Indian inspired bento & CONTEST TIME! :D

I know, I know - I really need to either make that lightbox I keep mentioning or find a better way to take my photos! :P  I picked up the small white lidded cup at the Dollar Tree on Friday - the lids seemed to fit nicely too :)

For those of you packing bento for children, they also had the Disney ice packs, meant for little accidents, but would be great for chilling bento :)

I decided to go with the snapware lunch container rather than a traditional bento box for this one so that I could fit in the vegetable samosas I made without taking up half a tier in a bento box and.or smashing/breaking them.  I also think it's a good idea not to get too caught up in having to have an actual bento box in order to pack a bento style meal :)

I actually was in a cooking mood on Saturday and took advantage of the feeling by making Indian food for dinner.  Although I prefer the saucy Indian dishes that I can mix into the rice, Rob almost always orders the tandoori - and it's not difficult to make (especially with a jar of pre-made tandoori paste! lol).

Since I actually took photos of dinner for my FB food diary, I think I'll start by sharing that :)

Here we have the chicken ready for the oven and then right out of the oven - yum!

I marinaded the chicken in a gallon sized ziplock bag for about 7 hours - longer would have been better though.  I had forgotten to score the breasts before marinading and did so before baking and rubbed a bit of the marinade into the cuts, then topped with onion and lemon slices and baked at 450 degrees until a meat thermometer registered 165 degrees - these breasts were huge, and with the red marinade, it becomes difficult to tell when the juices run clear, so I felt more comfortable using the meat thermometer.  I was amazed how little bone there was on these breasts!

I usually buy frozen vegetable samosas, but since I haven't been to the Indian grocery in a while, I decided to make them.  I had gotten dumpling wrappers at Hong Kong Supermarket on Friday, so I decided to use them for the samosas - so they look a bit like gyoza. :)

I didn't measure the ingredients, but the ingredients were:

Vegetable Samosas

3 smallish potatoes, boiled and roughly mashed

1/2 can garbanzo beans, rinsed and smashed up a bit

maybe 1/2 cup frozen green peas

a couple Tbsp fresh chopped cilantro

maybe a tsp or so garam masala

maybe 1/2 tsp each:

 ground cilantro

curry powder

garlic salt

ground cumin

Just mix the potatoes, beans and peas and add all the spices to your taste, place a wrapper in the palm of your hand, place about a Tbs and a half filling (guessing, I didn't measure it) in the center and press a little with your fingers, have a small dish of water ready and use fingers to wet the edge of the top half of the wrapper and fold over the filling and press to seal.  Or use a dumpling press, mine seems to have run away somewhere...

I brushed half with a little canola oil and baked in the oven with the chicken, turning occasionally and keeping an eye on them until nicely browned.  The edges were a little crunchy, but I thought they were yummy :)  The other half were deep fried in our deep fryer.

Rob's plate is on the left and mine on the right.  I had found pappadum in a can at the grocery store and decided to give them a try.  We also have brown basmati rice and grilled onion.  In the sauce cups are cilantro mint chutney and a makeshift onion chutney for the samosas and pappadum respectively.  It was a very good and filling dinner :)

When Rob saw that there were samosas left, he actually expressed an interest in seeing them in today's bento :)  So, since he won't have access to a microwave today, I decided to use some of a tandoori chicken breast on a salad. 

I topped the organic lettuce mix with the tandoori slices and then added tomato roses and thinly sliced carrot flowers.  He has a ginger dressing (a vinaigrette style) to go with it.

In one side of the divided tier, I arranged the samosas that I had crisped back up in the toaster oven and the food cup of chutneys, then filled in spaces with the pappadum and pea pods and added a couple grapes just for a little color.

As far as plain boxes go, I have always loved this one.  I love that it fits 3 silicone cups the way it does.  Once I put the cups in, I filled the center one with carrot salad I threw together quickly.  This was the first time I've ever made this.  I've never had it, but a couple months ago, Rob bought some at Delicious Orchards and I had been thinking about picking up more.  Since I had bought a bag of the shredded carrots at the Asian market, I decided to just make some myself - it was so easy, it would be silly to buy it :)

I added the red and yellow pepper strips to one cup and blackberries and blueberries to the other to finish it up.

Again, I didn't really measure, but here is the carrot salad recipe - adjust the amounts as necessary...

Carrot Salad

About a cup shredded carrots

1/8-1/4 cup raisins

1/4 of a good size apple - I used granny smith

1/2-1 Tbs lemon juice

1/8-1/4 cup mayo (I use a light mayo)

maybe 1 Tbs honey

Just mix it all together, tasting and adding lemon juice and or honey as needed.

OK - now on to what we've all been waiting for - The contest/drawing! :)  lol

Here's what I've decided to do:

In the comments below this post, please share your favorite bento resource(s).

It can be specific blog(s), books, websites, sources for products etc. It can even just be your best tips!  I just want you to share!  And why it's a good resource or tip would also be great :)

The deadline for comments will be Saturday, Jan 30, so you have about 5 days.  I will do a random drawing from the comments on Sunday and post the winner.  Please check back to see if you've won - if you have provided your email address, I will also let the winner know by email, but I know not everyone wants to post that information. 

Once the winner has been announced, they will need to email me at tammy@robtammy.com with the shipping information etc.

Now for the fun part!  The prize :)  I am giving the winner a choice between 2 bento sets - the winner needs to choose one or the other:

Each set includes the box, belt and bag and the bunny and bear egg molds and the cookie cutters.  The clickety click bunny set will include matching chopsticks and case, while the tenmari set will include the penguin sauce bottles.  I know, it's a tough choice! :)

International folks, if you win - I will send via the slowest, cheapest boat out there - but you will get it :)

I plan to do another contest when/if I ever get to 50 followers which will be a nicer set, so keep 'em coming! :)

Thanks again to all my new followers and readers!

Happy Bento-ing!