hapa bento

Here we go… starting off 2012 with a relatively healthy bento: baked salmon, egg omelette, fried brown rice, and broccoli.  Embellishments include a sprig of kaiware (radish sprouts), black sesame seeds, nori, and beni shoga (pickled red ginger).

I consider this bento healthier than not because  I used sprouted brown rice,  just a dash of olive oil and low salt shoyu for the fried rice.  The two-egg omelette is missing one yolk.  And the mayo on the broccoli is made from grape seed oil.   The baked salmon is… um…baked!

Most of the ingredients are organic as well!

We try our very best to eat the better options, a practice that we abandoned during the holidays.  So now with the new year we are focused and ready tackle our cravings with smarter choices.

I hope to keep it up to at least through February.  Do you think we’ll make it? Ha ha!

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

Monday is almost over….gotta post this now!

Today’s Meatless Monday bento contains:

Tofu burgers.  I made myself for the first time! I’m so proud.  No recipe yet because they’re not perfect and I have to tweak some ingredients.

Edamame.

Baked kabocha.

Fried scallions.

Enoki mushrooms.

Umeboshi.

Sprounted rice.

Sesame seed and salt furikake.

Yes, that is a lettuce leaf.  I broke my boycott.

2 more minutes…

Gotta post!

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Today’s featured bento was for Saba Man’s lunch yesterday.  I had forgotten that he had to work this weekend  so when I saw him prepping to leave I had a minor panic attack.

A bento is needed!   Thank goodness I had already defrosted a mahi mahi fillet for his dinner.

Lightly seasoned with sea-salt, cracked pepper and a quick brush of olive oil, the fish was ready-to-eat after 15 minutes of baking.

While that was in the toaster oven, I zapped a packet of frozen brown rice and sauteed brown mushrooms in garlic-butter with a splash of sake.

These are the times when I’m glad that I have a postage-stamp sized kitchen. Everything is within arms reach.

But, something’s missing.  “I need green!”, muttering to myself….

Yay! Leftover roasted asparagus to the rescue!

The nori details and deco were added while the contents cooled— a speedy bento can still be charming so a red strawberry completed the look.

I handed Saba Man this bento, he grabbed his coat and keys then out the door he went!

I think this bento took less time to assemble than to post! 

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After taking a short break from posting bentos, I’m feeling revitalized with many non-meat and fish recipes to share with you.  If you’re a carnivore, please don’t leave.  I’m not being preachy, just providing ideas!

Read the rest of this entry →

Ah…mahi mahi.  It’s one of those fishes that can be fixed up to order!  Cooked and served up in almost any style.

Grilled, baked, breaded…whatever!  Have you ever had a mahi taco?  Mmm… a fish taco bento sounds divine.

But for now Saba Man is stuck with this mayo grilled mahi mahi filet.  Darn.

Read the rest of this entry →

Short post.

Saba Man’s bento is filled with shoyu chicken, broccolini, sprouted rice, beni shoga (pickled ginger), takuan (pickled radish) and nori (toasted seaweed).

Notice that I ran out of lettuce?  Also, I couldn’t find my camera so I took the photo with my phone which didn’t turn out as well as I like.

I also feel a little awkward posting a bento without mention of the Japan earthquake.   But I can’t find the words.  It’s all so shocking. 

If you are on twitter, I recommend following @makiwi (Maki of Just Bento) as she has been translating Japanese news for us.  Her efforts are incredible; timely and succinct messages that are nothing short of amazing.

I applaud her tireless efforts to pass along factual information along with personal notes.  What an incredible woman.

She recently tweeted ” for bento fans: scenes of tons and tons of onigiri being handed out to survivors…” 

That tweet really touched me.

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For more bento tips, information and recipes subscribe to hapa bento via your email or newsreader.

The use of fresh lettuce for baran, the barrier between food items, is becoming cost prohibitive.   With the recent rash of bad weather, fresh fruits and vegetables are now almost double in price!  What’s a bentoist to do?  Read the rest of this entry →

The weekend flew by without catching a breath.   So while I have a moment  to catch my own breath,  I thought I’d better post a bento before you think I’ve stopped packing them.   

Today’s bento features herbed baked salmon, sesame long beans, sprouted rice and a giant kakimochi. 

Just kidding.  That’s not a giant kakimochi.  It’s a piece of tofu jun wrapped in a piece of nori!

Garnishes are furikake (rice topping),beni shoga (pickled red ginger), kaiware (radish sprouts), shiso (perilla leaf), and enoki mushrooms.

Have a fantastic week everybody!

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For more bento tips, information and recipes subscribe to hapa bento via your email or newsreader.

So far, so good with our Meatless Monday bento boxes.  Saba Man doesn’t mind the exclusion of meat in his lunch! Yay!   Read the rest of this entry →

It’s a  double-whamy of love today!  A meatless bento for heart-healthy awareness plus a Valentine theme.   A very subtle  tribute to love with a heart-shaped radish slice. Read the rest of this entry →