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A friend (who just completed a master's) was making bentos for her lunches and posted about it on facebook, and I thought that was a cool idea (save money, eat nutritious lunches that aren't just PB&J every day), so I looked into it for myself. This friend suggested justbento.com, which I have mined thoroughly for vegetarian recipes (and recipe ideas). The blogger has a bento 101 series, which is basically "a bento is protein, grain, and fruit or veg" and "build up a stash in your freezer" and "things you already like to make are great."
So I decided to test out a recipe from her site (http://justbento.com/handbook/johbisai/japanese-dry-curry-with-soybeans-or-tempeh). We made it for dinner, and I put the last bit of rice in a container, dumped some more curry on it, and popped it in the freezer to see how it works that way. The recipe is amazing; I'd scale back on the curry powder (ours is hot) because it's more concentrated than with a regular soupy curry. (I used a little over a tablespoon, which is about what I use in the regular curry.) I want to try freezing the curry bit separately (in an ice cube tray?) to see how that goes.
I also made sweet potato and chickpea koftas from a cookbook I have (Mollie Katzen's Vegetable Heaven). They're really good, but they don't form into patties like the recipe says they should. I scooped them up by large spoonfuls and dropped them into the skillet like weird cookies. Either I need to use less sweet potato or more chickpeas; I added extra flour, but that didn't help much. I ate them tucked into pita bread, which was delicious. Super filling, too. (I had 4, the pita, and a carrot.) I put 4 into the freezer in a little gladware thing. I bet it would also make a nice hummus-like spread, especially if I sauteed the garlic or used roasted.
There are a lot of things I want to try before I go to Georgia, so I can have a repertoire and a habit. I'm clipping a lot to my Evernote from both justbento and budgetbytes.com.
Two months! Ack!
So I decided to test out a recipe from her site (http://justbento.com/handbook/johbisai/japanese-dry-curry-with-soybeans-or-tempeh). We made it for dinner, and I put the last bit of rice in a container, dumped some more curry on it, and popped it in the freezer to see how it works that way. The recipe is amazing; I'd scale back on the curry powder (ours is hot) because it's more concentrated than with a regular soupy curry. (I used a little over a tablespoon, which is about what I use in the regular curry.) I want to try freezing the curry bit separately (in an ice cube tray?) to see how that goes.
I also made sweet potato and chickpea koftas from a cookbook I have (Mollie Katzen's Vegetable Heaven). They're really good, but they don't form into patties like the recipe says they should. I scooped them up by large spoonfuls and dropped them into the skillet like weird cookies. Either I need to use less sweet potato or more chickpeas; I added extra flour, but that didn't help much. I ate them tucked into pita bread, which was delicious. Super filling, too. (I had 4, the pita, and a carrot.) I put 4 into the freezer in a little gladware thing. I bet it would also make a nice hummus-like spread, especially if I sauteed the garlic or used roasted.
There are a lot of things I want to try before I go to Georgia, so I can have a repertoire and a habit. I'm clipping a lot to my Evernote from both justbento and budgetbytes.com.
Two months! Ack!
