Year of the Rabbit Bento

Happy New Year! To celebrate the beginning of 2011, The Year of the Rabbit, I made a very bunny bento. Technically, The Year of the Rabbit will not start until February 3rd. We are actually still in The Year of the Tiger. I am looking forward to this less aggressive year, myself.

In this bento: creamy polenta (I used Martha Stewart's easy baked polenta recipe), a rabbit quail egg, nori flower, steamed edamame, stir fried carrots and purple cabbage topped with lotus rootlets, cucumber slices, and an apple rabbit made with an Arkansas Black Apple from Walker Apples.

I made the quail egg rabbit by hard boiling a quail egg, then slicing a small section off of one side. I cut that section in two pieces, then inserted those slices into an angled slit on the top of the egg. The nori eyes were punched out with a tiny hole punch.

I found these lotus rootlets in brine at Asia Mart on Guerneville Road in Santa Rosa. They have pretty much no flavor, but such a cool shape. A few little slices of rootlet make small snowflake like patterns.

Happy New Year!

Food Ninja Bento

Today's bento is my entry into the Food Ninja contest. Three bloggers (La Fuji Mama, Salty Seattle, and bell'alimento) have put together a fun contest in which we get to show off our mad ninja skills. I chose to make a video with a trip to the Farmers Market (naturally), a stop off at Asia Mart, and then a big reveal of my Food Ninja Bento. It's quite silly with Japanese subtitles, ninja poses, and a (forced) cameo by my husband. I'll reveal the video soon. Heather of La Fuji Mama asked me to do a guest post about my Food Ninja Bento, and I was delighted to comply. Check it out here.

In this bento: a star onigiri, a quail egg ninja with radish weapons, slices of boiled lotus root, steamed yellow beans from Orchard Farms, edamame, cherry tomatoes from Middleton Farms, boiled purple potatoes from Orchard Farms, steamed broccoli, teriyaki chicken meatballs from Aidell's, and a few fried padron peppers from Crescent Moon Farms.

A special shout out to the AMAZING Sheri of Happy Little Bento for her ninja egg inspiration. I am sure many bentoists like me admire Sheri's crazy Food Ninja skills. You too can enter the Food Ninja contest! Entry deadline is October 24th at 10pm PST. There's awesome prizes, too!

Think Pink Bento

As some of you may know, my mom is finishing up her battle with breast cancer, and doing really well! When we first found out about her cancer, I made a boobie bento to lighten the mood a bit. It has been tough to deal with, but my mom has done so well, and shown such strong spirit through it all. I love her so much!

Bento bloggers are being organized by a French bento blogger to send in pink bentos to raise awareness of breast cancer, and ultimately to raise funds. The posts are shared on Twitter and tagged with #ThinkPink and #ProjectPink. Here is my entry:

Pink rice with marinated lotus root and daikon shoots, baby carrots, a teriyaki chicken meatball, steamed broccoli, two tiny cherry tomatoes from Middleton Farms, and a hard boiled quail egg.

Save The Boobies! :)

Recipe for Simply Marinated Lotus Root

a few slices of raw lotus root

2 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar

1 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated ginger

Combine the vinegar, sugar, and ginger in a small bowl. Stir, then add the lotus root. Allow to sit for at least 20 minutes or up to 3 hours.