September 2010

All the content on this site by month.

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Bento contents:

Total calories (approx): 250 (how calories are calculated)

Time needed: 30 minutes (if all components are made in the morning, much less time if you make things in advance)

Type: Japanese, low carb, low calorie, vegan, "zen"!

Sweet pepper and carrot confetti

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I am calling this colorful dish confetti, because it's not quite assertively flavored enough to call it furikake. It is sort of a no-sugar (low-carb) and much lower calorie variation of Cooked to Death Hot and Sweet Peppers, though I have made the hot peppers optional. Even with no added sugar or sweetener, I think the natural sweetness of the vegetables comes through nicely. It's a really useful vegetable side dish, to just pack on the side or sprinkle on top of rice or other things. You could also fold in a spoonful into tamagoyaki to make it really colorful. It can be kept in the refrigerator for a few days, or frozen.

Great Bento Idea: Paul Klee bento by Reiko

I picked this week's Great Bento Idea just because it's beautiful and different. It's edible bento art!

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Bento contents:

Total calories (approx): 490 (how calories are calculated)

Time needed: 5 to 10 minutes to pack in the morning

Type: Not really Japanese, made from stash and leftovers

Meatballs with lettuce in tomato sauce

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Lettuce in meatballs? I know it sounds weird, but it really works. Tons of chopped lettuce and onion in the meatball mixture gives them an interesting crunchy-crispy texture when freshly cooked. (Picky kids may object to that texture, just because it's different, but give them a try!) After a time, especially if the meatballs are frozen, the texture disappears, but the meatballs remain juicy and succulent. Plus, the vegetables lighten up the meatballs and lowers their per-ball calore count without sacrificing flavor. The meatballs are simmered in a thick, flavorful tomato sauce.

This is a really versatile recipe that can be kept in the refrigerator for a few days, or put into your freezer stash. You can make this for dinner and serve it over hot pasta, and set aside some for your bento the next day. It goes well with pasta or rice, can be a filling for a assemble-at-lunch sandwich, and so on.

Great Bento Ideas: Pretty and Vegetarian

09.15.10 Lunch

This week's Great Bento Ideas are all vegetarian!

Negimiso bento recipes: Misoyaki tofu, Misoyaki onigiri, Misoyaki rice

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Three bento-friendly recipes made with negimiso, or onion-miso sauce.

A Note About the Soup and Muffin Bento

A small but critical correction for the Soup and Muffin Bento which starts on page 102.

On page 103, the amount of flour in the Basic Savory Muffin batter for the Cheese and Edamame Muffin recipe is wrong. Instead of 1 cup (125g) of cake flour, use 2 cups (250g) cake flour (or all-purpose flour). This applies for all of the muffin variations on the next page too.

My apologies for this typo!

Note that this error appears in the first edition only. It's been corrected in subsequent editions.

Great Bento Ideas: Simple and effective bentoscapes from Lian Mama and Bentobird

2010-09-08

This week, we have two Great Bento Ideas from the bento community, both illustrating how bentos can be beautiful yet not have to require hours and hours of time to assemble.

This week, both JustBento and JustHungry will be making a long overdue move to another server, major background maintenance/repairs and other things, so you may see some disruptions in service. This includes the forums and user blogs - you may be unable to log in and post or comment, etc. there on occasion, or you may see a "site down" notice. Please bear with me. Everything should be back to normal by the end of the week (fingers crossed). Thank you for your patience. I'll update this post when everything is back to normal.

Green onion and thyme low-carb gluten-free muffins

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Low-carb, gluten-free savory muffins that are perfect for bentos, or for snacks, or for breakfast, or....

Bento no. 76: Chicken and pepper rice cooker bento

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Bento contents:

  • Chicken with peppers and sesame oil, 240 calories
  • Broccoli with wasabi sauce, using stevia as the sweetener instead of sugar and halving the sake, 20 calories
  • 1/2 cup (120ml) rice , 120 calories

Total calories (approx): 380 (how calories are calculated)

Time needed: 5 to 10 minutes prep time, plus 20-30 minutes of cooking time

Type: Japanese, made in a rice cooker

Rice cooker bentos

This is the top page for bentos that are made completely (or mostly) in a rice cooker.

Great Bento Idea: Ochazuke bento from Not Another Brown Bag Lunch

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This week's great bento idea from the bento community at large is from Mils of Not Another Brown Bag Lunch - it's an ochazuke bento!

What is an ochazuke? As I explained some years ago, ochazuke is basically rice with various savory bits on it, over which hot green tea is poured. You mix up the rice, tea and bits, and slurp. Ochazuke is often served as the last course in a formal meal, or eaten simply as a quick late-night snack. It's a great way to use up leftover rice for one thing.

The Just Bento Cookbook on Japanese TV, and how the Japanese media is looking at the spread of 'bento culture' overseas

The Just Bento Cookbook was mentioned quite prominently on a daytime news and current topics show called Wide! Scramble (ワイド!スクランブル)on TV Asahi, a Japanese televison channel, as part of a nearly 7 minute feature about the growing popularity of bentos around the world. I was really excited to see my book so prominently mentioned on a national network of course, but it's also an interesting look at how the Japanese media regards the increasing popularity of bentos internationally.

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Bento contents:

  • 3 bento sized mini cabbage rolls, 180 calories
  • Green beans with ginger stir fried in sesame oil, 60 calories
  • Green beans stir fried with ginger and sesame oil, 60 calories
  • Carrot slices cooked with the cabbage rolls, 5 calories
  • 2/3 cup (160ml) rice from frozen stash, 160 calories

Total calories (approx): 405 (how calories are calculated)

Time needed: 5 to 10 minutes in the morning to defrost and pack up the bento

Type: Japanese, everything made in advance; low-carb adjustable by reducing or replacing rice

Bento sized mini cabbage rolls

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I love cabbage rolls, whether rolled or deconstructed, but regular sized ones are a bit too large and sloppy in my mind to put into all but the largest bento boxes. These are little bento sized cabbage rolls, just a bit bigger than a ping-pong ball. They aren't too showy to look at, but are deliciously juicy hot or cold. They are kept compact and slim by using napa or Chinese cabbage instead of regular cabbage leaves, since napa cabbage leaves are thinner and more tender, and using the smaller inner leaves that are about 10 inches (25cm) long.

Another feature of these mini cabbage rolls is that I tried making them in a rice cooker, and they came out great. I've also given instructions for making them on the stovetop, but if you're looking for more ways to utilize your rice cooker, you may want to try it out that way.