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Contents:  Heart onigiri, veggie empanada, karaage, meatballs, broccoli, and edamame

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Top Tier:  Broccoli and rice casserole
Bottom Tier:  Karaage and beef rolls

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I went to World Market and picked up an Indian tiffin for my lunch.  It's much larger than my bento boxes.

Top Tier:  Kiwi, pineapple, tomatoes, carrot planks, snow peas, and humus
Bottom Tier:  Stuffed pepper and pene pasta with marinara sauce and parmesan cheese

Since the metal container is not microwavable, I came up with a way to keep the bottom tier warm.  I microwaved the contents in a glass bowl in the morning.  I then transferred the hot contents into the tiffin.  I packed the container in an insulated lunch bag to keep it warm on the long commute to work.  Once there, I placed the bottom tier on top of a cup warmer.  At lunch time, my meal was pleasantly warm, but not hot.  Later, when bragging on my genius, my sister remarked that all I did was create a bacteria incubator for my meal.  Since the food was never "hot," but merely "warm" it became the perfect environment to cultivate bacteria.  Yum, more protein.  Needless to say, I'll have to devise a Plan B.

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Top Tier:  Balsalmic sesame chicken, cocktail sausages, boiled egg, fresh pickles
Bottom Tier:  Rice and mixed vegetables

Seems like several cultures have recipes for breaded cutlet... German veal schnitzel, Japanese pork tonkatsu, Mexican beef milanesa.



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Contents:  Milanesa on rice, broccoli, tomato and cheese spears, and boiled egg (not pictured:  kiwi sidecar)

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I scorched my fish this morning (okay... burned it), but it still tasted great.

Contents: Mini corn muffins, boiled egg. salted salmon, cherry tomatoes, fingerling potatoes, and broccoli

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Top Tier:  Spaghetti with sundried tomato pesto and meatballs
Bottom Tier:  Grape tomatoes, kiwi, and beef rolls



Top Tier:  Sesame seed tamagoyaki, beef rolls, and kiwi
Bottom Tier:  Rice with fresh salt pickles, miso chicken, and broccoli

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Contents:  White on brown rice with fresh pickles, meatballs, karaage, boiled egg, and sauteed bean sprouts

I've been off from work all week, so I played with my music (another time-consuming hobby).

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Top Tier:  Teriyaki chicken, shumai, salted salmon, and edamame
Bottom Tier:  Rice with umeboshi and black sesame seed
Sidecar:  Blackberries, raspberries, and kiwi



Top Basket:  Toasted, buttered cinnamon raisin bagel
Bottom Tier:  Chicken breakfast sausage, boiled egg, blackberries, and raspberries

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Main Bento:  Spaghetti frittata, wasabi broccoli, and carrot kinpira



Fresh pineapple, raspberries, blackberries, and kiwi

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Contents:  Meatballs and wasabi tuna onigiri



Contents:  Karaage, carrot kinpira, shumai, and omelet

I felt like Biggie's Bug today.  I had way too much food. I only ate half at lunch and the remainder on the car ride home after work.  Overall, however, I was pretty satisfied with this bento.  I thought it captured the five-plus cooking methods sought after by bento artists:  steamed, sauteed, stewed, fried, boiled, raw. and pickled.





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Hot Bento:  Beef soboro over white rice with salted turnip pickle garnish, stewed hijiki seaweed, carrot kinpira, and karaage.

Cold Bento:  Israeli couscous salad, humus, fresh cucumber pickles, raw snow peas and carrot planks, and fresh cucumber

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Main Box:  Israeli couscous salad, dolmas, balsamic sesame chicken, falafel, humus, and Kiolbassa sausage
Sidecar:  Whole wheat pita and heirloom tomatoes

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Bottom Tier:  Rice with umeboshi and black sesame seed, carrot kinpira, and miso salmon burgers (unpictured:  ponzu sauce)
Top Tier:  Stewed hijiki seaweed with carrots, fresh cucumber and carrot star pickles, snow peas, humus, heirloom tomatoes, red radish slices, and salt turnip pickles

Thanks Maki at Just Bento for some of your recipes  ^-.-^

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Big Box:  Karaage and panko nuggets, inarizushi from freezer stash, carrot kinpira, and soboro
Little Box:  Sugar pear, heirloom tomatoes, carrot planks, fresh cucumber/carrot star pickles, and humus

I thought this was going to be a simple, little bento, but it gave me all kinds of problems this morning.  My rice wouldn't stick!  It might as well have been long grain.  In an effort to hold the onigiri together, I attempted to wrap it entirely with nori.  Mistake.  The darn seaweed kept cracking.  I just left the cracks...  It already has enough nori layers.  On a positive note, I know it will be tasty because I love salted salmon.



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Main Bento:  Carrot kinpira, sliver of salted salmon (shiozake),  wrapped onigiri, furikake chicken drumettes, and heirloom tomato space fillers.
Sidecar:  Carrot planks, snow peas, red radish slices, and humus.  Humble, little apple for a mid-morning snack.

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Top Bento:  Rice with umeboshi and sesame seeds, tonkatsu, and misoyaki chicken
Kitty Bento:  Sugar snap peas, heirloom tomatoes, homemade pickles, carrot kinpira, and humus

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Sidecar:  Papaya, pineapple, and jicima with chili limon
Left Tier:  Heirloom tomatoes, Babybel cheese, homemade cucumber and carrot pickles, sliced green onion for dipping sauce, seaweed salad
Top Tier:  Soba

Not Pictured:  Dipping sauce with wasabi