Category Archives: Picture Post

Bento & Experimental Failure

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Well, the past couple of weeks have been interesting.  Remember how I posted about the porridge a while back?  Well, turns out that was only the tip of the iceberg on the sickday train, that little thing coming back to whollop me and put me out of commission last week almost entirely.

What did I eat?  Things I didn’t have to cook and didn’t have to clean up after…a slightly embellished premade thai soup was about as fancy as I got.  I’m going to go ahead and blame our recently crazy indecisive weather in the bay area for me being sick, and thus the distinct lack of blog posts.

Yesterday, I did something against my better judgement.  I was craving green beans au gratin really badly and had all sorts of nifty cheeses lying around (parmesan, manchego, chevre).  Make a little roux, add some milk, throw in the cheese, then some parcooked green beans– bound to be awesome! Here’s where I nod my head downward in shame: I only had unsweetened vanilla almond milk.  How vanilla-y could it be?  It wasn’t that sweet, and didn’t seem vanilla-y in my cereal.

Well, it was vanilla-y.  And so was my awful-gratin.   I knew better, but I tried anyway.  And I somehow managed to get myself to eat half of it before giving up.

Moral of the story: Trust your judgement.  And make sure you always have unflavored milk or alternative milks in your house for spontaneous au gratin or homemade mac & cheese or alfredo cravings.

Anyway, today’s craving for some reason was sushi.  Impatience was my nemesis today, boiling the rice while staring hungrily at the stove.  Boiling some unseasoned rice vinegar with brown sugar (not typical, but brown sugar works fine).  Mixing the two together.  Toasting the nori.

…Aw hell, do I really want to wait for this to cool?  No.  Spread the warm rice on the nori. Add ingredients. Roll.  Notice it’s soggy.  Hold the roll over the gas stove for a bit until the outside gets crisp again.  Slice. Eat.  Satisfying.

I’m not a sushi master and never will be.  My sushi was warm and soft.  I humbly bow to those who have the patience and can manipulate it to be perfect in every way.  But, let me tell you, if you have a desperate sushi craving and the right materials around, it can take you 30 minutes from start to start eating to pull it together.

Today’s combos:

  • umeboshi, cucumber, daikon, carrot, maguro
  • cucumber, umeboshi, carrot
  • maguro, gochujang, carrot, daikon

The leftovers are tomorrow’s bento, along with some hamachi and fukujinzuke, as you can probably tell from the picture above.

I’m not sure I’ll have another chance to post before I go off to South America for vacation for 2 weeks.  I’ll be hitting up Peru for the tourist classic Macchu Picchu, ceviche (and the potential post-ceviche digestive regret), some additional adventures, and a few pisco sours to be followed by a visit with friends in Ecuador with an itinerary that is still TBD.

I won’t be cooking, most likely (unless my friends in Ecuador want me to cook for them), but I’ll try to post some foodie pictures and tell tales of my adventures if I have the time and internet capability.  So, don’t hold your breath, but keep your eyes open. :)

Midweek Bento

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Top: "Popeye Bento"- spinach & beets with shichimi togarashi & sesame seeds, strawberries, laughing cow cheese, and pita bread (not pictured. Bottom: "Easter Egg Bento": Egg salad (with dill pickles, dried dill, & korean hot pepper flakes), spinach w/ sesame seeds, carrots, cherry tomatoes, and pita bread.

Sunday Bento #4

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Salad with lettuce, green onions, farmer’s market carrots, splendido cherry tomatoes (the bomb diggity, TJ’s has them, check them out if you can), fresh boiled beets, and a homemade tea egg (here’s what to do with broken hard boiled eggs not fit for easter egg coloring) with a couple of wedges of lemon.


My coworker, Jen, of Blue Wave Studios (an awesome photographer, jet setter, foodie, and girl geek), brought me back an omiyage of a perfect little desk sized set of olive oil & vinegar from her recent trip to Spain.  She said “I thought you’d like this because you eat so much salad!”  Hm, I haven’t been lately, but it is true that I love salad and I do love Spanish olive oil (sorry, Italian heritage).  Thus, this appetizing salad bento for lunch tomorrow.  Thanks for inspiring me, Jen! :)

Sunday Bento Super Macro Substitute

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Sorry all, my bento isn’t very picturesque today.  It’s a lot of that spaghetti squash with sauce on it smooshed juicily into my bento.  Instead, I give you an unnecessary and entirely gratuitous macro shot.  Can you guess what this is?

I’ll give you a hint: it’s pretty cool.

Sunday Bento #3

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Monday & Tuesday of this week!

Red bento: baked summer squash, tempeh and mushrooms over shirataki noodles, garden salad, onion stuffed olives.  Can you spot the sneaky smiley face? :)

Clear tupperware: Greek tofu (tofu cooked with caramelized onions, lemon juice, salt, pepper, oregano, garlic powder), baba ganoush, cucumber yogurt salad, tomatoes and spinach (with a pita, not pictured).

 

Sunday Bento #2

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Channa masala with eggplant & okra (recipe coming soon), wehani rice, and cucumber slices.

I’ve been so busy this weekend!  I did cook several things (including the items in the bento above), though, so hopefully some new posts will be coming later this week.  Until then, here’s a tease of my lunch tomorrow. :)

Sunday Bento

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It seems that just about every Sunday I have a tradition now of making food for the week and packing it up in cute (albeit nowhere near masterful) bento.  During a hard day at work, there’s nothing quite like cracking open a healthy lunch that was made with care, even if you made it for yourself. :)

This week, I’m trying to get back on the healthy-eating, part-time vegetarian bandwagon after St. Patrick’s day threw me off. ^~^”

Oyster mushroom/snap pea/bok choy stir fry with rice; inarizushi filled with carrots/green onions/marinated perilla leaves, spinach with sesame seeds and more veggies.

P.S. If you like this post, my blog, Japanese cuisine, or just general pleasantry in the world, please consider donating to Doctors Without Borders to help support their efforts in Japan and during other disasters and conflicts throughout the world.  They’ve proven themselves over the years to be a well-organized, helpful, and responsible non-profit. Even $10 would help!  (What would you do with that extra $10 anyway?)