delicious... I bet it will be!!!  Ahhhhhhh! 

Happy bento~!!!  (The weather here is gorgeous and it is working its magic to cheer me up...)

Feisty Bento #242: Uneaten

So I totally packed this bento on Thursday...

Leftover mapo tofu & since I ran out of rice, I packed some pumpernickel cocktail bread to top with it.

But when I was at work, I was tempted by a coworker and eventually we headed to Burger Shoppe, where I ordered and ate this instead:

I have to say, nothing was as good as I'd remembered... still tasty - tons of char on the patty (in a good, flavor-giving way, not "burnt") - but slightly drier than I recalled.  Onion rings still good but not as wonderful.  Strawberry milkshake also didn't contain chunks of strawberries, as it had last time.  Oh well.  I didn't even finish all my onion rings, oddly enough! 

Anyway, happy bento~!!!

Feisty Bento #220: Quickie

Miso marinated pork chop cut up over "quick fried rice" a la Lunch in a Box

Microwave white rice with frozen peas and corn.  Stir and add a dash of soy sauce.

As you can see, I was in a major hurry this morning, so this is all I get.  The pork is layered on top of the rice, though, so there's quite a lot of rice, I should be full afterwards :)

HAPPY BENTO~!!!

Feisty Bento #213: Badges of Honor

I was looking at my arms yesterday afternoon (this has to be the slowest possible week at work, EVER... maybe), and noticed little spots all over my forearms.  I got a bit of a tan on Saturday at this awful BBQ, and the spots were distinctly lighter in color than my tan or even my normal skin tone.  A bit of peering, poking, and I finally realized what they are.

Scars.

Not just any scars though.

Burn scars.

I've been cooking since I was about 10.  (With a year off from 10.5 to 11.5, for setting the kitchen on fire.)  Over the past 18 years, I've gotten a fair share of oil splattering on my arms, producing fleeting pain that I guess has been sticking around in the form of tiny little scars that I rarely notice.  I mean, I've noticed one or two here and there over the years, but I always attributed it to "that really bad bug bite I got that time" even though they are way too small to be bug bite scars.  It finally dawned on me yesterday that, yeah, these are battle scars.

Badges of honor... time spent cooking in the kitchen... signs of experience...

Was it worth it? 

Judging by how much people like my cooking, I'd say "Hell yeah."

Top tier:  adaptation of miso chicken; miso mushrooms; Woorijip spicy chicken
Bottom tier: spicy marinated cuttlefish; garlic mashed potatoes

Should have sprinkled some parsley on the mashed potatoes to make them pop a little more, oops!

I've been eyeing that miso chicken recipe since JustBento posted it a week or two ago.  For some reason, my supermarket does not stock boneless/skinless chicken thighs, so I used skin-on, bone-in thighs, and marinated them overnight in miso, mirin, and a bit of honey, since I didn't have brown sugar or sake on hand.  Then I plopped them, skin side down, into a screaming hot pan to get a nice crust on the skin. 

After they were cooking for a few minutes, I flipped them, added in the extra marinade, and then added a box of button mushrooms I'd sliced up, to emulate my miso mushrooms.  Of course, these came out a little bit sweeter, from the honey in the marinade, but still super yummy!

Happy bento everybody!!!

Feisty Bento #205: New Item

To make you envy my weekend :)

Friday night's baked clams

Friday night's dessert platter

Saturday's lunchtime fried zucchini

Saturday afternoon's treat, post-movie (not for me: I'm allergic to raspberries)

MY post movie treat, chocolate-chocolate chunk cookie.  Hehe :) (well I only ate a piece of it, I didn't eat the whole thing in one sitting)

Sunday's baseball game.  You can see the ball as it's approaching DW! 

The awesome promotional item they were giving away.  There's Billy Wagner in bobblehead form, sitting on top of my CPU.  I fully intend to get a DW poster (of him winding up at bat, tongue sticking out, of course) for that corner... it'll be my Mets corner!  Unfortunately, next month's Santana bobblehead is only for kids :( anyone want to lend me their child for a game?  Hahaha... I actually detest Billy Wagner for his blown saves in the past month or two.  Jerkface.

Sunday night's dinner.  I was surprised by this dish.  But a full review is to come, so that's all I'll say.

Sunday night's dessert at another place.  This is disgusting.  Who puts sake in ice cream?  IDIOTS that's who.  Gross.

And today's crooked bento. 

Top tier: leftover veggies and mashed potatoes from Friday's dinner
Bottom tier: lemon chicken nuggets; lime wedge for chicken; small piece of corn on the cob

After seeing this recipe on JustBento, I had to make it.  Before I did, I pressured NotExactlyBento to make them- which she did!!!- and said they were yummy, so enough from me, and I made them.

Being me, I had to make a few changes, since I wanted them super lemony... they still are just a slight lemon pucker at the end, which is great, but my major change was adding a bit of lime juice (and a lime wedge) to the marinade instead of just lemon, oh and at the end?  Instead of juicing a new lemon/lime, I used what the chicken had marinated in and poured that into the whole pan, letting it cook off and create a caramelized crust itself.  Waste not, want not, right?  :)  So yummy... I am so happy I still have some for tomorrow's bento!

As always, HAPPY BENTO!!!

Feisty Bento #197: Economics 101

Cooking dinner on Monday night... yes, I am that anal retentive.

So I went to the grocery store and found a big package (three lbs.) of sweet Italian sausage for $2/lb.  They had smaller 1 lb. packages for about $3.59 or 3.99.  I live by myself.  Do I REALLY need 3 lbs. of sweet Italian sausage?  I don't even really eat sausage much (aside from breakfast sausage... or my homemade breakfast sausage), but I had been thinking how nice it would be to have some on hand instead of always using bacon to start some meals... fine.  My wallet nagged at my sensibilities, because to be honest, I wouldn't have used an entire 1 lb. package right away ANYWAY, so I bought the 3 lb. package, took 4 out for dinner, and froze the other 12 links in three-link-baggies.  Perfect for a meal just for me, with enough leftover for one lunch.  (Four turned out to be just a touch too much for just the one lunch, but it wasn't a big deal.) 

I sliced these into small rounds, plopped them into a pan over low heat and let a lot of the fat render out, then added a quarter red onion I had lying around, and a green bell pepper chopped.  I don't like green onions raw anymore, finding them too grassy for my tastes, so I made sure to cook these extra much, and wound up blistering the skin and really just roasting them into yummy sweet deliciousness.  Fantastic, I tell you. 

For a snack while dinner cooked... spicy masago spread on garlic & olive oil ciabatta.  YUM.  (Masago + a little mayo + hot sauce)

And finally, bento.

Top tier: marinated grape tomatoes; baby carrots; roasted pine nut hummus
Bottom tier: sweet Italian sausages with peppers and onions; tea infused pasta salad

The marinated grape tomatoes are just quartered, tossed in a bowl with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Yummy.

Happy bento!!!  Also, if you have any interest in winning a copy of the cookbook Fish without a Doubt: The Cook's Essential Companion, head on over to The Feisty Foodie to enter my contest.  Good luck!!!

Feisty Bento #188: Miso Mushrooms!!!

Breakfast this morning.  I used the same bread but this time, added a slick of mayo, two slices of smoked turkey (Trader Joe's), slices of hearty tomato, and basil freshly plucked from my fully blooming basil plant.  Before I lay them down, however, to get them to release some essence first, I rolled the basil leaves and crushed them in my hand.  It tasted phenomenal.  Tomorrow morning will be turkey, pepperjack, and tomato, though; I learned my lesson about mixing fresh herbs with pepperjack cheese...

YUMMY bento... and yes I still have fried rice for tomorrow's bento LOL but no more kalbi after today...

Top tier: garlic stem banchan bacon fried rice; last piece of kalbi, sliced up
Bottom tier: white miso mushrooms!!!; marinated cuttlefish; seaweed salad

Ooh, so I bought white button mushrooms a few days ago, figuring I can always add it to soup or eggs or whatever to make something delicious and bento-able, right?  But I made something far more delicious than I thought I could possibly dream up...

I sliced up the button mushrooms, heated a heavy bottom skillet over low heat, then plopped in some butter.  Mine actually browned a bit, which may have made these taste extra delicious, but either way should be fine.  I tossed in a generous teaspoon of shiro miso (white miso; I use Miko brand, but you could probably use regular miso too), stirred that around, and that browned a bit too, but then I added all of the mushrooms and stir-stir-stirred.  After a long while, the mushrooms gave off their water, which combined and helped melt down the miso further, though you can probably see from the above picture that there were still splotches of miso in places, but that's cool. 

When I tried one, I thought yeah they'll taste good, but I was blown away by just HOW good they taste... omg, seriously, try this.  And sooo bento-able! 

HAPPY BENTO!!!

Feisty Bento #186: Anniversary Bento

How was my 4th of July weekend...?  BBQ, fireworks by the bridge, BBQ again at my sister's, more food, and then playing tour guide around the city on Sunday... I didn't realize I knew so much about the Financial District.  Random stuff you pick up along the way, really... But I guess it is one of the most rife-with-history areas in NYC, considering it's probably one of, if not the, oldest section... (I mean, it dates back to Dutch times!) 

Picture taken from my bus... see under the bridge?  It's a waterfall!  NYC Waterfalls, to be exact. 

Still on the bus... free standing waterfall, looks stupid and look how much water is going into the parking lot.  Sorry. My 2c.

Late night snack on the 4th... this, from a Greek diner, was only OKAY... and then I got really sick later that night.  Maybe that was from too much vodka though?

Sunday's lunch, plate #1, at our standby buffet place... they're getting funky with the sushi!  Pretty darn tasty though.  You see the one up top, left of the inari?  It had caviar on top... and was huge, but you couldn't really bite it to eat it, it would just fall apart.. so I put the whole damn thing in my mouth.  Hahaha.  It was... interesting... trying to chew it, with no room for my tongue to move... lol.

Plate #2... yum yum... some of this stuff... actually more than half the stuff here fell very flat unfortunately... the tuna I liked so much last time was really blah this time!  The only two good parts of the above dish were the Peking duck, of course, and the kalbi/short rib on the bottom.  Boo...

And, of course... bento!!!  YUMMY!!!

In honor of the anniversary of my first bento ever, I decided to pack some kalbi!  Of course, having learned my lesson the first time, I heated it through, sliced it, and let it cool, so the oil won't still be hard and gross later for lunch, and it'll be easy to eat...

Top tier: marinated cuttlefish banchan; grapes
Bottom tier: (see below); kalbi, sliced up

A week or two back, I purchased garlic stem banchan, a spicy bunch of green-bean looking things that had red sauce gooped on.  I've eaten these before and enjoyed them- a different maker, but these were way too spicy for me, and I couldn't eat more than a few pieces with lots of white rice before tearing up and sweating so much I couldn't see.  I decided to cook with them, one of the ways my mom tames down kimchi that has gotten way too spicy for her (though she usually puts it in soup). 

Basically a variation on my bacon fried rice recipe... (which is quite outdated, as I've made this dish several more times since, each time making it better!)

Scramble one egg; remove from pan and set aside.  5 slices of bacon, chopped, heat in a frying pan over low heat to let more fat render.  When it's crisp, push to one side, add diced onions.  Add rice into bacon fat, and let coat, sizzle nicely until the rice is heated through.  Add garlic stems, making sure you get all the red sauce as well.  Add scrambled egg.  Stir together and let the red meld with all the rice... turn off heat, serve and enjoy!  I snipped a bit of green onions to go on top.

The result is still spicy, with a bit of smoky background from the bacon, and super delicious.

Happy bento!!!

Feisty Bento #171: Happy Bento

Dinner last night.  Yummy.  Love those Taiwanese XO frozen dumplings.  They really come in handy in a pinch for flavor and something to eat.  My only gripe is how easily they freezer burn- they're frozen, why can't I keep them in there a month or more and not have the darn things turn dry/chewy on the edges?!  (These were mostly fine, and the last of that bag.)  Udon and some cabbage I whipped up.

Yummy!  What a lovely looking lunch, the first in a long while.  I actually cooked some things with my eye towards bento the next day.  I am finally beginning to accept that now that I'm living away from Mom again, I can't just open the fridge and expect boxes of prepared veggies to appear.  Sigh.  So here we go, back to bento... for real.

Top tier: 5 dark chocolate covered mini-pretzels (Trader Joe's, and yes, I also picked up some more chocolate covered, peanut butter filled pretzels as well); sauteed cabbage & carrots
Bottom tier: 3 seafood gyoza (last of my bag of Ajinomoto; I vastly prefer the chicken & pork gyoza); marinated squid banchan; curry salmon orzo

Napa cabbage in many forms has been seen in my bento in the past.  My mom used to make a big box on Sundays and I'd just pluck from it during the week.  Well, I'm going to have to start doing that myself instead.  I concocted this recipe myself, although looking through the past pictures, there are tons of ways to do this (garlic, onions, Shiitake mushrooms, whatever).  I just randomly picked this because it's what I had in my fridge.

Heat a pot that can hold all of the cabbage you're going to make, and then some (room for stirring).  Melt some butter and drizzle some olive oil in the bottom, then add cabbage.  Stir until it's somewhat wilted, try to distribute evenly, add shredded carrots (Trader Joe's again) and a dash of salt.  Stir until it's about as cooked as you like it (I like my cabbage very gently cooked), and voila, eat up.

Yum, I had some for dinner last night and still have enough for the rest of the week in veggies!

HAPPY BENTO!!!

Feisty Bento #160: Copycat, copycat!

How this became....

THIS!!!

After Not Exactly Bento posted about nachos earlier this week, well... monkey see, monkey want!  I used my brother-in-law's recipe, though I'm sure hers is equally tasty!  Check it out... and here's the link for my salsa.  Perfect... guacamole as well... since Cinco de Mayo is coming up!

In the pre-heated jar is the chili mixture with cheese sprinkled on top; in the cup is a bear cup of homemade salsa, sitting atop a cloud of sour cream, yum.  I mixed that stuff in with the chili and spooned it liberally on the little baggie of tortilla chips I brought with me... was GOOD!  The chili was still hot!  The only crap part was, in the interest of food safety, I added a small ice pack (cut from an ice blanket) to the insulated bag, but it melted quickly and didn't keep my sour cream and salsa cold AT ALL... think the heat from the thermal jar made it melt more quickly.  Boo.  But I am not sick, so I think it's okay!

***Links to be added at a later ime for key words: food safety, ice blanket, insulated bag, thermal jar... I am just in a hurry right now, swamped with work, sorry! 

As always, HAPPY BENTO!!!

Feisty Bento #153: Back to work

Dinner last night.  Can you tell what herb that is on top?  If so, props.  It was a yummy dinner.

Piece of garlic bread on its side; leftover pasta (recipe here, along with answer to what herb is on top of the pasta!)

Can we say yummy?  I love this pasta recipe.  It's horrifically filled with calories, as there's a whole container of ricotta mixed in, but also for me, since I don't quite digest dairy properly and therefore become quite gassy... hehe.  Oh well.  It's worth it.

HAPPY BENTO!!!

Feisty Bento #141: Meatloaf

My first ever time making meatloaf!

Don't these look like giant shumai?

Look at it glistening gently away... with fat, yes, but delicious fat!

Top tier: mini pepper; giant shumai (recipe here); edamame
Bottom tier: edamame; vegetarian duck; cut up meatloaf

Yum baby!  Happy BENTO!!!

Feisty Bento #126: Creamed Corn Goodness

Top: homemade creamed corn; BBQ kickin' chicken
Bottom: apple slices; plums

About a month ago, I posted a bento containing creamed corn; ProgressiveGrannie asked me how I made mine.  Probably to everyone's dismay, I admitted I just opened a can and heated that up; she then gave me her recipe for creamed corn, warning me that it was fattening and only meant to be eaten once or twice a year.  For those who read my regular food site, y'all know my boyfriend is not just a picky eater, but on the thin side (despite eating junk all the time).  So I thought, "Why not?" and decided to make her recipe the other night... this is what she'd emailed me:

Creamed Corn Like Rudy's BBQ, Leon Springs, Texas

40 oz. frozen corn
1 8 oz. whipping cream
1 8 oz. milk
1 tsp. salt
6 tsp. sugar
  pinch of red pepper

Mix all of the above ingredients and bring to a boil. Simmer for 5 minutes. Mix 2 tlbs melted butter and 2 tlbs flour and stir in to corn recipe. Eat and be merry! (and fat).

Easy enough, so really, why not?  My minor modifications were to use two cans of sweet kernel corn - what I had on hand - and a bit less milk, less sugar, and no red pepper.  It came out delicious, though next time, I may omit the sugar altogether since it seemed to overwhelm the corn's natural sweetness- perhaps because of the type of corn I used?  I also kept a few tablespoons of the liquid from the cans to enhance the corn taste.  Also next time, I won't use less milk, because at the end, it came out super thick and BF wasn't a fan of that, though I liked it fine.  The above in my silicone cup (from Target, that everyone has been talking about) is actually the result of my microwaving it this morning with a "splash" of half & half - I splashed too heavily so it got mixed in and thinned out quite a bit.  I will definitely be making this again!!!  Thanks ProgressiveGrannie!!!

As always~ HAPPY BENTO!!!

Feisty Bento #109: Cucumber Salad Recipe

Left: Romaine lettuce, bagged iceberg lettuce salad mix, grape tomatoes, and two marinated artichoke hearts, with the oil/vinegar combination that the artichoke hearts were marinated in (from a jar) poured on top as a dressing
Right: chopped up roasted chicken breast (courtesy of FeistyMom, but super dry... blegh, maybe I'll mix it with the salad, either one); homemade cucumber salad of a sort with green onion sprinkled on top for color

The recipe for the cucumber salad can be found here.  I added a lot more red pepper flakes this time so it's quite a bit spicier at the end, yum!  I love the mix of cucumber coolness with the surprise heat at the end ;)

Yum, I'm starving, can't wait for lunch!

Happy bento! 

Feisty Bento #106: International Day of Italian Cuisines

Left: spaghetti alla carbonara
Middle, from top: Sabra brand roasted pine nut hummus; grape tomatoes and cucumbers; Harry & David pears
Right (drink container): not-from-concentrate orange juice, partially frozen

Here's the set I used mentioned here with the drink container, though still without the orange lids.  Oops.  And you can't really see the orange of the lid of the drink container because the OJ inside kind of detracts from it, but it's a light orange, almost like... I can't describe it. 

I posted the recipe for the spaghetti alla carbonara on Feisty Foodie, so head on over to that link!  Today is the International Day of Italian Cuisines... well, go to the recipe link to see what that's all about and why I made carbonara anyway! 

These pears are so creamy and juicy, it's amazing.  Too bad the skin kind of sucks, and I didn't realize - since it's been years since I ate a pear - that they discolor, so I forgot to do something to prevent browning.  Oh well, hopefully they'll still taste yummy... can't wait for lunch!  I tried to twirl the pasta into nests or some semblance of nests so that it'll be easier for eating later... we'll see how that works out for me.

HAPPY BENTO!!!

my dinner last night - click the picture for recipe!

Feisty Bento #87: Oh my curry!

Jar: chicken curry rice
Left side dish: three pork gyoza, gyoza sauce
Ride side dish: cucumbers, grape tomatoes, hummus

Mm, curry!  I love Japanese curry in general, but during the cold months- and it is COLD here, like in the 20s- and after seeing curry on Lunch in a Box yesterday, I was like, okayyy, that's definitely what I'm making.  I like to make a big pot and eat it over the course of a week- nope, I don't get tired of it, it's perfect for my breakfast in the cold mornings, and just great, soothing comfort food (even though I never ate this stuff growing up).  YUM. 

My general recipe can be found here but I'll give you a brief rundown anyway.  I tossed chopped boneless/skinless chicken thighs (again, what I had on hand- use what you like) into a pot, splashed a dash of soy sauce over it, and added chopped carrots, celery and onions to the mix- I add whatever veggies I have on hand, and this is what I had (I like adding bell peppers too usually).  Added a brick of S&B curry - in this case, medium hot- stirred it around, coating everything, and then added beef stock (what I had on hand, though normally I use chicken). 

Yummy!  Can't wait for lunch again!

Happy bento! 

PS The two big brands of curry I see are House and S&B.  I like the apple curry flavor but I have a lot of bricks leftover so I have to use those up before I buy more; I don't buy the pouches of sauce, but rather the bricks of seasonings and I recommend those as they're cheaper and they last longer.

Feisty Bento #86: Kickin' Chicken, among other things

Top tier: taramasalata macaroni (NO MAYO) with green onions sprinkled on top; kickin' chicken
Bottom tier: cucumber slices, grape tomatoes, and of course, hummus!

I've got a lot to talk about today! 

First, the taramasalata macaroni.  This is my version of tarako spaghetti, using what's available to me.  A while back, I realized that I really like cod roe spread, known as "red caviar spread" at Turkish Kitchen and taramasalata in Greece.  Of course, it was phenomenal at those two places, but while we were in Greece, I saw it in every grocery store we ventured into (maybe 3?  You can tell a lot about a country by its supermarkets, and also, they have some snacks that are just crazy and totally unavailable here) in the area where you might find string cheese in a US supermarket.  Right by all the prepackaged cheeses and "deli" items.  So about a month ago, I decided it must be found somewhere here, I'm in a huge city and we do have our pockets of Greek neighborhoods... I'd found it online but wanted to see it in person before I shelled out for it... and I finally found that very same brand in a very ethnic store in my neighborhood (they sell all sorts of cool foreign items, including these wonderful looking cartons of various nectars that I desperately want to try, especially the cherry nectar, that must be so good splashed in a Grey Goose/cranberry drink...).  I mentioned mixing it in pasta a few weeks ago so here it is, and I was right: it's perfect, no additions needed.  The green onions were for color and because I like the flavor of green onions. 

Second, the kickin' chicken.  I've mentioned it a few times here, and this dish has become a true staple of my life.  Whenever I don't know what to make or don't feel like thinking, this is what I do:

Chicken thighs - boneless/skinless in this case, but I don't mind being frugal and buying them with the bone in/skin on, or even with drumsticks attached.  I think it works best with dark meat though.
KC Masterpiece BBQ sauce- I'd prefer to use my own, but it's been a while since I've had the time or inclination to make any.
Crushed red pepper flakes, to taste.  (Bento is my way of controlling my weight, and I read somewhere that if you eat spicy foods, you're less likely to snack later.  You can totally omit these if you like though.)  Alternatively, you can add a bit of honey. 

Line a baking dish/pan with foil (easy clean up! this dish is all about easy everything).  Rinse off chicken, pat dry, place in dish and sprinkle a teensy bit of salt and freshly ground black pepper over chicken.  Bake at 350 degrees for a little bit until chicken is more white than not (this should only take 10-15 minutes in a toaster oven, like I use). 

In the meantime, mix the BBQ sauce with the red pepper flakes and/or honey in a small bowl. 

Once the chicken has turned white, you can slather on some BBQ sauce, cook for a bit longer, then flip it, cook for a bit longer, and keep it up with the BBQ sauce.  You'll probably want to throw all of the BBQ sauce on there and let it heat through just to be sure any and all germs from raw chicken are killed.  Total cooking time for 5 chicken thighs should be at least 30-35 minutes, you can let it go longer if you like or if your chicken doesn't feel done.

Once done, allow to cool slightly, move to a container (taking all the sauce with it!) and using two forks, pull the chicken meat apart.  Voila!  Kickin' chicken! and perfectly sized to put in your bento- no bones, no mess, just use a fork and you're good.  Enjoy!!!

Last but not least, my cucumbers!  These are a bento's best friend.  Well, one of them.  Known as hothouse, English, seedless or burpless cucumbers, these bad boys come wrapped in plastic and don't need to be washed or peeled.  The skin is thinner than regular cucumbers (I believe that's why they're called burpless) so in the morning, if you're looking for something green, all you have to do is whip one of these out of the crisper, slice away and pack!  No washing, peeling, really no fuss about them.  Great with hummus, too! 

Happy bento and as always, if you have any questions, feel free to ask!!!

Feisty Bento #79: Perfect for Today's Rainy Weather

Yumminess of the best kind...

In the jar: my version of ribollita, kept piping hot by the thermal jar.  I cannot wait for lunch!
Left side dish: stuffing with giblet gravy generously poured on top
Right side dish: green beans and mushrooms

So this long weekend, I began feeling the onset of something gross.  By Friday morning I was convinced I was getting the flu and decided to make myself some soup.  I remembered making ribollita before and liking it, so I tossed together the ingredients- it's mostly stuff I keep in my panty/freezer anyway, and we're golden.  I actually didn't have carrots but had the leftover "sauce" from making pot roast last weekend, along with the super mushy vegetables that'd cooked along with it, so I used that.  The end result was super flavorful, the BF loved it again, and though I had to tweak the recipe a bit to match what I had on hand, it still came out delicious and my buddy Orzo, who'd come over to hang out, ate three bowls.  I was thrilled!  (Since I didn't have ciabatta but had fairly fresh Italian bread, I just sliced that up and put it in the bottom of each bowl.  It softened more than ciabatta would have, but was still really delicious.)

After we'd all eaten, what was leftover was fairly "dry"- less liquid and more stuff, so I added another can of diced tomatoes this morning and heated it all up on the stovetop.  More cheese, more spinach, whatever I could find, just threw that in, too.  It changes as it goes, by the end I expect there to be hardly any beans but some potatoes in there (there's a bag of "stew veggies" in my freezer that I've got an eye on, haha)...

I started feeling better immediately and am looking forward to my lunch immensely.  Gotta love that stuffing with sausage, and bacon-based stew...

Happy Bento!!!