#34 Rice and Stuff Bento

Bottom Tier: Jasmine Rice with a soy sauce swirl

Top Tier: Celery and carrot pieces, furikake for my rice in plastic wrap, fried soysage slices, dark chocolate almonds.

#33 Not a Bento

This obviously isn't a bento lunch, but it does have 2 recipes in it that I want to write down, so here it is anyway:

In the cream cheese tub: 3 stuffed grape leaves.

Sandwich: Queso blanco, turkey bacon, and guacamole on multigrain bread.

and a peach yogurt.

Stuffed grape leaves:

Cook about 1.5 cups of any white rice you like (I used Jasmine). Cool, and mix in about 1 can of crushed tomatoes, about a teaspoon of red pepper flakes, a couple tablespoons of crushed garlic, and some black pepper.

Open 1 bottle of pickled grape leaves, and rinse them under running water (if you don't do this, they will be way too salty to eat. Put about 1 tablespoon of rice mixture into the middle of each leaf and roll it like a burrito. Pack the stuffed leaves into a deep soup pan. When the pan is full, sprinkle it all over with about 1/4 cup olive oil, and add enough veggie broth where you can see it under the first couple of layers. Cover and cook on medium-low for a couple of hours. When finished, squeeze the juice of half a lemon over all the leaves.

Guacamole:

1 avocado

3 cherry tomatoes, or half a normal tomato

a few sprigs of cilantro

1 garlic clove

juice of quarter-half lime or

Put everything in a blender (I used my Magic Bullet), and blend until you get the consistency you want.

Here's what it looked like on my sandwich:

#32 Comfort Pasta Bento

Top Tier: Baked bow-tie pasta

Bottom Tier: Red cabbage and carrot salad dressed with salad oil, salt, and lemon juice

Yummy comforting baked pasta:

Cook 1 box (12 oz?) of your favorite pasta shape al dente (my pasta box said to cook the pasta for 10 minutes, but I cooked it for about 7 and a half). Mix together 1 can of your favorite cream of whatever soup (I used chicken) and a half soup-can of milk, and stir into pasta. Add some spices, salt, and pepper to taste. Stir in some shredded cheese (I used an Italian blend). Pour everything into an oven-safe dish. Top with some smashed crackers (I used whole wheat Saltines), and some more cheese. Bake at 350 until cheese is melty and a little browned.

You could also add some veggies in there if you want. As I was trying it, I thought it might be good with some frozen peas, or maybe some asparagus (although I would have used fresh-I have a consistency issue with most pre-cooked veggies).

This is what it looked like when it came out of the oven: