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Wednesday, August 18, 2010

summer eggplant bento

Hi bento pals! Today's bento was based on this beauty of an eggplant from the farmer's market. I've been admiring its round, happy form and pretty purple/ivory colors since Saturday!

Here's how I cooked it today: 400 degree oven, eggplant halved and scored. For a soboro style filling: four minced garlic cloves, one inch piece of fresh ginger, diced and sauteed with a quarter pound of organic ground beef. Remove eggplant from oven after about 50 minutes or until tender. Carefully scrape out its custardy flesh, retaining skin/shell. Combine eggplant pulp with beef mixure. Add mirin, tamari, sake to taste. Mound eggplant shells with savory filling and bake for a few more minutes. Yum!

Eggplant half garnished with colorful beni shoga and scallions:
Pink grapefruit and golden kiwi:
These baby tomatoes were juicy and sweet! The farmer's market has been great bento/cooking inspiration this summer--for you, too? Speaking of farmer's market inspiration, Sonoma Bento is hosting a wonderful giveaway to celebrate her 50th market-sourced post--check it out!

20 comments:

Unknown said...

Yummy eggplant!! The bento is so bright and delicious looking!

tinyskillet said...

The eggplants looks so good! The rest has a beautiful summery look! I love the green bento and lovely chopsticks sleeve.

Bentobird said...

Hi Jenn! This type of eggplant has become such a fave! Thanks for stopping by with your lovely comments, looking forward to seeing what new & artistic bentos you've come up with :D

Bentobird said...

Hi there Lyndsey, aw, thanks so much! I'm really tuned into light, right green recently. Have a great Wednesday evening!

Sonoma Bento said...

So gorgeous! I am just sitting here at the computer and sighing. Ha ha! I missed the farmers market this morning, but luckily during the summer months we have an evening version on Wednesdays mixed in with a street fair, so I'll head down to get something yummy for bentos!

Bentobird said...

Hi SB, you are so nice! Ooh, looking forward to seeing what you find at the market :D!

Emily Ng said...

I love the ivory color eggplant. The bento is nice & yummy with all the fresh fruit & veggies. :)

Konnie said...

Oh my, I haven't had dinner yet and that eggplant looks delicious.

Bentobird said...

Thanks Emily! :D

Lia Chen said...

Zoom in the bento picture ... So curious about the yummy filling inside the eggplant LOL :D Awesome bento!!

Bentobird said...

Hi Konnie, such a sweet comment--thank you!

Bentobird said...

Hi Lia--many thanks! Hope I described the filling with enough detail in the post...and that you've had a great day :D

Kuusou said...

The eggplant looks soooo delicious!

Bentobird said...

Thanks Kuusou! If you are an eggplant fan, hope you'll give this approach a try...easy and yum :D!

KidsDreamWork said...

The eggplant looks so yummy, and the size is big! I like the cherry tomatoes photo so much, you are such a good photographer, besides a great bento-ist! :D

Bentobird said...

Hello Ai Ping, what a lovely comment, that really inspires me! Yep, it was a really big eggplant to start, though roasting deflated it a little bit...

Its so great to get ideas and encouragement from our bento community, thanks so much :D!

Anonymous said...

Aaawwww *growling stomach*

Gorgeous eggplant: it looks like a flower, the way you photographed it!

Bentobird said...

Hi there gnoegnoe, ah very cool comment thank you!

tofugirl said...

Amazing color in that top eggplant photo--I wish I could find a dress in that color! Haha. I love the color of that kiwi too! (I am soooo behind on reading blogs.)

Bentobird said...

Hey, thanks Carol! Yes, its a great deep sizzling purple shade, full of life and depth. This was also the first time I'd purchased "golden kiwi"--an interesting variation on the usual green version!