This Week (and a Half!) in Bento: December 23-30, 2010

Happy New Year, everyone!  It's been a crazy couple of weeks in the PopArtichoke household.  Holiday madness, crazy work schedules, family, friends, and food galore.  I'd say it was actually one of the best holidays I've had in a while, but there wasn't a lot of time for making bentos.  If you were wondering what happened to last week's "This Week," well, there was only one bento, and I thought I'd carry it over to this one.  Sadly, no holiday-themed lunches either, but as many of you probably know, sometimes, you're lucky to get any lunches made during the holidays! ^_^

December 23

Here's the bento I managed to make in the days leading up to Christmas.  Organic tri-color radiatore with a pepper jack cheese sauce is in the first container, garnished with a bit of parsley.  In the middle is a lively salad of red and green oak lettuce, red onion, and cherry tomatoes.  In the third container, there's kalamata olive hummus, red pepper slices, and prunes.  I guess there's a bit of red and green in there.. almost Christmas-y.. right?

December 28

The day after Christmas, we went to Lao Beijing in Chicago's Chinatown.  It was a lovely experience (our first time there) and of course, we had lots of tasty leftovers.  Here's some crispy duck with hoisin sauce, served over rice.  Then some delicious lamb dumplings with a little bottle of dipping sauce.  I threw in some peppery edamame, and the lunch was complete!  Meaty, warming, and so toothsome!  We'll definitely be venturing back to Chinatown soon to try Lao Beijing's sister restaurants too!

December 29

It wasn't until after I made this bento that I realized the irony of the penguin (aka flightless bird) theme...seeing as they're sitting happily among some adobo-glazed chicken wings.  Now the adorableness almost seems sinister.. or maybe that's just me. Hehe.. anywaaay... the wings are served on a bed of baby arugula with blue cheese dip in the happy penguin-shaped cup.  Rice is adorned with red pepper stars, and in the corner are "Gummy Tummies": penguin-shaped gummy candies with a fruit juice center.  Yum!

December 30

The last bento of the year feature homemade seafood chow mein.  It's nestled aside a baby arugula salad with sesame-soy dressing and tako chips (octopus-flavored chips.. shaped like octopi!).  Then a couple of dates for dessert.  A delicious way to use up some leftovers to make way for the new year! 

Hope everyone had a happy, safe holiday season!  Here's wishing all of you a prosperous, healthy, and delicious 2011!  Happy New Year!  あけましておめでとうございます。