hapa bento

I know, right?  It’s been awhile since my last Meatless Monday bento post.  No excuses, except that most of my recent bento box lunches were repetitive (read: boring).  Rice, tofu, asparagus.  Then more rice, more tofu then broccoli.  Same ole stuff.

Well, this bento is pretty much the same thing except one teeny-tiny difference.  Can you see it?  It’s in the rice.

Yep, I cooked chunks of Okinawan sweet potato (OSP) along with the rice. Imo-gohan!!  So delicious and steamed together in a rice cooker.

Just peel the raw sweet potato, cut into large chunks, then  toss in with the washed rice. Add water as usual.

When the rice is done, gently mix to break up the chunks into smaller bits.   For this version I used my usual sprouted brown rice.  But any rice will work.   I’m thinking about  using orange colored yams too. Wouldn’t that look great for an autumn-themed bento lunch?!

The other items are simmered tofu with bok choy then topped with fried onions.  Cherry tomatoes and kaiware (radish sprouts) add color and pizazz!

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It’s a melancholy moment when I pack an in-flight bento.  But happy memories overshadow the sad good-byes especially when I include foods that are reminiscent of the fun-filled visit!

Salmon is de-riqueur for a Seattle-style lunch and Rainier cherries from our trip to the farmers market evoke happy flashbacks of a enjoyable vacation!

That alone should conjure desires for return trip…and to seal-the-deal…I added baked chicken, sautéed asparagus, steamed carrots, tomato, white rice and a luscious chunk o’ purple sweet potato!

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Japanistic – cool, fun, well-designed Japanese bentos and other products!

After packing SM’s lunch in my new Keep Cool Bento Box, I realized that not only is this box great for summer because of it’s ice-pack feature, but it’s perfect for  back-to-school too!

I’m making a mental note to feature this bento in future BTS post, although this could be considered for the same…especially if your child likes what’s packed!

Today’s lunch consists of noodles in the form of Korean Chapchae, white rice, kamaboko omelet, snow peas and a pan glazed lotus root!

Our summer weather is just now starting to heat up so this box will come in handy for sure!

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This week’s Meatless Monday does not contain seitan!  I know, shocker of shocks eh?

Instead, I made burgers out of soy protein called TVP or Textured Vegetable Protein.   This product, at first, turned me off as it sounds like something that’s been very processed and artificial…but after checking the ingredients it’s really just soy flour.

But when  seasoned and shaped into mini-burgers, they’re fabulous!

The other meatless items are fried tofu, hapa-rice, yellow-carrot namul, pickled cucumbers, seasoned aburage (another type of fried tofu), snow peas and a cherry tomato!

Happy Monday everyone and have a fantastic week!

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JaponMania -Lovely bento supplies and more!

I have a basket in my pantry that holds all my non-perishable bento-stash.  And currently, The Stash only held numerous baggies of different kinds of rice, not enough to cook on their own and needed to be blended to make it worthwhile.

I also had an oddball can of mandarin oranges which for the life of me can’t remember why I bought it. Maybe Saba Man picked it up for something.

“Hey Saba Man…did you buy this can of mandarin oranges?”

“No.”

So I took a chance and boy and I glad I did.  It smelled wonderful when it all got  heated up.

After the “ding”,  I mixed in a bit of sweet mango butter, almonds, and a splash of rice vinegar all the while wishing that I had cilantro.  Darn.

Anyway, it turned out great.

Tangy.

Which complimented the salty, sesame-ness of these Asian-style tuna burgers. 

Recipe will be posted later but think garlic, sesame oil, sesame seeds, shoyu, mirin….you get the idea.

“Hey, Saba Man…do you want butter on your asparagus and the scallions caramelized?”

“Yes, please.”

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First off, look how cute and tiny those potatoes are!  They’re smaller than even the cherry tomatoes!  Baby (extra baby) red potatoes.

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More Meatless Monday fun!

Today’s bento contains a rice combination that started out as a hodgepodge of ingredients that didn’t have a direction but ended up being very tasty!

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Today’s Meatless Monday bento is probably the easiest one I’ve  assembled to date!

A Tofu Soboro!

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Today’s lunch (really yesterday’s but I “ran out of Sunday” and didn’t post) is a speedy omelet bento.  Or shall we call it an “Omuben?” 

“Omelet Bento”…too long.

“Omuben”…easy to say and even simpler to pack!

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Today’s bento has quite the variety of items including a radish-rabbit as I’m trying to get in as many bunnies until February 3rd. That’s the start of “The Year of the Rabbit” according to the Chinese calendar.

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Today’s bento is following a trend I’ve been noticing on the social networks…”Meatless Monday!”

I never gave it much attention because being a vegetarian myself, everyday is meatless! Read the rest of this entry →

Here’s a snowball bento!  Or should we call it a “snow bao” bento!

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