What's for dinner?

[Matt]

that seems like the most random dish i have ever seen. did it all work well together?

Hmmm. Yeah, it did. Never really thought about it that way.
I guess my motivation is much more about having a variety of colors and textures on the plate than it is about combining things that are traditionally served together.

you really need to try making some bento.

[Kelly]

i would eat it, and I can appreciate the creativity that goes into it, but i think it's too, too, too cutsie for me to spend time making it.

[Matt]

I think the pictures are a bit biased.
Since people are doing it for show and, like those case decoding shows with fondant, they are just coloring and sculpting rice.
The idea of Bento is that the bento box is a sliced canvas and one "packs" a bento with a different color per space.
This sets a goal for making the meal. If you have 4 quadrants, you must plan each one to be its own, and not overlap with the others.

This is a better representation of a classic bento

[Kelly]

Hmmm, OK. I like the concept and probably would enjoy putting my own spin on it. Having a self-diagnosed hypersensitivity to color, I would need to go much simpler and cleaner than what's shown in the example below. But, yeah - great idea! I think the pea pods cut on a diagonal are fabulous!

[Matt]

I had this type of bamboo bento box, only the porcelain dishes were all square, but Suki stole it from me
[img2]http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_iiZuzAo-0RA/S ... ms+141.jpg[/img2]
I had no problem filling 3 out of 4 quadrants, but i always got stumped on the 4th.

[Kelly]

Mung bean noodles


Ginger and scallions


Chicken and scallions


And finally, sesame garlic chicken and blueberries over mung bean noodles and spinach with sesame oil


I know most of my meals look similar, but I love all kinds of noodles and pasta with all manner of veggies!

[Matt]

mung noodles? hmmm... never tried them. Looks fantastic though.

[Kelly]

I made regular pizza for the football watchers last night, but here's the wacky pizza I made for me!

Layer 1 - Sweet potato, garlic and rosemary puree on the bottom
Layer 2 - Barbecue sauce
Layer 3- Craisins & smoked sundried tomatoes
Layer 4 - Romano and fresh mozzerella
All of it topped off with oregano and rosemary

Cooking the sweet potatoes and garlic


The dough rises


Rolling the dough with cornmeal


Before baking


After baking