Salmon Salad Bento (#19)

I am really excited about a new recipe I found. It incorporates salmon and a veggie that I didn't even know was a veggie...fennel. To my surprise one of the markets in town actually had fennel. It sort of a cross between licorice (REAL licorice), celery, and a cabbage-like texture. If you haven't tried cooking with it, I highly recommend it! Here is a picture to give you an idea of what it looks like:



FYI, the wispy green stuff is called a frond, and is good for garnishing and flavor. The stalks can be used to flavor broths, and are too "woody" to eat. The bulb of the plant is that part that is eaten. The recipe can be found online here. I wasn't too thrilled at the work involved to prepare the oranges...and the wastage of most of it. I'm sure sliced oranges or canned mandarin oranges would work just as well and cut down on the prep time.

Here are some more pictures related to my salmon salad bento with fennel, orange, and mint!

Fresco Bento (#18)

I have literally been running around the past two weeks like a headless chicken! This is the first day that I actually have a moment to post a picture.

I have to say that the frozen spaghetti nests were a hit. Granted, its basically chilled pasta, but it still looks nice when it thaws...not to soggy not too dry. I also have been using them as a pseudo ice pack. Hands down my favorite part about them is that I can just pull it out of the freezer and stick it in my lunch box. I'm curious to see if using a green pesto sauce would work as well.

You'll notice in this bento that I have actually included a shape! I made some really yummy rye/wheat bread earlier in the week. I still haven't figured out a way to make the crust turn out softer. My teddy bear cookie cutter was the perfect size for the bread slice with minimum wastage, so I just kept the remaining crusts for breadcrumbs. Other than that, its just a turkey sammie with provolone cheese and spinach. I don't eat sandwiches much because I'm not a fan of deli meat. However, I did find some nitrate-free meat in the grocery store the other day! And it was basically the same price as the other nitrate-laden brands. I was very happy with my purchase. :)

I managed to get lucky with some out-of-season oranges. I love fruit, but don't often purchase it in the winter...its just so difficult to find something that tastes good. I just wish I had picked up some more from the same batch! Too bad you can't sample fruit before you purchase it!

Happy Weekend to everyone! I'll trying to post the rest of my creations soon.