Tuesday bento – barbecue chicken, stuffing, salad, grapes and Tim Tam
I packed myself the other barbecue chicken thigh and drumstick with more stuffing for my bento last Tuesday, with lots of vegetables – rocket and spinach leaves, baby roma tomatoes, mushrooms and blanched broccoli and sugar snap peas.
A few people have asked me about my blanching of green vegetables for bento. Well, I think doing this has a couple of great benefits: the blanching removes the really “green” raw taste, and the vegetables go intensely, vividly green, which is excellent for photos and much more appealing to the eye than dull green raw vegetables (to me, anyway). I simply prep them up e.g. chop the broccoli into pieces, top and tail and de-string the snow peas, then place them in a small bowl and pour boiling water from the kettle over the top. I leave the vegetables in the hot water for a minute or two – not too long as I want them to still remain firm- then remove, rinse in cold water then dry them with a tea towel before packing them in the bento box.
The week before, I bought a couple of Tim Tam singles from IGA at East Perth for 45 cents each – a typical impulse buy at the checkout. I thought a single-wrapped Tim Tam would be perfect for bento. Next to the Tim Tam, I packed red seedless grapes.
It was another very colourful lunch. I ate it all cold, including the chicken, stuffing and vegetables, and really enjoyed it all.