Bento (Japanese style) packed, vegan meals

[pavotrouge]

oooh good looking bento vegcurry. what's polony?

[bryzee86]

oooh good looking bento vegcurry. what's polony?

it's a garlic slicing sausage made by Fry's, and it's well good.

[vegcurry]

Frys Polony

[chickpea_chica]

Ooh I made my first bento and I keep forgetting to post the picture!

[vegcurry]

^ reminder to chickpea_chica: post that picture

[Ruby Rose]

I made bento on Monday, and I took pics, but can't find my data cable... but I did it!

[jamboxrock]

yesterday: spaghetti, steamed kale, marinated grilled portobello, corn off the cob, garlic bread, choco-choco chip-walnut cookie



today: wheat toast, green beans, eggplant parmesan, roasted red pepper-lentil-basil sauce, cherries

[jamboxrock]

tomorrow: white rice w/ toasted peanuts, stirfried eggplant, carrot, celery, kale & basil, sweet & sour peanut sauce, cherries

[Ruby Rose]

Right - here goes:

Mixed leaf salad with artichoke hearts. Potato salad with baharat spices. Orzo salad with orange pepper and sundried tomato. Cucumber fence. Carrot ribbons with sunflower seeds. Tomatoes with basil.

Mr Ruby Rose's snack bento box... gouda sheese and crackers, hummus with paprika, rosemary crackers and cashew nuts.

Sorry - pictures are huge - any tips on how to resize them?

[vegcurry]

Sorry - pictures are huge - any tips on how to resize them?

Nice looking Bento's RubyRose.

As you posted them to Photobucket, it gives you the option to resize them when you upload them. Like this...


Hope this helps.

[Astrid]

Right - here goes:

I love these bento boxes. Totoro <3. Where did you get them?

[Ruby Rose]

Gah! For some reason I can't fix the size of the second one now - but thanks for the tip Astrid. Got the boxes here:
http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Harajuku-Cl...Q3amesstQQtZkm

[Astrid]

The black square one - is that a "family sized" bento? And the fabric in the background - is that the bag for it? I couldn't find a bag like that on the site.

[Ruby Rose]

Yes, it's a family size one (I learned from EmmaP about how small the regular ones were!) - the flowery thing is the lid. Here's a similar one:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/JYUBAKO-FAMILY...742.m153.l1262

[jamboxrock]

RubyRose, those look great! I love the cucumber fence, that made me laugh. Very creative. I'm thinking maybe I should get another box style for when things don't fit well in the LLB containers. Or when it's dirty...

VegCurry, thanks for the resizing tips. I have a resizing program on my home computer but it's kind of a pain in the butt, from now on I'll just do it when I upload to photobucket.

[Astrid]

Yes, it's a family size one (I learned from EmmaP about how small the regular ones were!) - the flowery thing is the lid. Here's a similar one:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/JYUBAKO-FAMILY...742.m153.l1262

Oh, how lovely. The pattern is really beautiful. Do you find that the box is too big, or just right?

[pavotrouge]

I'm actually thinking of getting rid of my laptop lunch... still can't understand how people can finish all that food! I've had mine for about a year and only used it twice.
(and everybody who's met me knows I'm a proper vegan eating machine)

I don't mean to talk you people's lunches down, not at all, but great to see some Japanese style pics for a change, Ruby!

[Ruby Rose]

Do you find that the box is too big, or just right?

It's a big salad, certainly - but I'm a big salad kinda gal! Usually I eat a big lunch and a small dinner, so it's about right for me. If it were full of the sort of lovely things that Jamboxrocks and Vegcurry make, I would probably only half-fill it. There were a couple of "man size" (don't get me started...) boxes on that site which looked about half as big again from the dimensions - maybe one of those might suit you?

[mariana]

tomorrow: white rice w/ toasted peanuts, stirfried eggplant, carrot, celery, kale & basil, sweet & sour peanut sauce, cherries

This looks great. And the cherries are driving me crazy--they look so delicious. I've been craving cherries a lot lately but they're not quite in season here yet!

[pavotrouge]

I've seen cherries here today... organic and 8.90 € per kilo O_O !!!
(as my friend Phil says... just think of the pound and it seems a fair deal!)

[Astrid]

There were a couple of "man size" (don't get me started...) boxes on that site which looked about half as big again from the dimensions - maybe one of those might suit you?

Maybe, but they're probably not as pretty.

[emzy1985]

emzy, if you had peeled and chopped your fruit it may have gone into one box leaving another free for more yums?

I don't have any food in the house because I am really poor! We are living off scraps. Why do you think I'm not posting bentos? I don't have anything to put in them anymore.

[jamboxrock]

Aww, poor Emzy

I was trying to hold out till cherry prices were a big lower, but I gave in. They were $4.99 a pound. Not the best I've ever had, but I can't complain about fresh cherries.

I don't think the LLB's hold a crazy amount! I try to be really sure to balance more calorie-intense items with lower-cal stuff like raw veggies and fruit to make sure I'm not going too crazy. Even with my lunches I eat breakfast, a morning and afternoon snack and a proper dinner.

tomorrow: pb & j on wheat (half w/ strawberry jam & half w/ peach spread), baby carrots, two baby dill pickles, pickled mushrooms, cherries



(less gigantic pictures from now on, thanks to vegcurry's tip)

[vegcurry]

I'm actually thinking of getting rid of my laptop lunch... still can't understand how people can finish all that food! I've had mine for about a year and only used it twice.
(and everybody who's met me knows I'm a proper vegan eating machine)

I don't mean to talk you people's lunches down, not at all, but great to see some Japanese style pics for a change, Ruby!

Just an idea ... how about we create a Post a pic of your LLB thread and keep the Bento thread for Bento's only? I'm happy to post in an LLB thread.

[pavotrouge]

naw, I don't discriminate against LLB Just don't know what to comment quite often... after all, it's not really Japanese style.

[vegcurry]

naw, I don't discriminate against LLB Just don't know what to comment quite often... after all, it's not really Japanese style.

True enough pavot.

It might be easier to create a new thread as it saves this one becoming overloaded with non Japanese style lunches.

OK, show of hands folks .... shall we create a LLB thread for non Japanese style packed lunches?

[jamboxrock]

I'm in.

[Ruby Rose]

No wait - I have no idea what counts as Japanese style or not - they all just look like lovely, creative, inspiring lunches to me... RR says "NO" to segregation!

[Ruby Rose]

Celery, tomato, cucumber salad with avocado fan and tomato dressing in the little pot. Brown bread with red pepper stars, potato salad with gouda sheese and orange pepper, leftover pasta fagiole, hummus with paprika, and sprouts won on the Tombola stall at the Bristol Vegan Fayre!


My oh's snack box: Open sandwich with sheese "cream cheese", BVF sprouts and orange pepper fan, hummus, cream crackers and cashew nuts. Dried apricots and sweet rice candies in the lid.

[pavotrouge]

ooooh, an avocado fan... I'm on a sprouts kick at the moment as well.

I tried taking a picture of my bento this morning but no matter what I did, it came out looking bleh. Some boxes just don't photograph well.

Let's stick with one boxed lunch thread!

[vegcurry]

I did include stir fried veg and noodles in my LLB/bento today (photos later) ... just trying to get a bit more Asian flavour in my posting

[Ruby Rose]

baby leaf and beetroot salad, orzo salad with peppers and sundried tomatoes, cream crackers and hummus, tomato and basil, artichoke hearts, BVF sprouts


celery with sheese Mexican "cream cheese" and paprika, cashew nuts and sweet rice candies, open sandwich with hummus and BVF sprouts - with orange pepper stars to make Mr RR smile!

[speedylemons]

Random question ladies and gents,

What is orzo? ..and is it the same as Ebly wheat? Also even more random: Does Israeli couscous go by any other name? [that awesome big 'grain' couscous....]

Thanks guys

[applepie]

"orzo" is Italian and means barley. When I was living in Italy we often had "orzotto" which is risotto cooked with barley instad of rice.
Unfortunately there's a bit of confusion, because in the US it's commonly understood to mean rice-shaped pasta, the small type which is mostly used in soups.

[pavotrouge]

orzo are rice-shaped pasta. they're used very often in greek cooking.

I haven't come across Israeli couscous, either, not by any name.

[edit]: woops, confusion? I buy orzo as the pasta variation in the Italian store round the corner. My greek cookbook and some others (non-american ones) also state that it's a sort of pasta.

[applepie]

Yeah, it's now commonly understood to mean this kind of pasta because of its shape. The word in Italian, however, means barley, and as such you can buy it in Italy.

[Huddy]

I just have a quick question-how do you guys come up with all these great ideas for your bento boxes? Are they just leftovers, or do you make little bits and pieces up especially. You make it look so easy, but I have no idea what to put in them! Im pretty stumped for ideas (sorry-I must sound like such a nuffy!)

[speedylemons]

Thanks for the replies all of you.

I too have wondered how you do it! Do you make a bunch of dishes at once and save them to use throughout the week? Tell us your secrets!!

[pavotrouge]

well, I guess I'm just generally food-obsessed. I collect cookbooks and try to make a new recipe at least every other day.

Then I'm subcribed to a bunch of food blogs and also bento blogs/communities. I posted links before but nobody seemed to care, so I can PM you some if you like.

I have a cooking and baking marathon every Sunday and usually make at least one batch of brownies, muffins or cookies to throw into bento throughout the week.
I also make one or two recipes that keep well until at least Wednesday.

Apart from that, I like using leftovers or freezer staples such as edamame, homemade onigiri and gyoza.

[pavotrouge]

finally, a bento worth posting again
this is for tomorrow and has sezuan-style noodles with "beef" seitan, cocktail tomatoes, a vanilla-pear-cardamom muffin and Japanese cucumber and wakame pickles.

[vegcurry]

^^ ooooh that rocks in the yumminess department, pavotrouge

[ellaminnowpea]

theres a yumminess department?

[bryzee86]

theres a yumminess department?

yeah. second floor, take a left at the cashier and continue along the corridor until the second door on your right.

That's the yumminess department, formerly know as the "Om Nom Nom Office".

[ellaminnowpea]

Om Nom Nom Office? hmmm... I need a new job!

its om nom nom time!

[Tigerlily]

I started working but I kept on running out of time to make pretty bentos and to take a pic of them. Just imagine a bunch of plastic containers with salads or sandwiches and ziploc baggies with fruits.

[Ruby Rose]

Actually, pavotrouge, I followed up a lot of your links - and saw some beautiful bentos. I also find the lunches that emzy, jamboxrocks and vegcurry post really inspiring - it makes me realise that there's loads of things that I could have for lunch! I tend to use left overs plus now and again make up some dishes to have a little bit of at lunchtime over the week.

Also, orzo for me is Greek rice-shaped pasta.



Pineapple, strawberry and blueberry fruit salad, tomato and basil, carrot and caraway seeds, and first attempts at onigiri. Sushi ginger and soya sauce in the little pots.

[pavotrouge]

what's that on the onigiri ?

[RubyDuby]

Then I'm subcribed to a bunch of food blogs and also bento blogs/communities. I posted links before but nobody seemed to care, so I can PM you some if you like.

do u mean the ones on the first page of this thread?
i've looked at those a bunch of times.

[Ruby Rose]

On the onigiri - peas, sweetcorn, almonds, caraway seeds

[vegcurry]

I haven''t posted for a few days so here goes ...

WEDNESDAY 04-06-2008. Clockwise from top left:
[1] Mac and scheese with sweet chilli sauce
[2] Fishless in batter, hummus
[3] Strawberries and soya creem
[4] Green salad, carrot sticks, cherry tomatoes, baby sweetcorn



THURSDAY 05-06-2008. Clockwise from top left:
[1] Mac and scheese, stir fried mushroom and baby sweetcorn
[2] Carrot sticks, hummus, smoked aubergine.
[3] Crackers, sugarsnap peas
[4] Green salad, carrot sticks, cherry tomatoes, baby sweetcorn

& Brazil nuts in with the fork



FRIDAY 06-06-2008. Clockwise from top left:
[1] Noodles, stir fried veg and tofu with cherry tomato slices
[2] Sugarsnap peas, Frys Garlic Polony
[3] Baby sweetcorn, hummus
[4] Green salad, carrot sticks, cherry tomatoes, baby sweetcorn



MONDAY 09-06-2008. Clockwise from top left:
[1] Pinto bean chilli, bulgar wheat
[2] Grilled sundried tomato polenta
[3] Sosmix rolls
[4] Green salad, carrot sticks, cherry tomatoes, baby sweetcorn



TUESDAY 10-06-2008. Clockwise from top left:
[1] Pinto bean chilli, bulgar wheat, shredded Teryaki Sietan
[2] Hummus, sugarsnap peas
[3] Avocado, cherry tomato, herb marinated olives, pickled jalepeno chilli
[4] Green salad, carrot sticks, baby sweetcorn

& dried apricots in with the fork