Lunch Today: Leftover Bento! plus Breakfast!

by Jessica

So today's lunch is leftovers from last nights dinner. My husband BBQ'd a chicken and some veggies, so I made them into lettuce wraps. I used teriyaki sauce on top - so good. Then I also made some occur cows and lentils. The little star is a lentil cake with a walnut pressed on top.

I also got up this morning and made breakfast for Tyler and I - but I wasn't hungry at the time so I boxed it up and took it with me to work. It's basically a chicken soup with a bunch of pho inspired ingredients. I used the bones from the chicken my husband BBQ'd last night to make the stock the night before. It was pretty yummy. Recipes after the jump!

Israeli Cranberry Cous Cous

1 1/2 c. cooked israeli cous cous (cook according to package instructions)

1 medium ripe (or not ripe…whatever) tomato, seeded and chopped up smallish

2 big handfuls finely chopped Italian parsley

2 finely minced shallots

small handful of dried cranberries chopped up

1 bulb finely minced garlic

good glug of peppery flavorful olive oil (first cold pressing kalamata olive oil is available at TJ's and is super yummy)

pinch of salt to taste

Mix it all together! Squeeze half a lemon over it for a little kick. 

The lentils were a mistake. They should have cooked up all nice so I could add them to the cows cows - but I covered them when I cooked them which made them into more of an overcooked refried lentil type consistency. Not bad….but not worth repeating. So I'll make a lentil soup properly and post that here in the future.

Pho-ified Chicken Soup

To make the broth yourself, google a proper broth recipe and follow it…OR do what I did. Take the bones leftover from the chicken, cut an onion into thirds and leave the skin on. Throw it into a pot and fill it with water till it covers the bird bones. Then toss in anything else you might have that will add flavor. I added sjhitake mushrooms, peppercorns, a handful of garlic bulbs, a few bay leaves and some all spice berries. Turned out pretty decent.

So this morning I took the stock I made last night and added another can of chicken stock to it. This can of chicken stock had the words "asian taste" on the side…so i figured it would be a good idea. The whole thing turned out to be a somewhat decent bowl of soup - though not anywhere near a good bowl of properly prepared pho. Here's the rest of the recipe:

Stock - lots. Whatever kind you want…if you want to make this vegetarian I'd suggest using a mushroom stock…a standard veggie stock would probably not be as flavorful.

Fresh Rice Noodles (if you only have dried…boil them beforehand and put them to the side…covered and drained)

Diced up chicken

diced up tofu

2-3 shiitake mushrooms sliced thin

1/2 onion sliced this

2 garlic bulbs sliced thin

Chopped up leaf (spinach, a choy, chard)

1 puffy fried tofu (http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/Dictionary/A/Aburaage-6182.aspx)

Handful of pea shoots (any "shoot" will work….or sprout. bean sprouts are more typical)

Handful of cilantro (or basil)

So throw the onions, shiitake and garlic into the pot with a tiny bit of canola oil. Let it get fragrant then top with the stock, chicken and tofu. Let that come to a boil. Then add the chopped up leafy greens. In a bowl, put the rice noodles and the fried tofu in the bottom. Pour however much soup you want on top and top with herbs and sprouts. You can also add half a soft boiled egg and sliced jalapeños. Let it sit for a minute to get the noodles soft. Enjoy!