Cool as a Cucumber

Today I used a bento with fixed dividers. I mainly chose this box because it had a big enough space to hold my sandwich, and a solid divider that would allow "wet" food not to spill or spread onto other foods. Inside as a cucumber sandwich, a mandarin, a few pieces of beef pepperoni and swiss cheese, an individually wrapped mochi and on the other side is glazed carrots and pistachios. You may also notice I included a cute little pick shaped like a panda bear (this was given to me as a gift for my birthday, its part of a set of adorable animal picks).

Though cute, the downside of this box is that the lid does not have a very tight seal. Consequently, I had to be very careful to carry it upright or else risk the glaze from the carrots leaking all over the other foods, and possibly all over the bag. I just avoided putting the bento in my bag and carried it in the bento bag, it worked out just fine. :)

And here's the cute little bag that I packed it up in!  Well that's all for today, until next time, happy munching!

Onigiri Bento

Today I really wanted to make something different. I wanted to make something that I had not posted about before. I wanted to make some onigiri. I have made onigiri before, but I have never taken a picture and posted it on the blog. Just a little info: an onigiri is a rice ball. It is essentially exactly what it sounds like, white rice typically in the shape of a triangle, but also made in other shapes as well, that is wrapped in nori (seaweed) and has a filling of some sort. Traditionally onigiri are filled with umeboshi (pickled plums), or other salty or sour ingredients. These are very popular in Japan and are widely available, especially at convenience stores.

In the top tier I placed three onigiri. You maybe wondering what is that purple stuff on them? Well I made two different kinds, the middle plain looking one was filled with homemade fruit salsa, and the two  other are filled with pickled cauliflower. The purple stuff is furikake, which is a dried seasoning intended to be sprinkled on rice. There is a wide variety of furikake, but here I used shiso (an herb in the mint family) furikake.  In the second tier, I placed a hard boiled egg. You may notice here... this doesn't look like an egg at all... it looks like a heart... Well there are these  Interesting little devices used to shape hard boiled eggs that are very popular in bento! I also placed some carrot sticks, and in the pink container is some Russian dressing for the carrots. I also added some dried mango and cheddar and gouda cheese.

I also included a bit of cucumber salad. This salad is very simple, but delicious. Its basically cucumbers in a dill sauce. 

Here's a picture of how the bento looked all closed up! It's so cute! When I saw this box, I knew I had to add it to my collection. :) I also stored it in a thermal bag with an ice pack for food safety. 

Well that's all for today, until next time, happy munching!