aleppo pepper beef and couscous bento

 

Spicy, rich fall flavors for today's late November bento. On a base of couscous combined with pistachios and chickpeas, here's a golden pepper filled with an Aleppo pepper-spiced sauté of organic ground beef, roasted butternut squash, garlic, red onions and red bell pepper. Fennel flowers and violas from the garden, microgreens and a wedge of feta cheese round out this filling lunch.

Beef with Squash and Aleppo Pepper

1 lb organic ground beef

1 chopped red bell pepper

3 garlic cloves, chopped

one small/medium red onion, chopped

1 cup cubed roasted butternut squash

2 scallions, chopped

Ground Aleppo pepper to taste

Ras al Hanout spice blend, to taste

cilantro, to garnish

Greek yogurt, to garnish

Over medium heat, sauté onion and garlic in olive oil until onion is translucent, then add chopped red pepper and sauté until  soft, season with sea salt. Move vegetables to one side of pan and add beef and brown on one side, seasoning liberally with ground Aleppo pepper, add salt and turn over, browning other side and breaking up with a wooden spoon. 

Combine vegetables and beef and stir, add roasted squash pieces and scallions. Taste and correct seasonings to intensify spices to desired level. Serve with cilantro and a dollop of Greek yogurt. A side of couscous with chick peas and pistachio nuts is excellent with this dish!

Japanese camellia starting to bloom this week:

Intense colors of November:

 

spring breakfast bento

Here's a happy spring breakfast bento with asparagus-accented soft scrambled eggs and a tartine layered with brie, artichoke spread, smoked salmon and garden chives and garlic blossoms. Not visible: a fresh green layer of arugula and other wild greens, gathered outside in this little woven basket:

Views of the spring garden here in Sonoma County:

spiced silk road beef in brioche bento

Exploring Silk Road meets France flavors in this bento: organic ground beef stir fried with eggplant, garlic, ginger, red onion, rogan josh and Five Spice spice blends, topped with Greek yogurt, delicate chervil and tucked inside a lightly toasted brioche bun. Light summery salad of mixed baby greens, radish, sweet golden tomatoes as a fresh contrasting side.

Speaking of summer, I recently found these beautiful antique Chinese dishes in sunny colors, pictured here with a juicy local peach: 

salmon avo mini bánh mì bento

 A small and sweet little sandwich for today's lunch! I blended canned salmon with mayo and sriracha sauce, then layered sliced ripe avocado, cilantro and pickled jalapeno pepper slices into an oven-crisped mini roll. Delicious with a side salad of romaine and carrot ribbons, sakura cut avocado and a spicy dressing from Dragonfly brand (green chili flavor).  

korean chicken and soba stir fry bento

Enjoying early fall flavors with today's bento: sesame-oil tossed soba noodles with autumnal-colored veggies--purple cabbage, golden carrots and yellow pepper. Korean gochujang

  and ginger marinated chicken a delicious accompaniment. Nasturtium, society garlic blossom, Kadota fig and dahlia from our early fall garden reflect the vivid and beautiful range of nature's palette right now.

Happy Autumn!

summer sandwiches bento

A light duo of summer sandwiches: crab/mayo/fennel flower on the left. goat cheese/baby tomato/basil on the right. Nom!

chicken karaage bento

Simple and satisfying--Japanese-style fried chicken and potato salad for lunch. The karaage recipe, rich with ginger and soy sauce and satisfyingly crispy, came from the inspiring cookbook Tokyo Cult Recipes, a gorgeous book full of accessible, delicious recipes. Can't wait to cook my way through it! 

The purple and pale lavender larkspur photographed next to my bento are still blooming, weeks after they first started flowering.

vietnamese spring roll and pork wrap bento

Happy spring! We've had bright and gorgeous weather here in Sonoma County for the last few weeks,

and this bento is a celebration of the season and the aromatic herbs and flowers in the garden at the moment...plus the discovery of a wonderful new place for Vietnamese treats in Santa Rosa.

A foodie friend told us about Thuan Phat, raving about their very flavorful bahn mi. We checked it out this week, leaving very satisfied with two of the menu selections of grilled pork and shredded bbq pork bahn mi. The bread was perfect--very crisp, airy and a perfect foil for the rich meats and bright pickled veggies inside. The service was super friendly and the whole place simple and charming. We got a plate of vermicelli noodles with grilled pork and spring rolls to continue our Vietnamese immersion into the dinner hour. Excellent!

Here's my Grilled Pork deliciousness:

I set aside one spring roll and portion of grilled pork to add to this bento, where they combine with radish blossoms, chives, nasturtium from the garden and also romaine lettuce, asparagus and cucumber. I so love a Vietnamese-flavored bento...

smoked salmon hearts and avocado bento

As late winter merges into what feels like an early spring here in Sonoma County, a bento to celebrate our Meyer lemon tree heavy with dark yellow and tender skinned fruit. I used Meyer lemon zest to add tangy zip to the cream cheese layer of these heart shaped tea sandwiches and decorated them with small bright wedges of lemon. Local smoked salmon really sparkled with the lemon contrast! Butter lettuce lightly dressed with olive oil and yes, Meyer lemon juice, accented with buttery avocado round out this light bento lunch.

cooling rice and seafood bento

 

A refreshing lunch for another warm late-summer day: lightly rice vinegared rice, crabmeat. ikura, radish sprouts, Japanese eggplant pickle and a few juicy snow peas. We went to Mitsuwa in San Jose this week and had a great time shopping and eating. Delicious ramen with spicy miso broth from Santouka, co-located with Mitsuwa:

 

 

The foods of Hokkaido were featured on this visit to Mitsuwa. We enjoyed some delish crab croquettes from this special event, yum...

 

 

Sweets to celebrate the coming season:

 

 

More pretty candies, love these colors!

 

 

Happy cooking, friends!

 

 

 

 

 



summer snack bento

 

Finally back to bento after a long break! Today's bento offers cooling flavors and textures for a hot July day. Local scarlet red tomatoes, green figs and lightly dressed chilled shrimp: simple and refreshing. Here's the farm stand/market on the way to the beach where we picked up the delicious tomatoes:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cows grazing near where we park to make our way down to the ocean

 

 

 

 

Happy Summer!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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!

 



spring soba noodles bento

 

Spring has come to vivid life here in Sonoma County: roses have started blooming, as have lilacs, wisteria, tulips. When I took photos this morning of what's emerging in the garden, I did so with ringing chorus of birdsong around me: soft-calling doves, raucous crows.

 

 

Cecile Brunner climbing rose has just started her pale pink bloom:

 

 

 

 

 

 

For lunch, healthy soba noodles layered with ginger flavors and tossed with asparagus and plump shrimp. Minced fresh asparagus went into the asparagus-shrimp stir fry, and pink pickled ginger was sliced into the cooked noodles along with some of the tart pickling liquid, along with a bit of Q-P Ginger Sesame dressing. Peppery arugula plucked from outside and some pretty radish flowers join the gingery noodles for a bright and springy meal.