Bento #11

Steamed rice with mixed greens and black beans in tomato sauce.

Process: Steam rice. Warm beans in tomato sauce with some oil; season to taste. Fill bento halfway with rice, cover with mixed greens. Ladle over beans in sauce. Yum.

Feedback: Beans were a hit, some of the greens were not.

(kosher, gluten-free, vegan)

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 #7

Steamed white rice, garbanzos in tomato sauce

Process: Steamed rice. Warmed a can of garbanzos and a can of tomato sauce on stove with butter and salt. Fill container 1/2 with rice, 1/2 with beans & sauce. Serve with napkins.

Feedback: Is there more?

(kosher, gluten free, veganizable)

*substituting olive oil for butter would make this vegan.

Bento #5

Sauteed mushrooms and garbanzo beans, carrots, and avocado slices

Process: Sauteed mushrooms in butter, then added garbanzos and continued to cook until warmed. Filled bentos halfway with mixture, topped with rough cut carrots and some ridged discs of avocado made with a cookie cutter. There was supposed to be brown rice in here but it took too long to cook and we were hungry, so we went ahead without it.

Feedback: I love avocado!

(kosher, gluten-free, vegan if using oil instead of butter)

 

I meant to post this a lot earlier, but I'm still getting the hang of scheduling these things. As in, I need to figure out how it actually works.

Bento #4

Steamed white rice, tuna, steamed vegetables

Process: Steamed rice and the cut vegetables. Mixed rice with canned tuna and filled containers halfway. Placed veggies in rows on top; broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots. Later added some tamari, as boys selected that rather than butter or oil. Quick, simple bento, and easy on the stomach.

Feedback: none, but they did eat all of it :)

(kosher, gluten-free, vegan)