Bento Beet Down

Today's bento features delicious beets from the Redwood Empire Farmers Market. I roasted the beets in the oven, and also used the beet greens in a delicious saute.

In this bento: goat cheese quesadillas made with Tortilla Factory Green Chile hand-made style tortilla, french feta cheese, roasted garlic, and wild arugula from Triple T Ranch, lightly steamed broccoli from Triple T Ranch, a carrot, slices of kiwi and orange, and sauteed beet greens with a slice of roasted beet on top. 

This is the 'bento' box I used, which I actually found at Target in their dollar bins. It was labeled as a snack container, but works very well as a bento box. :)

Another view of my tasty bento.

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.........

Crepes and Cherry Plums Bento

As I type this, the smell of bacon is wafting through the office. Our afternoon talk show host just finished talking to Duskie Estes and John Stewart of Zazu and Bovolo Restaurants, and they brought their own Black Pig Meat Co. bacon which they cooked up in the studio. I was able to sneak a taste, otherwise I would be crying as well as hungry right now. Duskie and John won the recent Cochon 555 competition in Aspen, so they are the official Queen and King of Pork! Woohoo!

Sadly, there's no bacon in this bento. But it was still tasty. This bento features items I picked up at the Santa Rosa Original Certified Farmers Market yesterday when I went there with fellow bento maker, Bentobird!

In this bento: crepes with turkey, colby jack cheese, and wilted arugula from Ridgeview Farms. Also baby carrots, french breakfast radishes from Ridgeview Farms, a few broccoli spears, and cherry plums from DeSantis Farms. The cherry plums were a bit tart, but so cute and perfect size for a bento. It was really fun to show off my favorite farmers market to a fellow bento buddy.

Here is the video I made of my recent adventures at the Sonoma County Hot Air Balloon Classic. Enjoy!

Last Bento of the Year

It feels like ages since I made a bento! I had to make one this morning, even though it cut into some of my prep time for the two hour talk show I've been doing this week. I was having bento withdrawal, hee hee.

I actually woke up dreaming about bento ingredients, so I knew I had to take the time to make one today. Magic Round Bentos are always good to help boost your bento assembling confidence. Everything just fits better in a round bento.

In this bento: steamed edamame, tamagoyaki with chopped wild arugula from Triple T Ranch, two pork and veggie gyoza (I think they are Annie Chun's brand), a hand formed onigiri rice ball, and two rabbit apples carved from Walker's Apples Arkansas Black apples.

I bought these apples from Lee Walker himself, the patriarch of the Walker family, who have been apple growers in Sonoma County for many generations. Lee is awesome and loves all kinds of apples, but he will tell you straight out which varieties he can do without. Pretty awesome. The Walkers are often at the Saturday Santa Rosa Original Certified Farmers Market.

Have a safe and happy new year! See you in 2011!

Pear Crostini Bento

Yesterday I could not wake up and felt kind of dizzy. I think our three days of 90+ and occasionally 100+ weather did me in. Today I am much better and out of that weird funk. Rest and gatorade did the trick.

I was able to stop by the Santa Rosa Original Certified Farmers Market, because I'd pretty much have to be dead to miss it, and picked up a perfect pear from Reenie at Ridgeview Farms. Reenie is the greatest, I love her veggies and fruits, and she has the most gorgeous flowers arranged in coffee cans. I also got a basket of little orange cherry tomatoes, so sweet!

I thought about the pear all day yesterday, while I was alternately resting and zoning out on the couch. When the heat finally broke around 8pm, inspiration hit! Little pear crostini!

In this bento: pear crostini made with a perfect pear from Ridgeview Farms, edamame, and slices of Aidell's sundried tomato chicken sausage with a little panda pick.

In the upper compartment: arugula from Triple T Ranch, walnuts from the Santa Rosa Original Certified Farmers Market, a few little slices of red onion, and cherry tomatoes from The French Garden and Ridgeview Farms. I'll toss this with some olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper for a little salad.

The sweet orange cherry tomatoes I got at Ridgeview Farms.

Look! I really did get a perfect pear. :)

A close up of the pear crostini. Besides the perfect pear, there's bread from La Brea Bakery (I keep a bag of their frozen mini baguettes on hand: ten minutes to crunchy on the outside, soft in the middle hot bread!), butter, Honey Powder from Savory Spice Shop, and crumbles of Point Reyes Original Blue Cheese.

Recipe for Pear Crostini

1 mini baguette, sliced thin

butter

1 small pear, cored and sliced thin

Honey Powder

2 ounces Point Reyes Original Blue Cheese

On a cookie sheet, arrange baguette slices. Spread a small amount of butter on each slice. Top baguette slices with pieces of pear. Sprinkle Honey Powder on top of pear slices. Top each crostini with a bit of blue cheese. Broil crostinis for a few minutes, until cheese melts and crostinis just begin to get toasted. Makes about 10 small crostinis.

Beverage Pairing Suggestion: We have an amazing cider maker in Sonoma County called Ace Cider. They make a wonderful hard cider called Ace Perry Cider. It's very refreshing and would go so well with these crostinis.

Winner of Sonoma Bento Giveaway

Congratulations to... Journal Mommy Yenny! Mommy Yenny says that she also has a year-round farmers market and that she loves to get fruits and veggies in season. Thanks for following Sonoma Bento and I hope you like the fun prize pack I put together, Mommy Yenny! I'll be contacting you today to get your mailing information. You can visit Journal Mommy Yenny's bento blog at her site, Mommy of Twins.

The winner was selected randomly out of 71 entries. I had to make a spreadsheet of the entries because there were a few people who did not separate their entries into different posts, and I wanted to make sure those people got the right amount of chances to win. Thanks so much to all of my followers, new and old!

This was a really fun experience, especially finding out about different farmers markets and how many of us like to support local farmers and enjoy seasonal treats. With so many instances of contaminated food, it really makes sense to buy from trusted local producers. I hope you were as inspired as I was reading all of the great farmers market comments.

Today's bento is hyper local! The only non-local ingredients were staples like flour, salt, pepper, and olive oil (although I can get local olive oil, I just don't have any on hand right now). This is a true Sonoma Bento.

In the upper compartment: zucchini "pasta" tossed in a simple vinaigrette with few slices of okra on top (got this 'pasta' idea from bentobird), cherry tomatoes, arugula omelette, fried okra, and basil leaves. In the lower compartment: cherry tomato, a mini gala rabbit apple, steamed corn on the cob, italian sugar plums, arugula leaves, and grapes.

The zucchini, arugula, and italian sugar plums are from Triple T Ranch. The egg is from Hector's Honey. The okra and basil are from a merchant at the Wednesday Night Santa Rosa Farmers Market. The cherry tomatoes are from Sebastopol's French Garden. The apple is from Ridgeview Farms in Healdsburg. The corn is from Duffy's RHS Farms. And the grapes are from Neufeld Farms. I even used local red wine vinegar in my vinaigrette from local producer Bruno Albini, and local garlic from Crescent Moon Farms.

While normally I try to fit two or three local items into my bento lunches, I really wanted to highlight the fact that there is so much available here in Sonoma County that being a 'locavore' is ridiculously easy. If you have access to a farmers market, or a farm stand, a backyard garden, or even a generous neighbor with a zucchini plant, try to use these items in your lunches. You'll feel better by supporting a farmer. You can be confident that your food isn't tainted. You'll be eating seasonal foods at the peak of nutrition and taste. You will avoid the amount of gas, packaging, and preservatives it takes to bring non-local, non-seasonal food to the table.

Hug a farmer! :) Or just buy his or her products. And be sure to ask for advice on how to prepare the ingredients. More than likely, she has a favorite way to prepare that ingredient. And be sure to go back and tell the farmer how it worked for you. That personal interaction is what makes shopping at farmers markets so fun.

Recipe for Fried Okra

6 okra pods

1 egg

1 tablespoon water

3 tablespoons flour

pinch of salt

freshly ground pepper

1/2 cup panko bread crumbs

1/4 cup olive oil

Trim okra tops and cut pods in half lengthwise. In a shallow bowl, combine egg and water. Whisk together. On a plate, combine flour, salt and pepper. On another plate, scatter panko breadcrumbs. Dip okra slices in egg wash, then in flour mixture. Redip okra in the egg wash, then roll in panko breadcrumbs. Fry okra slices in olive oil that has been preheated to medium in a small skillet. Turn okra slices to get all sides browned. Drain slices on a paper towel. Makes 6 fried okra slices, enough for 1 bento box lunch. I like to make a dipping sauce of mayo + hot sauce. Triple T Ranch makes a yummy blend called Hoppin Jalapeno. Use your favorite hot sauce.

P.S. Be SURE to tune in this afternoon at 5:30pm PST to KSRO 1350AM. I will be interviewing Sheri from Happy Little Bento about bento box lunches. The interview will also be broadcast on the internet at ksro.com. Just click on the Listen Live link in the upper righthand corner.