Easy Bento Style Vegan Lunchbox

     Color, crunch, and whimsy are the secrets to a fun school lunch for my son, and I'm betting that it's the same secret that gets your kids excited about their food for lunch. Although we're "technically" pescetarians, 90 percent of my family's diet is vegetarian. I'm a food gawker for bento meals. I think it's the extreme cuteness factor that compels me to search for bento recipes. While making my son's lunch one morning, I started playing around with some leftover brown rice and fresh finger foods. I had an idea for a vegan recipe and came up with this easy lunch to send with him to school:

Vegan Franks and Rice
Ingredients
2 Vegan Hot Dogs, split (I used Tofu Pups by Lightlife Foods)
Vegetable Oil Spray (I used PAM)
1 cup short-grain brown rice, cooled (make the night before)
1 tablespoon Mrs. Dash (Original)
Toasted sesame seeds for sprinkling
2 sprigs of parsley for garnishing
Optional tool: watermelon baller
Directions:
Spray a fry pan with the vegetable oil spray. Pan fry the vegan hot dogs until slightly charred (or use a grill pan for nice grill marks). Place hot dogs in fridge for 10-15 minutes or until cool. While the vegan hot dogs are cooling, mix Mrs. Dash with the rice. Use the larger end of a watermelon baller or a tablespoon to scoop 8 small mounds of rice in a  7x5x1.5- inch unbreakable lunch container. Use your fingers to shape the rice into balls if necessary. Sprinkle each rice mound with toasted sesame seeds (I bought them already toasted). Place the cooled and split vegan hot dogs in the center of the dish. Tuck in parsley at each end of the container.

        Bright & Crunchy Finger Salad

Don't I have my nerve giving split baby carrots and cherry tomatoes a name? This little salad IS bright and crunchy, and they are both finger foods.  Besides, I'll say anything to get my kid to eat his veggies. Do I really need to write out a recipe for this part of the lunch? Ok, I'll do it for the sake of consistency:

Ingredients
5 baby carrots, split
8-10 cherry tomatoes
1 small lettuce leaf or sprig of parsley
Directions 
Carefully split baby carrots and place them on one side of a divided lunch container. Place the lettuce leaf or parsley on the right side of the container. Place whole cherry tomatoes on top of the greens. Arrange the pointed end of the tomatoes in the same direction.

I loved the look of this lunch so much that I made one for myself as well. Have you tried making a vegan bento lunch--or any kind of bento lunch? Do tell! Please leave a comment and share your ideas or your impressions about the Easy Bento Style Vegan Lunchbox.

After-Grilling Brunch with Vegan Sliders

Our grilling and fish-fry fest last weekend was supposed to be a late afternoon dinner on the patio with a few friends.  I wanted to photograph all the spearing, grilling, and frying going on. I started snapping a few food-prep photos but quickly realized that my guests would not eat until midnight if I didn't just get the grub on the table. It was past sunset when we sat down to eat. I grabbed a few dollar-store candles leftover from Hurricane Irene and managed a lovely patio-dinner-by-candlelight. Late morning the next day, I wanted to recreate the breezy vibe and soulful flavors from the night before. There were leftovers and there were hungry people, so I fixed an after-grilling brunch. Deep-fried shrimp and grits, vegan burger sliders, eggs and fruit were our brunch eats. The vegan sliders were my pride-and-joy dish of the previous evening and were still a hit at brunch.  

The idea for these meatless burgers came from an episode of Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. My recipe is an adaptation. I couldn't find the recipe online and relied on my memory, which isn't the best these days. What I do remember clearly was that there were mashed potatoes and brown rice in the dish.  

First, I boiled, cooled, and peeled three pounds of organic white potatoes (six medium or eight small potatoes). I added the spuds to a large bowl and mashed the potatoes into small chunks with a fork. Next, I stirred in two cups of brown rice. The mixture was a bit dry, so I added1/4 cup of hot water to loosen it. To the potato-rice mixture, I stirred in two cups of steamed green peas, chopped green onion, soy sauce, sweet smoked paprika, garlic powder, Adobo sauce from canned chipotle peppers, and salt and pepper. I used an ice-cream scoop to form the patties and rolled each one in cornflake crumbs before pan-frying them (see recipe below). 

A major addition to the brunch was the fish and shrimp that was expertly fried by my friend Charles, who lugged his turkey fryer, two one-gallon jugs of canola oil, and bags of frozen seafood over to our house. He used the Louisiana Fish Fry mix and this recipe for the wet-batter fried fish and shrimp.


We missed the sunlight the night before but enjoyed it the next morning as it illuminated our after-grilling brunch fare. Have you hosted or attended an after-event brunch? Tell me about it. Here's the recipe for the Vegan Burger Sliders:


Vegan Burger Sliders

Ingredients
2 cups cooked brown rice
3 pounds boiled white potatoes (six medium or eight small)
1/4 hot water 
2 cups steamed fresh or frozen green peas

3 chopped green onions (scallions) bulbs and tops
3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon sweet, smoked paprika
11/2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon sauce from canned chipotle peppers in Adobo sauce
Salt and cracked pepper to taste
Cornflake or cracker crumbs (can substitute regular minced breadcrumbs)


Directions
Cook 1.5 cup brown rice according to package directions. Allow rice to cool to room temperature after it is cooked. While rice is cooking, boil potatoes with skin on until soft but not mushy (test with a fork by piercing a potato. When the fork slides through easily but still feels firm like a baked potato, it's ready. Remove from heat and add to a cold-water bath. While potatoes are cooling, chop the onions and steam tor boil the peas for 3 minutes or until soft. Use only a small amount of water (just enough to cover the peas). You could also prepare frozen or microwave-in-bag green peas. Peel the cooled potatoes. When all cooked ingredients are ready, chunk the potatoes with a fork or give them a few mashes with a potato masher. Potatoes should be chunky and not whipped. Add the brown rice and stir or use your hands to mix. Add 1/4 of hot water (or a little more if it's really dry) to hydrate the mixture. Add the peas and scallions and stir to mix the vegetables thoroughly. Mix in the soy sauce, paprika, and adobo sauce (store the remaining chipotle peppers and sauce in the fridge). Add salt and pepper and taste the vegetable mix. Adjust the seasonings to your taste if needed.


Pour the cornflake or cracker crumbs on a chopping board or on a sheet of aluminum foil. Using your hand or an ice cream scoop to form four-inch burgers from the vegetable mix. Place each burger on top of the crumbs and cover both sides with the crumb mixture. Pan-fry each burger on top of the stove in a non-stick or seasoned cast-iron pan sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Turn each burger once and handle gently to prevent or minimize the burgers breaking apart. Fry until burgers are golden brown. Place cooked burgers in slider buns and add your favorite burger toppings. Serves 6 two sliders each. 


Do you have a favorite homemade veggie burger recipe? Please share with me!