Oyaki n stuff Bento!

Last night my husband had something going on in San Rafael, so he went down there straight from work. I was on my own until late and decided to experiment.

On justbento.com, I had seen a recipe for Oyaki and thought it might be very interesting to try, so I did! The only different thing I did was to use canola oil instead of sesame oil.

For filling I used leftover ground beef (extra lean) that my husband had made the previous night for tacos. I put that inside the Oyakis, and sprinkled some cilantro over the meat. Other than that, I followed the recipe and the results were Great!



Last night I steamed broccoli in my microwave mini-steamer. I also soaked bulgur in boiling chicken broth, adding salt pepper and ground coriander (and a little hot pepper powder I think). Finally, I made a fruit salad using a mango, fresh strawberries and a plum. I was on a roll really.

So today I was teaching, so I had to prepare 2 bentos: one for me, and one for my husband. Actually I prepared 3 bentos because I knew that lunch happens late at the school I was at and that we had a "snack" with the students so I decided to prepare a "snack" bento also.

In my small red bento (the one on top) you can see my fruit salad in the lower tier (top right container). Beside it you can see the upper tier with a little container filled with yogurt (mixed with a little honey, and there's also raisins (I had way too many raisins, but I shared so it was all good).

In my "lunch bento" you can see, in the smaller lower tier on the left, the two Oyaki (I picked the smallest two) with the steamed broccoli and the bulgur in the divided section. On the right, in the larger upper tier, there's a salad (greens, red bell pepper, cucumber and cilantro) and a little sauce bottle filled with fat free balsamic dressing.

I find that my "lunch bento" bento to fit be very well with my "way of eating" because the smaller lower tier is just big enough to put the grains, proteins and cooked vegetables. The bigger upper tier is perfect for raw veggies and salads which are filling and very low calories.

Here's my husband's bento.

Basically it's the same thing. His Oyakis are much bigger than mine, he also has more grains than I did, more fruits and more broccoli. You see, he's not overy crazy about salad. I still snuck some in there with a little bottle filled with italian dressing.

I love to be able to carry the dressing in little bottles, the salad remains fresh and crispy! We were both very happy and satisfied with our lunch. The Oyakis turned out to be very good. I tried to eat one cold (since I try to have food that don't need to be heated in my bentos) but it wasn't very good. So they DO need to be heated.

I think that I'm going to start making bentos for myself on non-work days. I just love it!

I've almost got myself gifted a new bento... I sent the image of it to my husband many times, and I think I might just be spoiled. I'll report when I know for a fact that I'm getting it. ;op

Happy Bento everyone!!