This Week in Bento: January 25 - 29, 2011

Hello again, bento lovers of the world!  Is it just me or did January just fly by?  As this month nears its end, I'm nearing the launch of that all-bento site I've been going on about.  I'm already starting to think I'm crazy for trying to run two blogs at once, but then again, people obsessed with food are always a little bit crazy.  That said, let's get this started, okay? ^_^

January 25

This bento features beef tacos with refried beans, onions, cilantro and cheese.  Some sunny-colored sides accompany the tacos, including some savory roasted corn.  On one side of the corn is navel orange wedges, and on the other side are penguin-shaped gummy candies.

January 26

The star of this bento is a delicious Malaysian dish I made this week: Grilled Fish with Sambal in Banana Leaves.  Served with a shallot-sambal condiment and a lime wedge, this bento was a flavorful and colorful treat!  Along with the fish, this bento holds coconut basmati rice, stars made from mango paste, and some tangy cut kiwi.

Steve got a similar bento, which he raved about.  I actually added some mango paste to his lunch as well, but it didn't make it into the photo.

January 27

This well-balanced bento includes mushroom flatbread and spaghetti with Steve's homemade puttanesca sauce.  The salad has tomato, blue cheese, green onion with a red wine vinaigrette.  The orange is an heirloom navel orange.. one of the best oranges I've ever tasted!

January 28

We ordered takeout from our favorite Chinese place, and I noticed that they added some dishes to their menu.  One of them is this sweet peppercorn beef dish, featuring beef with fried potato and pineapple in a peppercorn sauce, served with broccoli.  It's served in this bento lunch with rice, mineola wedges, kiwi, and a little whale cut from mango paste.

January 29

This lovely bento finishes off the week with leftovers from a tasty meal Steve made.  He marinated pork chops in his famous (at least to me) balsamic vinegar marinade, and served 'em up with blue cheese mashed potatoes and sautéed Brussels sprouts and shallots.  That man can cook!  Here in the bento, it's nestled in the lunch box with blood orange wedges, chocolate chips, and almonds.

That's it for this week!  Have a fantastic week, everyone and once again, to get news about the new bento blog that will be launched any day now, just follow PopArtichoke on Twitter, Facebook, or Google.  Thanks!