Thursday, September 16, 2010

Tomato Alien Bento

This bento is almost entirely leftovers from a delicious dinner my hubby and I enjoyed at Sizzling Tandoor in Santa Rosa. They make delicious Indian food and we were there for Happy Hour so it was quite affordable. I ordered Idli Sambaar because I really wanted to try idlis after reading about them in a great book called Monsoon Diary: A Memoir with Recipes. My husband is reading the book now, and he was also hankering for some good Indian food.

Hubby ordered Peshawari Lamb Boti Kebab, which was so moist and flavorful. I took the leftovers home to make this bento. In the upper compartment: Sambaar Daal, red cherry tomato from Triple T Ranch, and leftover Lamb Kebab. In the lower compartment: idli, grapes from Schletewitz Family at the Santa Rosa Farmers Market, greens from Offerings of the Land, and tomatoes (cherrys from Ridgeview Farms and large orange tomato from Larry Wagner of Sebastopol) arranged like a little alien. I used pieces of spaghetti to pin the "eyeballs" to the head and nori cutouts for the facial features.

The reason I made this little alien dude is because the idli reminded me of Flying Saucers. They are rounded on the top and bottom, so they have that saucer shape. :)

Closeup of the Alien. "We come in peace! Take me to your bento!"

On a less silly note, I went to the Ladybug release party last night to remember my friend Glen's late wife. It was a really nice way to honor her memory. I put together a video slideshow of the evening.

8 comments:

  1. UFO was my first thought too! Cutest alien tomato ever. Great way to use leftovers.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks sheri! It couldn't have been easier to make this bento. But I am finding out that idlis don't taste quite as good the next day. I'm breaking them up and smooshing them into the Sambaar Daal. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Mmm...this bento makes my mouth water for some Indian food.

    What a lovely and touching idea to release Ladybugs in memory of a loved one.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Love Indian food too and its really not that expensive here in Malaysia. Amazed at your imagination i.e. flying saucer idli! Haha Really adore the big eye tomato alien!

    ReplyDelete
  5. What a cute alien tomato bento! And yes, the idlis really reminds me of an UFO too! :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi! I love Indian food!!! BTW, I featured your bento box strap in my Etsy treasury! http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c8f969b9a1b6d91a76ca3ce/think-outside-the-lunch-box?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Treasury&utm_campaign=Share

    ReplyDelete
  7. Cute and so creative! Indian food can be so deeply satisfying, we need a reular "fix"!

    ReplyDelete