couscous salad bento

 

A bright and zippy lunch of couscous salad! Here's my recipe:

 

Couscous Salad with Herbs and Pistachio

 

1 cup of couscous

1 cup water

1 cup cooked chickpeas

stemmed, chopped mint and parsley to taste

1 clove minced garlic

1 scallion sliced on bias

2 small Persian cucumbers, chopped

diced red onion to taste

large handful halved, shelled pistachios

Dressing: juice of two lemons, 1/2 cup olive oil, blended

 

Bring one cup of water to boil, add one tablespoon of butter and a pinch of salt. Remove water from heat and stir in couscous. Cover and allow to steam for 5-7 minutes, then fluff grains with a wooden spoon. Mix in chickpeas, herbs, onion, garlic, other veggies. Pour dressing over, add pistachios and taste, adding more salt if needed, and black pepper to taste.

 

In addition to the couscous salad, this bento contained endive filled with herbed cheese and a dollop of beet hummus, a cool product I just discovered at Trader Joe's, and extra feta cheese. Yum!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



shiso wrap bento

 

Today's bento features Korean-spring flavors: kimchi fried rice wrapped in aromatic shiso leaves with coconut-oil stir fried baby zucchini and asparagus. These tasty items share the bamboo bento box with scallion pancakes from a local Asian market. Garden chives and a few little yellow tomatoes also for lunch. The soft golden rose is a variety called The Impressionist, now in pastel bloom against the sunny well-house wall. I look forward to these delicate, lush blooms with their softest tint of pink on outermost petals every spring.

 



 

 

smoked salmon tea sandwiches

 

 

Today's snack with smoked salmon, cream cheese and edible johnny jump up flowers clipped from the garden. We recently had our first dinner outside since spring arrived, including prosciutto-wrapped asparagus on the grill. Here they are right before grilling, expertly prepped by Jamison:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy spring cooking!