hapa bento

Salmon Salad Wraps, Mashed Sweet Potato and Coconut , Turkish Apricot Garbanzo Beans

Try as I may, I’ve never been able to stop Monday from coming!  Here it is, Sunday night. Again. With Monday looming in a few more hours I cannot decide which is worse!  Sunday night or Monday morning?  The former being the night when I can no longer procrastinate, amongst other things, the ever growing pile of laundry.  It is the last call to get my “act” together.  But how does it compare to Monday morning?  My Monday morning attitude is directly linked to Sunday night’s production level.  We shall see…

Tonight is no exception to the flurry of activities, and building a bento right now, on this Sunday evening, seems a daunting task.   So… for today’s featured bento box, it’s the one I made last night. 

It’s filled with my favorite PCC salad, Turkish Apricot Garbanzo!  I can’t eat enough of it and I’m always surprised that there’s a bit left for a lunch box.   Also in there, a repeat of salmon salad with cranberries.  Saba Man called me at work after eating that day’s bento to say that he  enjoyed the salad and to request “more, please”.  Feedback is a good thing, it makes my bento box packing life WAY easier. 

The mashed sweet potato is a recipe that I sneaked copied from tasting a sample from the same PCC deli counter.  Coconut milk and cilantro!  Who would of “thunk”?  I usually have all three of those in my kitchen so I went for it.  Wow, it was really good.  Here’s how I made it.

Coconut Sweet Potato Mash

1 large sweet potato or yam, baked or roasted

3/4 cup of canned coconut milk

2 tablespoons of chopped fresh cilantro

Pinch of chili flakes

While the potato is still very warm, mash it while adding the coconut milk and keep mashing until evenly mixed.  Add cilantro and chili flakes to taste.  Eat and enjoy!  

There  are probably a few more ingredients in the PCC version.  The next time I’m in that store, I’ll look at the label  for other elements then revise my recipe as needed.   It’s sneaky, but frugal.