This Week in Bento: October 12-16, 2010

Good news!  I'm finally back at work this week, although for a few weeks I'm working short shifts, which means instead of a 30 minute break, I get only 15 minutes.  I still was making bentos, but you'll notice that some are a bit smaller than usual. . .

October 12

I'll call this one "Wonton Soup, Deconstructed."  Steve makes a mean wonton soup, and I wanted to bring some for my lunch!  I knew I'd have some time between my physical therapy session and my shift at work, and therefore I'd have some time to mix everything together in a bowl and heat it up.  I used the "soup" container of my Ms. Bento (the most air-tight of the containers) for the actual broth and added some scallions.  Then in the front container there are all the components: cilantro-chicken mini-wontons, shiitake mushrooms, sliced hard-boiled egg, and bok choy.  I put the broth in a bowl at work, put in all the ingredients and heated it like this so the wontons would cook up nicely.  In the cute little bottle is some wasabi-sesame oil, which I drizzled atop the soup.  To go with (there in the back) are some tako chips (octopus-flavored chips that are octopus-shaped!) and some kiwi.  I put the kiwi in one of my little containers that has a locking lid, so the chips would stay crisp.

October 14

Here's a simple, but wholesome little bento.  Spaghetti with Steve's homemade puttanesca sauce and parsley, garlic bread, and a nice salad of greens, scallions and tomatoes.  And of course, little pig- and fish-shaped bottles holding some oil and vinegar for the salad!

October 15

Now this is by far my favorite bento of the week!  It's actually probably one of my favorite bentos I've ever made!  It was a bit much to eat in only 15 minutes (so I saved some for when I got home) but boy-oh-boy was it tasty!  On the right are those same "foxy" inari that I made a couple weeks ago, filled with masago and avocado.  Yum!  With them are some edamame for a bit more protein.  In the center is rice with radish leaf furikake that I made... recipe coming very soon (I am making a trio of radish recipes, and will post them all together!) And then, on the left, are some organic blueberries and pomegranate seeds (I always think these look like little gems when I see them in bentos!).  On the cute skewer there are stars made of this chewy black coconut candy bar I found at a Latin market.. really tasty and it keeps shape too!  All and all a really cohesive bento I think, both in flavors and in colors!  It wasn't until I saw the photo later that I realized there's a visual theme of zigzags in this lunch.. I love when those things happen by accident!

October 16

By the end of the week I was finally starting to get used to having short breaks, so I tried really hard to make a pretty minimal bento, more like a big snack than a lunch.  This way I could eat the whole thing without feeling like I stuffed myself, but still have enough to fill me up.  There's peanut butter roll-ups (peanut butter in corn tortillas) as the centerpiece, the rest of those delicious organic blueberries, pistachios, edamame, roasted corn, and carrot flowers.  It really hit the spot!

Hope everyone is having a splendid weekend!  Keep up the bento-ing!