I have seen Bento Box's but have often felt intimidated by them. All of those little squares to fill up made it hard for me to think outside the "bento" box per se. After doing research for this blog I have been motivated to try some of the bento box recipes that I found on line. Albeit some of the bento box recipes can be time consuming they were super cute. Check out the recipes at Parenting for more inspiration.
Here is another recipe that I like to make!
Rice balls rolled in Sesame Salt
3/4 cup brown rice
1/4 cup sweet brown rice
1 1/2 cups water
Sea salt
1 cup brown sesame seeds
According to the recipe acquired from Mothering.com boiled rice will not form balls therefore it is best to pressure cook the rice. Rinse and drain. Place rice, 1 tsp sea salt and water in pressure cooker. While rice is cooking lightly toast sesame seeds (stirring constantly until you hear a popping sound and change slightly in color). Pt toasted seeds and 1 teaspoon of salt in a mortar and pestle or a food processor and grind.
Spread about 1/3 of the sesame seed mixture on a plate or shallow baking pan. Moisten hands with water then gather a handful of cooked rice. Pack the rice and then roll on to sesame seed mixture until coated. Repeat until all the rice is used up. Rice balls will keep up to 5 days in a covered container in the refrigerator.
*When I made this recipe I did not have sweet brown rice so I cooked the brown rice with half water and half sweetened almond milk. I also did not have enough sesame seeds so I added roasted flax seeds.
For added flavor dip in a ginger yogurt sauce (plain yogurt mixed with ginger).
