Autumn Leaves Bento Box

Autumn and roasting seem to go "hand in hand". Well, lately in at my house it does. It's quick, easy, healthy and warms up the kitchen all in one swoop. Especially if you mix and match the veggies. Today's featured bento contains some of the mix and match repeats from yesterday's lunch. But don't get discouraged, please read on, for at the end I'll tell you how I made the dry stir fried "wheat meat" which is included in today's vegan bento box. You just can't see it; it's hidden under all that yummy roasted asparagus and yellow carrots! Those yellow carrots are really bright yellow aren't they? Wow. The purple carrots are roasted too; the renkon (lotus roots) are not, they're simmered, but I'm adding these guys to the list of potential items for roasting next time. The orange "leaves" are sweet potatoes and before you ask... nope, they're baked...and lastly the plain tomatoes. These are perfect the way they are. If you look closely between the carrots and asparagus, you can see the sliced peppers that were fried with the "wheat meat". One of those slices is a purple pepper which lost it's color during the cooking process. Would of been cool, but oh well.

How to make the dry strir fry:

Slice and soak some "wheat meat" overnight in a marinade of your choice. I did the "teriyaki" thing with these. The "wheat meat" is store bought, but some day I will attempt making my own. If I ever do, I'll document my process here.

I thinly sliced peppers and onion, crushed a clove of garlic and a bit of fresh ginger.

Heat up a frying pan and add a touch of canola oil. When nice and hot, add the drained slices of "wheat meat" and stir to keep from sticking. Keep stirring while adding the remaining ingredients. The idea is to cook until the moisture is gone and the veggies cooked but still a little crisp. I like to start off with less moisture and add as needed until done. Starting off with too much liquid may cause vegetable sogginess which is not the desired affect.

I like to add some sesame seeds at the end for interest and a bit of flavor.

This dish is a nice break from animal protein and you may not even taste the difference. Have fun coming up with your own combinations of vegetables and seasonings.

Why dry stir fry? The best practice for a successful bento box lunch(packed to eat later) is not having a lot of moisture inside. You could say it's rule #1.

Samosa Bento Box

Today is Diwali, the Festival of Lights and to celebrate another culture, the Halloween decor is taking a short break from the bento box lunches. However, I really don't know how to cook Indian cuisine so decided to go ahead and buy some samosas for both dinner and tomorrow's bento lunches. Samosas work pretty well for bento boxes. Deep fried to a crisp; their thicker shell retains it's crunch a bit longer in a closed box. Come to think of it, I'll have to try packing samosas in a basket type box next time and compare results.

I also browsed my favorite deli counter at PCC Market where I found some yummy hijiki salad. It's a salad that is super easy to make, the recipe is in my head, and it won't take but a few minutes to "throw together". So, off I went wandering through the store to collect all the ingredients. It wasn't until I got to carrot display that I decided I wasn't up to the task. "All that peeling and chopping." Nah, let's skip it. No regrets. Let's just go ahead and purchase the ready-made salad. So after all that, I had to chuckle to myself. Why didn't I buy it at the start, before loading up the cart. Not only did I have to maneuver through a crowded store returning everything to their proper place, but now there's a wait at the deli counter. Of course when I got to the front of the line, I asked for another sample. Just to confirm that I made the right decision.

Today's bento box features,along with the celebratory samosa and the ready-made hijiki salad, there is renkon, kiwi berries, sweet potato and yokan stars.