healthy blog recipe night

last night i had my friend jeannie over for dinner; we planned in advance to cook healthy recipes from some of the blogs i’ve been obsessed with lately.

the butternut & white bean patties are adapted from healthy happy life‘s “toasty pumpkin chickpea fritters” recipe, and the baked apple is pretty faithful to for the love of kale‘s version.  both recipes turned out AMAZING, and it was such a fun night!  (disclosure: two bottles of red wine were also involved.)

click-through for my cooking notes and the nutritional information…

carribean tofu bento

today’s lunch (made yesterday) came together quickly — no recipes involved, just soy boy’s carribean tofu, which is spiced so beautifully as to make a tasty meal with the addition of just nutty brown rice and a few garnishes. this lunch is totally in keeping with the tone it up nutrition plan‘s simple “lean, clean and green” philosophy!

nutritional info below.

bibimbap onigiri bento

tomorrow’s lunch is leftovers from tonight’s dinner, slightly rearranged:  instead of just packing the leftover black-and-brown rice into the tiffin (or a section thereof), i shaped it into two triangular onigiri, which i then partly coated in sesame seeds, and partly wrapped in sesame leaves.

i put a little bit of each of the namul (radish, carrot, mushrooms and pickled cucumber, plus some sprouts, ferns and sesame spinach buried underneath), and then fried up a few little quail eggs instead of one the big hen’s egg we used for each bowl at dinner.  finally, i packed some gochujang in a tiny mayo container, and added a vine-ripe tomato for color.

rearranging normal, eat-at-home dinners (whether using mini-versions of ingredients, or mini-portions) is one of my favorite bento past-times!

new miffy fork bento

so, i treated myself and ordered a few things from rakuten… i’ve been slowly working them into my bento repertoire.  the new item i’m featuring today is a melamine miffy fork, it’s so adorable, and it’s not even really child sized, so it’s actually comfortable to eat with.

today’s bento has a cheese, radish, and nori miffy, on top of a mixed rice batch from my cuckoo pressure cooker — i used near east’s lentil rice pilaf, as well as some brown nishiki.  some baby cucumber slices also accent the rice, which is separated from the rest of the food by a strawberry-wax-paper divider.  the top section has baked tofu (recipe below), carrot flowers, steamed corn, a tiny yellow tomato and three tiny sweet peppers (from various brooklyn rooftop gardens), and steamed broccolini (which i love because it has a more delicate look than regular broccoli).

yummy baked tofu

• 1 package firm tofu or tofu “steak” (i like house foods’ garlic-pepper tofu steak)
• 1/3 cup honey
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic or garlic paste
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (gochugaru)

1. preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. cut the block of tofu into 4 pieces, cutting the long way.
3. line a baking sheet or brownie pan with tin foil, and place the 4 tofu pieces on the foil with at least 1″ of free space around all sides of each tofu piece.
4. in a small sauce pan, bring glaze ingredients (honey, garlic, soy, sesame oil, pepper flakes) to a simmer so that everything combines.
5. using a basting brush, evenly coat 5 of the 6 sides of each tofu piece (don’t baste the bottom side right now). bake for 8-10 minutes, then re-baste those same 5 sides, and bake for another 8-10 minutes.  if any water has leached out of the tofu, carefully (e.g. with pot-holders) drain that liquid into your sink — we want a dry roast, not a steam!
6. flip the tofu so that the un-basted side is on top; baste and bake for 8-10 minutes. re-baste and re-bake.
7. are you getting the picture?  keep basting and turning, until the tofu has been in the oven for a good 60-70 minutes (we’re using a low heat , so don’t worry about the tofu burning).  once all sides are sufficiently glazed (they should be a deep, sticky brown), the tofu is done.  you may want to run the top side (or top and bottom sides) under the broiler for an additional 30-60 seconds, to get the glaze even darker and bubbly-caramelized.
8. cut into even slices (the inside will still be pale, gradating out to the lovely brown crust), and if you wish, garnish with sesame seeds or chopped scallion.

has anyone noticed that almost all of my recipes involve soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic and pepper flakes?  well, i guess i know what i like…

want to see more fab wednesday lunch bentos, or add a link to your own?  check out “what’s for lunch wednesday” at bento lunch!

[as seen on japanistic blog]

radish “cherries” bento

just a quick entry today by way of explanation for my long absences and spotty posting this summer… still figuring out my schedule, and eating lunch at home most days, so no need to pack a box.  today, though, i’m helping out a friend’s art gallery, so i am bringing a little something: brown and white basmati rice layered over matar paneer (indian peas and cheese), with steamed broccoli, carrot leaves, takuwan flowers, CSA blueberries in a paper food cup, two vegetarian chicken strips, and the cutest tiny tomato from my friends’ garden.  two radish “cherries” (cilantro and mint “stem”) top off my rice.

hope you all are having a wonderful summer, full of as many possibilities and projects as mine so far!

faux strawberries bento

hey!  i know, it’s been forever since i posted!  quick life update:  left my law firm job and am thinking of transitioning back into museum work; have been to las vegas, new orleans, and philadelphia (twice) in the last three weeks visiting friends, seeing art, eating tons of food, and celebrating a birthday girl and a bride; and am still exploring the new food and craft spots in my new neighborhood and fine-tuning the decor details in the new[-ish] apartment.  lots going on, but i hope to get back on a regular bento schedule soon… starting today, in fact!

this bento has two “strawberries” cut from red pepper with mint leaves and white cheese “seeds” (cut from a straw section with one end pinched to make it pointier for a tear-drop shape).  my strawberries are resting on savory quinoa salad (recipe below) topped with the thinnest possible layer of plain quinoa (for better color contrast against the red pepper flesh).  the rest of the box has steamed broccoli with two carrot butterflies, sliced radish, takuwan flowers, vegetarian ham-wrapped okra, a grape tomato cut in half, and a few blueberries.

hope you have all been enjoying your summer travels, projects, and whatever else you’re up to!

savory quinoa salad with goat cheese, thyme and mint

• 1 cup of quinoa, 2 cups water (you can halve or double the recipe if you want, but keep the 1 quinoa:2 water ratio the same!)
• 2 springs fresh thyme (pull the tiny leaves off and discard the woody stem)
• 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped (i used the leftovers from cutting out the “strawberries”)
• 1/4 small red onion, chopped
• 1/2 tsp. minced garlic (can be omitted for a lighter, more subtly flavored salad)
• 1/2 cup chopped mushrooms (i actually used some leftover stems from mushroom caps that the boyfriend stuffed for sunday brunch)
• 2-3 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 tbsp. goat cheese per serving (this recipe makes 2 servings so i used about half of the pre-packaged cheese “log”, but you may want to add more or less)
• mint for garnish

1. add your quinoa and water to a saucepan, and bring the mixture up to a boil.  as soon as it’s boiling, reduce it to the lowest simmer possible, and stir every 2-3 minutes until the water is absorbed.  the total cooking time should be 10-15 minutes counting the time to boil.  (another method is to bring the quinoa to a boil, make sure it’s tightly covered, and turn the flame completely off, letting it steam for about 15 minutes until cooked.)  when the quinoa is cooked, fluff with a fork.
2. add most of your olive oil to a small pan, and cook all your veggies until the peppers are tender and the onions translucent.  turn the flame off and incorporate the fresh thyme.
3. in a bowl, fold the sautéed vegetables into the cooked quinoa, and drizzle the rest of the olive oil over top.  crumble some goat cheese on top (it melts into a deliciously gooey texture over the warm salad), and garnish with a mint sprig or some julienned mint.

so fast and easy… a perfect summer salad!

[as seen on more design please]

flowered inarizushi redux bento

tomorrow’s lunch is another quick one — when will i find an apartment and stop this running around?!

this tiffin contains three inarizushi pockets filled with rice i mixed with rice wine vinegar, ume furikake, and peas, and topped with purple potato flowers and leaves (sesame seed accents).  as sides, i have some steamed broccoli, three takuwan slices, a plump strawberry, a star-cut radish, and some quick-pickled carrot shavings.  all of that sits on a bed of lettuce, underneath of which is some sliced nashi.

monkey soboro bento

i received an unusual request via flickr-mail yesterday: a friendly user (and apparent fan of my photostream) asked if i might be willing to make a monkey bento, in honor of her favorite animal.

well, i have a couple of monkey sauce cases that have been lying around since my west coast bento shopping spree back in november, and i’m always up for a challenge, so i decided to use the monkey on the sauce case as my inspiration, and figured i could achieve the brown with a soboro bento.

my soboro is made of vegetarian faux ground beef. first i made an onigiri in approximately the same shape as the monkey’s inner face, molding pink rice free-form with saran wrap. then i layered some sliced orange bell pepper and scallions in the box, added the onigiri, and spooned in my “ground beef” (which i had sauteed with some cumin, garlic powder, salt and pepper). i added radish eyes, nori eyelashes, a red pepper mouth, and a dyed-pasta bow, and voila! i had my monkey (no banana, though). this was my first time trying soboro for a bento, and i wish it had come out a teensy bit neater, but it was fun and i’ll definitely keep trying to perfect this technique!

even though the monkey looks like she’s made of just two ingredients, don’t forget about the veggies layered under there — once i mix it all up (with the hot sauce i stored in the actual monkey sauce case), it will be a tasty and healthy entree. i figured i would want something sweet too, though, so i made a quick side car of kiwi slices, pear flowers, and kumquats.

here’s a close up of the sauce case (available from napa japan):

see the resemblance? ok, i used artistic license to omit the ears and add the eyelashes. i hope my new flickr pal enjoys this one, and i hope you all have a great friday and weekend!

bunny-eggs bento

so easter’s not really my thing, but i couldn’t resist this very easter-ish combo of eggs (quail eggs, to be precise) and bunny ears (from this new pick set i first saw on akinoichigo-san’s blog; i don’t think they’re supposed to be bunny ears, but use your imagination!).  plus, these bunnies give me another chance to submit to hapa bento’s BOMB for this month!

these are super simple to make: just boil your quail eggs and peel (i find that using a sharp object to puncture the thick inner “skin” — in a place on the egg that won’t be seen, of course — really helps get the peeling started), and insert picks. i cut the noses with a straw from fish sausage, and punched the mouths with a face punch, and added sesame seeds for eyes.

the rest of this box has rice mixed with shiso powder and topped with peas (an idea from lucky sundae’s awesome blog), lettuce, a star-cut radish, kimchi mandoo and one edamame shumai, takuwan slices, clementine segments in a food cup, a few grape tomatoes, a few pea pods to fill in empty spaces, and some broccoli topped with fish sausage stars.

a close up of these bunnies, before they hippety-hop right into my mouth:

oh, and in case you’re wondering, these cute paper-covered kids’ chopsticks were another j-list score.  the picks came from ebay, and the flat-rate shipping from japan was actually quick compared to some other ebay sellers located there.

lovebirds bento

i know, i know, sheri did a gorgeous lovebirds bento on monday, and i swear that 1) i sketched this similar idea in my notebook over the weekend, and 2) i’m by no means trying to top hers (there’s no way i could!)… that said, maybe we can get a theme going (like when everybody did penguins)?  i just couldn’t pass up using this beautiful, intricate cutter for a holiday themed bento.

my love birds are made from egg sheet (i used mothering corner’s super-helpful instructions, and learned that adding cornstarch produces a pretty durable and smooth sheet; mine has 3 drops of red food coloring) on top of cheese, and the heart they’re sitting on is more egg sheet and cheese, topped by a daikon heart.

in the top portion of the box we have yellow carrots, pea pods, a grape tomato, broccoli, purple potato slices, pomegranate seeds in 2 silicone food cups (i doubled for stiffness and a more recognizable heart shape), a strawberry, and garlic-pepper salmon (leftover from tonight’s dinner).

this is my last valentine bento, as tomorrow i’ll be posting my “year of the tiger” contribution.  i hope you all have a wonderful valentine’s day, either with your sweethearts, your kids, or friends who love you!