How To Stink up an Airplane

Sorry for the radio silence! I took a little vacation to NYC to visit my dearest friend E! It is my second time out to NYC this year, sounds flashy, I know, but before my last trip, I hadn’t set foot in the big apple in, two-three? years? Too long.

Packing a lunch for the flight out I really wanted some protein. “You aren’t putting that in your lunch, are you?” Matthew asked me as I skilfully arranged a gorgeous citrus glazed piece of salmon into my bento. “You are going to stink up the whole plane!”

And stink it up I did.

When packing lunch for the plane make judicious use of your grocer’s deli case. A little variety in a 6″x6″ square box speeds up a long flight, and I promise it will cost less, and be more gentle on your body than anything you’ll find in terminal A, B, C or D.

 

Bean Bim Bap Bento

No, that isn’t a typo. I didn’t mean to spell Bi Bim Bap, the popular and colorful veggie and rice bowl iconic to South Korea. But don’t feel bad for thinking so. This blog is full of engrish.com style spelling and typo mistakes. I like to think if my writing isn’t amusing to you, at least you’ll get a good chuckle from my ipad’s autocorrect.

Ah, I digress. Bi Bim Bap was my foray into Korean food. A vegetarian living in Seoul, cooked vegetables over rice became a fast friend those first couple years.

Today’s bento is a play on Bi Bim Bap, featuring a finely chopped kale with lemon tahini dressing (from Whole Foods Market), pinto beans cooked with miso and fish sauce, and creamy avocado. Oh, and a wee bit of salsa. Let me say this about finely chopping the kale, this makes it much, much easier to mix up with the rice and beans. Give it a try.

Sweet Potato Bento Tip

Today’s I’m sharing my favorite favorite lunch packing tip

Bento! Avocado, Grapefruit & Salmon

Spice rubbed salmon cozies up nice next to a quick salad of avocado and Harbor Island grapefruit, seasoned with salt. In the back box, steamed sweet potato rounds topped with cocoa nibs share real estate with brown rice sprinkled with chopped parsley.

Winter Salads Bento

One of these salads is from the deli case, can you guess which one? Right, the beets. I’m telling you, my new dirty little bento secret is to have one component come from the deli case. Makes quick work of packing lunch. Adding a little lemon zest and juice rendered leftover Brussels sprouts into a salad, amazing how that happens. Finally, a little tahini dressing over a mix of garbanzo beans, tomatoes, green onions and cucumbers, makes for a lovely little plant strong bento lunch.

Bento: mandu bi bim bap bento

I don’t make as much Korean food as I used to, but something about bi bim bap, mixed rice bowl, makes for great comfort food in nasty winter weather.

Indian Bento

Since going back to work as a new mom, I’ve had to compromise some of my food values- mostly, I’ve had to embrace processed food. Ella loves frozen waffles and frozen spinach and dinner is so much easier with a rotisserie chicken.

This bento is ripe with all that is canned, boxed, frozen and take out, but when garnished with fresh vegetables and fruits looks oh so homemade

Left box, Whole Foods Market 365 Frozen Jasmine Rice (just heat in the microwave!! I love it), Butter Curry sauce, heated with Whole Foods Market Frozen Collard Greens, Onions, and Diced Rotisserie Chicken. Can I just tell you this meal took less than 10 minutes to assemble?!? For realsy. The box on the right contains red grapes, red bell pepper (more vitamin c than an orange !!!) and sliced purple carrots, that aren’t totally purple- clearly.

And yes, this is my new bento box! Thanks for asking. I’m flattered that you noticed.

Bento!

A powerhouse of veggie protien today! Top box, black bean, corn and swiss chard saute (recipe here) blackberries and cherry tomatoes

bottom box: delicious spicy dill pickle chips, quinoa cooked with veggie broth.

I know y’all are tired of seeing the same old bento. Trust me, Im sick of it too. Serious. Keep your fingers crossed, but my new bento box should be arriving from Amazon today! Yay! We’re going double decker and, wait for it, square!!! Also, least you thought those svelte rectangles of aesthetically pleasing foods were the only thing I ate all day, that would be incorrect. Today I picked up a practical salad bento, with a tray for salad garnishes, silverware, and a little container for my dressing. The mister got one too, not that he asked for one. I picked up this one on sale at Storables for just $5.95.

Desktop Bento

99% of the lunches I eat are in front of my computer. Isn’t that terrible!?! Not just a little commentary on my state of social habits, but imagine the state of my keyboard. Gross.

top box, cherry lentil salad (recipe soon), basil partition, and whole organic bing cherries

bottom box: Sliced cucumber, Alaskan King Salmon with Rub with Love (the easiest way to make anything grilled taste out of this world), roasted sweet potato, Olympic Provisions sliced salami, and raspberries from our yard.

this bento was so lovely, but when I took it out to eat, everything smelled like salmon. Dislike. Any tips for packing stinky foods so they don’t stink up the whole lot?

Road Trip Bento: Edamame Walnut KimBap, Berries, Apricots, and Turkey

When I was a kid, my dad traveled every so often for business. Destinations like Phoenix sounded like a far away and exotic local to my little ears.

passing by on 1-5 near Fort Lewis

I don’t travel all that often for work, and when I do, I’m trotting around the PNW, my home territory. It almost feels like I’m not traveling I know these parts so well. No plane trips to mysterious Phoenix, just long early morning car trips up the 1-5 corridor fueled by pastries and coffee

Last week I was on the road to Vancouver, B.C., one of my favorite cities. I made this little KimBab bento to keep me on track, how easy it is to chow down vacation style when traveling for work.

KimBab is like sushi, in that it is rice, seaweed, and fillings sliced into rounds, but more utilitarian than the deftly seasoned Japanese variety. The Korean PB&J if you will. Fillings include carrots, steamed spinach, and pickled vegetables, and a protein or two. It is a lunch box and picnic favorite for families all over Korea- and for green ESL Teachers toeing their way into Korean cuisine – I speak from experience.

This KimBab recipe from NYC’s Momofuku’s Chef David Chang features walnuts and edamame in a finger licking molasses soy mixture. I‘ve included his recipe here, don’t fret if you don’t have all the ingredients on hand. I used basil instead of shiso, and kimchi instead of pickled daikon. A quick tip for those Julienne carrots- use your potato peeler to get long thin strips- so much easier because KimBap can seem like a lot of work, lots of prep, lots of ingredients. I would recommend waiting until you are going to serve rice a s aside dish (KimBap is an excellent way to use up leftovers!) use that rice and the package of seaweed you have in your cupboard from that one time you made sushi- I know you have it.

top box: blueberries, sliced turkey rolled around itself, apricot

bottom box: Edamame and Walnut Brown Rice KimBap.

A couple other tips for eating well on the road include-

• Bring along your favorite nutrition bar. Keep them in your bag- not your luggage for serious snack attacks.
• Pack a bento of whole fruit for hotel breakfasts. Berries perish quickly, but small whole fruit, generally stone fruit, a banana, orange, kept in a bento will keep the fruit safe from bruises.
• Finally, organic beef or turkey jerky keeps hunger pains away.