Experimental Bento: Fruit and Veggie parts - 1

What kinds of veggies/fruits to add?

The easy ones would be carrots, celery, strawberries, blueberries, and anything that doesn't require special treatment.   But we all know that every Bento comes with some neat little bunches of pickled veggies and special looking touches...   It just wouldn't be a Bento without it!  So I'm going to try making some veggies that I can easily pack without spending extra prep time in the morning. 


Broccoli:
Boil it in some lightly salted water till it turns to a bright green.  It's done.  Here's how I'll store it so I can use it for a few days.  Drain well, shaking out the excess water.  Wrap in a dry paper towel and place in a plastic bag, sucking out as much air as possible.

Bean Sprouts:
Boil bean sprouts for just a minute or two.  They should turn slightly translucent, but not too wilty.  Should have a slight crunch to them when you bite them.  Drain, and run cold water over them to stop the cooking.  Gently squeeze out the excess water and sprinkle with about 1 Tbsp. of rice vinegar and shoyu, a splash of sesame oil, 1 tsp. sugar, and season with some pepper.  I like to add sesame seeds too, but I ran out.

Carrots:
I wanted to fancify the carrots a little, so I cut them into little flowers.  It's simple and impressive.  This is one carrot, cut like this:

1) Peel.
2) Cut into manageable pieces.
3) Cut slivers out of the sides, lengthwise.
4) Now, cut your carrot coins.  Kawaii!
Then I wrap them in a slightly damp paper towel and placed them in a plastic bag in the refrigerator. 


Edamame:
Don Quijote had them on sale last week for cheap so I bought 5 bags and store them in my freezer. Boil in some salted water for about 5 minutes, drain, but don't rinse and wrap them like the broccoli when cool.. Hopefully it'll last for the week. Unless I eat them for snacks...

I also bought a container of blueberries and a bag of those "cuties."  They look like tangerines,  I have a few cans of mandarin oranges too.  

Okay.. that's a good start.  We'll see how things go this week before we try other recipes.  Hopefully, they'll have at least a couple of good bento lunches this week....