Brussels Sprout Overload

Oh man, brussels sprouts. I like them, really, I do. I just discovered them last year via this very popular recipe on 101 Cookbooks. It's pretty much the only way I cook them although I've also had them roasted in the oven and cut into thin strips for a hash. But what was a thinking when I bought this monster stalk of sprouts??

This turned out to be 6+ servings of brussels sprouts. Thank goodness the bf likes them too so really it was only 3 different meals with sprouts, but I STILL HAVE A FEW LEFT and they are probably going to be wasted as I am leaving for the holidays tomorrow. Poor baby sprouts.

They do photograph beautifully though, especially when they're a bit charred on the bottoms and sprinkled with a lovely white shower of grated Parmesan. And they fit neatly into bentos (although I can't say that my officemates have all enjoyed the sulfurous smell as much as I have).

Food Coma

That's where I've been for the past couple months... in a food-induced coma that prohibits me from blogging. Really. :)

Truthfully, it's just been a mess of too much work, school, and hibernation. Something about the cold weather makes me really sleepy and extremely lazy. I've taken a few more pictures of my food lately but nothing that excites me. There may be some more food inspiration in the near future though. I'm planning on making half a dozen baking kits in glass jars as holiday presents, which I'm sure will photograph nicely. Also, I'm having laser eye surgery at the end of the week - it's the kind that requires a longer recovery time so after about 4 days of very poor vision and being able to do nothing but sit on the couch, I MIGHT just want to cook/blog!

We'll see though. I've become quite a bear in the winter. Zzz....

Finally, an update!

November has been sooooo busy so far! Work and school are completely taking over my life (having a new Wii doesn't help either). I've been making lunches sporadically but they aren't very inspired and thus not quite photo-worthy. Also, stupid daylight savings has stolen my lovely natural light and it shows in my pictures. Grrr. Anyway, here are a couple bentos that actually turned out decent.

pan-fried smoked turkey sausage, colby jack cheese cubes, grapes, bbq sauce in container


Trader Joe's mushroom turnovers, grapes underneath bear egg


all put together in a new bento box


spam musubi and siu mai on a bed of edamame


pb soba noodles, carrot kinpara, simmered kabocha, miso chicken

New Ingredients: Miso, Kabocha, and Shitake

Making bento has really inspired me to try new foods, especially Japanese ones! While at the Korean market a few weeks ago, I picked up a big tub of white miso, a smallish kabocha squash, and a package of fresh shitake mushrooms. I had been reading about miso on Just Hungry and although I have had miso soup at Japanese restaurants, I have never tried cooking with it. For my first miso attempt, I modified this recipe and simmered some cubes of kabocha in a miso, ginger, garlic, soy, and brown sugar broth. After just 15 minutes, the squash was delightfully tender and almost creamy. The broth was addictive and I couldn't stop drinking it straight from the pot!

Next, I used the miso to flavor a stir-fry of pork and shitake mushrooms. While the miso by itself had an overwhelmingly salty flavor (and this is the mild kind!), the saltiness was toned down nicely when blended with the rest of the ingredients. I combined the miso pork stir-fry with the kabocha in a variety of ways:

kabocha, curry tuna onigiri, miso pork/shitake, grape tomatoes, seckel pear (so cute and tiny!)


miso pork/shitake, kabocha, furikake mixed onigiri on a bed of edamame


pork/shitake and kabocha with soba in miso broth

Finally, I made a dish to showcase the fresh shitakes - mushroom risotto with shitake, button mushrooms, lots of shallots, and fresh thyme. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough arborio rice so I added some short-grain Japanese rice and some of the kernels didn't seem to cook enough so some bits were extra chewy! Whoops...

Top: bratwurst, tomato/mozzarella skewers
Bottom: mushroom risotto
Side: raspberry cookies and freeze-dried mango

Food in Color

I couldn't resist sharing the bounty from my local farmer's market with its gorgeous palette. The colors make my usual meals seem gray and lifeless. Unfortunately, the potato lurking in the back was SUPPOSED to be a purple sweet potato (Okinawan) but turned out to be yellow. :( Still tasted great!

I also picked up fresh beans for the first time. These were labeled birds egg beans but, using my expert Googling skills, I discovered that they are more commonly known as borlotti or cranberry beans. They were delicious simmered till tender, then tossed with bacon, garlic, red pepper, and pasta.

The colors inspired me to include more color in my bentos. I am particularly proud of this one:

Top: Sauteed peppers, hash browns with carrot flower
Bottom: Edamame, carrot sticks, ham/cheese rollups, golden grape tomato, mayo/mustard mix in the container