Vegetable Rice and Grilled Yellowtail Tuna Bento

If I hadn't planned ahead this bento wouldn't have happened. Luckily, the day before I went through my fridge and whipped up some veggie sides. This made putting a bento together in a hurry quite easy!

Top tier of bento: Mixed vegetable rice (aka leftover "bits" rice, heh heh), grilled yellowtail with citrus-tamari sauce, beet greens, lemon slices, pickled carrot flowers

Bottom tier of bento: Caramelized onion and beet salad, asparagus bundles wrapped in tamari dipped nori, green salad with lemon-tahini dressing. Garnish: pickled carrot flower with parsley leaf

So after taking a peek in my crispers I saw that I had small amounts of various veggies, lettuce, 2 small beets, and 1/2 an onion. It was time to move into Iron Chef Bento mode! 

The veggies and salads I all made in advance. I also chopped the veggies for the rice and put them in a tupaware so the next day all I had to day was dump them on top of rice and hit "cook" on the rice cooker. Phew!

                               My Bento Recipes:

Carmelized Onion and Beet Salad (2 bento portions)
I created this because I had beets and onion. It's a wonderful combination that adds a sweetness to the bento.

Ingredients:

2 small beets, diced
1/2 onion, cut in 1/2 and then thinly sliced
2 teaspoons butter or ghee
2 teaspoons maple syrup or honey
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 + 1/8 teaspoon cumin

Directions:

* In a small pot add beets and water to cover and bring to a boil.
* Meanwhile, heat the butter over medium heat and add the onion and sweetener. This helps the onions to caramelize. 
* Continue to let the beets boil as the onion caramelizes.
* Cook both for 10-12 minutes, stirring the onions only once or twice, until they are golden brown.
* By now the beets should be soft so drain well. 
* Mix with the onions and add the salt and cumin.

Mixed Vegetable Rice
Salads are a great way to use up the bits of veggies I have leftover after making a few bentos. This rice is an other way so use whatever you've got! Get creative!

Ingredients:

The white ends of 3 green onions, sliced on the diagonal
3 mushrooms cut in 1/2 and then sliced
1 carrot, shredded
1 tablespoon tamari
1/2 cup rice (I use a rice cooker cup)

Directions:

So I have a rice cooker. It was a gift and I love it. I put everything in the rice cooker (with water) and let it work it's magic. Rice Cooker: you're the best.