Bento #10

Steamed white rice, pan fried tofu and wilted spinach

Process: Steam rice. Cut tofu to desired thickness and fried in light olive oil over medium-high heat with a splash of tamari until browned. Remove from pan and throw in handfuls of spinach. Stir briefly until wilted. Fill containers halfway with rice, top with spinach, tofu, and a drizzle of tamari. I normally like to jazz this up with spices or sauce, but we were getting over an illness so I kept it light.

Feedback: Can I have more tofu?

(gluten-free, vegan, kosher)

Bento #9

Vegan Spring Rolls and Popcorn with Thai Peanut Sauce

Process: Cut up carrots and cucumber into long, thin matchsticks (about 4" long), and slice up avocado. Soak 1 spring roll wrapper (mine are made from tapioca) at a time, until soft. Place a layer of spinach along the center, then a line of carrots, a line of cucumber, and a line of avocado. Roll up. Repeat until done making rolls. Slice. Pop some popcorn. Toss with olive oil and garlic. Serve with Thai Peanut Sauce (I make my own. Regular peanut sauce uses fish sauce, which is not vegan. As far as I know, there is not a regularly available kosher fish sauce either). This is not a quick lunch, unless you make the wraps (and sauce) ahead of time.

Feedback: Delicious!

(kosher, vegan, gluten free)

Bento #2

Leftover pizza dinosaurs and leaves, leaf cut carrots, spinach

Process: Filled the containers halfway with spinach leaves. Took leftover anchovy + mushroom pizza and used cookie cutters to punch out dinosaurs and leaves. Used leaf cutter to cut out more leaves from sliced carrots. Placed the dinosaurs (triceratops, fyi) to browse through their leafy jungle.

This was more of a snack bento than a full lunch, as the boys were not very hungry. The pizza was leftover frozen pizza that had everything going for it (GF, kosher dairy, okay price point) but the taste. Too bad. Next time I will use plain pizza for the cutouts, as the toppings obscured the shape a bit. Also, need to use a tastier pizza.

Feedback: Wow! Also: Mmmm, I love carrot trees! I mean leaves!

(kosher, gluten-free)