Leftover Bento and Bentobird Visit

This is a bento I made with more leftovers from Sizzling Tandoor. I used both the chicken tikka masala that I ordered, and the leftover lamb vindaloo that my hubby ordered. Both were great with the rice, and I just turned the whole thing out into a bowl and warmed it in the microwave at work for lunch. Yum!

In the smaller container: a slice of tangerine from The French Garden, a cherry plum from De'Santis Farms, and a few flower shaped pieces of watermelon.

My friend Jenn, also known as Bentobird, has posted about her trip to the Santa Rosa Farmers Market! She also has some great photos and descriptions of a visit to Point Reyes. It is really fun to see your home through someone else's eyes, especially someone who loves color and whimsy as much as Bentobird. I encourage you to follow her bento and food adventures on her blog.

Speaking of adventures, I am about to head off to Seattle to go to my 20 year high school reunion (eeek) and spend time with my adorable and brilliant niece (she's learning German and French at 6 months old!) and family. I see an inflight bento in my near future!!

Thank Goodness This Week Is Nearly Over Bento

Zombie Week is nearly over. I have been covering the morning show for one of my coworkers who is on vacation this week, and today was the last day I had to be up at 4am and in the studio writing news stories at 4:30am. Ouchie, my brain hurts. I am seriously considering a nap on my floor right now, because I still have to stick around for an interview at 11am, then come back to do an event from 3:30pm to 8pm. Then a broadcast tomorrow. I'll be a quivering pool of jelly on Sunday. :)

So I thought I would share two bentos with you today. One I made before our broadcast last weekend at the Sonoma Marin Fair, and the other was a bento I brought to work with me yesterday. See if you can tell the difference...

Yup, this is the one I made before the fair broadcast. There's leftover Aloo Chat from Sizzling Tandoor (aloo chat is a spicy potato salad served cold), carrots, edamame, a radish surrounded by arugula from Ridgeview Farms, steamed broccoli, and tamagoyaki omelettes with more arugula. I picked up the arugula and radishes while on a visit to the Santa Rosa Original Certified Farmers Market with Jenn of Bentobird.

And this is the less artistic morning show bento! I took this pic with my cell phone. Apple slices, more radishes from Ridgeview Farms, edamame, and leftover homemade chicken enchiladas. This bento is quite representative of my bentos this week. I made them the night before, often with leftovers, threw the frozen edamame in to fill spaces and up the protein content, and called it good.

Here's the arugula from Reenie at Ridgeview Farms. She had really tasty arugula and wonderful sweet peas.

And this is the bunch of french breakfast radishes I picked up from Reenie during my trip to the Santa Rosa Original Certified Farmers Market with Jenn of Bentobird.

See you next week after I get some sleep. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.........

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.