Just Bento

[I know I haven’t been posting a lot of recipes lately…travelling around so much does that to you. So here’s a great recipe for vegetarian/vegan kimchi from the forums, by Stephanie.! - maki]

I recently started making my own kimchi, because I was having trouble finding one that was fish free and without a ton of additives. It is super easy and easily customizable. continue reading...

So I bought some of this a few weeks ago and I've been procrastinating over what to make with it - until tonight.

I've been wanting to try making mini-pies for a while and since I finally remembered to snag some Cream of Tomato at the grocery, I figured tonight would be a good night to try it out.

Here's what I ended up with:

continue reading...

So, back to bentos! I've been looking for some "adult" bento boxes and found this one. It's plain plastic but I think it's good enough for salads :D continue reading...

And the winner is…

Lavash Bento, by sherimiya! continue reading...

During Maki's Veggie month, I dedicated three out of the seven days of the week to just eat vegetables and fruits. So, it was kinda like being a vegetarian for half the week. Even though, I was thrilled about the month's theme, this was even more exciting! It was a out-of-whim call to do, but in the end it paid off.

After twenty-nine days of this half vegetarian/ half omnivore, I decided to go 100% vegetarian. Risky.. yes... but this site has enough yummies to satisfy me. :]

So! Onto the reason of the blog: since I went vegetarian, I bought a block of firm tofu.... continue reading...

Here is my recipe for spiced chickpeas. I love making these because they are really fun to experiment with and very easy to make.

Spiced Chickpeas

1 can of chickpeas (or equivalent soaked chickpeas)
2 tb olive oil
2 cups veggie stock
1 shallot, chopped
2 tbs tomato sauce (or even ketchup if you like things sweeter)
1 clove chopped garlic (optional) continue reading...

Here's my contribution to the May vegetarian theme:

3 medium sized ripened tomatoes with lots of flavour
1 garlic clove - grated with a wasabi grater, crushed or finely chopped
1 tablespoon of rinsed capers, chopped
8 olives, sliced (I use green, manzanilla olives)
1 finely sliced shallot (alternatively, use scallion/spring onion or a small piece of onion)
3 to 4 tablespoons of good olive oil
salt
enough dried pasta (your choice) for two portions continue reading...

Before I scare anyone away from udon, the link Stephanie includes below shows a MUCH easier way to make them.

single bento boy's link in this thread: http://www.justbento.com/forum/foodie-movies got me watching the movie "Udon"
Within minutes I started drooling and hankering after the kind of udon I'd eaten in Takamatsu.
I went back to a recipe I'd used before: http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fg20010701rl.html - worth reading to get an idea on how the weather affects the amount of salt you should use continue reading...