Bento 102

Sorry it has been so long since I've posted anything!

Here is a quick bento:

Fruit salad on top, mujaddara on bottom. Yum!

Now that Once Upon a Palace Purple is over, I have plenty of time to get back to packing bentos.

Back to Work

After a wonderfully relaxing spring break, it was time to go back to work today. I packed myself this bento to take along with me:


Fruits:

• kiwi
• banana
• raisins
  

Veggies:

• lettuce
• tomato
• carrot
  

And the main dish... mujaddarra! Yum.

Happy Bento!

Little Onigiri Man

Bento #12 features my first attempt at making onigiri (basically, a Japanese rice ball). I made this man using Saran Wrap and a cookie cutter, as described in Biggie's tutorial. I used a bit of cut up (left-over) Shake & Bake chicken for the filling, and used olive peices for the face (as I have yet to purchase any nori).


Though the onigiri was the main accomplishment, let me describe the rest of the meal:

Beside my little man are green apple slices, and gap fillers include cashews, an almond, grapes and dried appricot. In the smaller container below are little wraps made of tosted torilla spread with hummus, mujaddara, and carrot (for color). I stuffed them in there a little too tightly, though, I think, because you can't really tell where one leaves off and the other ones begin. I tried to fix this by putting a bit of parsley in the gaps (such as they were) with limited success.

Mujaddara Recipe

I have gotten a few requests for my Mujaddara recipe. So this goes out to Jen, Kate, Grandma, and anyone else who is curious.

Bulgur wheat and lentils are the basis of this simple recipe. I buy mine in the bulk food section at Winco.

Caramelize these in 1 Tablespoon olive oil:

• 1 small onion
• garlic to taste ( I use 3 big cloves - but I really like garlic)

Add:

• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth (or vegetable broth if you'd rather, or water if you're out)
• 1/2 cup bulgur wheat
• 1/2 cup lentils

Bring it to a boil, then lower heat and cook for 30 minutes.

That's it! When you are done you will have a rice-like dish that can be eaten as a side, or the main course, if you like. Tastes good hot or cold. Makes an excellent substitute for rice in bento boxes.

Thanks to Sue for sharing this recipe with me!

Today's Lunch

My lunch for today is very similar to yesterday's (because not only was it super delicious, but I had the ingredients all made up and could put it together quickly).

On the left is mujaddara topped with an olive and carrot and tomato slices. On the right are some cracker pretending to be Saltines, my attempt at carrot butterflies, lots of sprouts, some hummus, grapes and tiny cookies.

I am amazed how filling these lunches are, even though they are packed into such a small space. I almost couldn't finish mine today, and I'm a pretty big eater.

Note to self, the sprouts work fine as a divider for the hummus, but don't stop moisture from getting through like the foil did. Result? Soggy crackers. :P

Greek Cuisine

For these bentos, I really went overboard cooking three items from scratch for it. But it was all in the name of the theme: Greek Cuisine!

In the larger container I placed homemade hummus, home-grown sprouts, browned tortilla strips, tomatoes, grapes, and itsy bitsy Nestle chocolate chip cookies baked from scratch. (Okay, I know that these cookies aren't Greek, but I can't exactly eat baklava as it has butter in it, right?)

The smaller of the two containers I put homemade mujaddara, decorated with tomato slices and steamed broccoli.

I also packed up a box for my co-workers who have been drooling over my new and improved (tasty!) lunches. It contains the same ingredients, with the addition of an olive.