A Bento for me????

Thats right, I took my first dive into the addiction that is Bento. Not so sure if its an actual addiction, but I know that I have been very intrigued for sometime since my Friend at Angel's Bento Blog stuck the little piece of rice in my brain! So of course, I just kept thinking I HAVE to find a bento box, I can't make a bento without the box. Well Amazingly, she and I joined BBM for Feb..sending all our favorites to the partner we were paired with. Of course we also chose to send a duplicate to each other. How cool am I? I used something from Both my packages today!!
SO not only did I do a lunch Bento, but seeing as I have to be up early and have some time before the store opens, I made a breakfast bento as well, to eat while I do the opening paper work =). Smart!! I am woot. So the first one is My Breakfast Bento.Now, keep in mind, this is my first time, and I needed to take it simple, nothing super cute or creative, but at least I am eating breakfast. Not so sure it actually qualifies as a Bento, but ha-ha I am calling it one! I scrambled up some eggs with a tid bit of butter, fresh chives and salt and pepper. Simple and yummy. I have been sick, so I decided some Vitamin C would do me good, so fresh orange to go with it =). My cute sunny Bento and my cute little orange silicone holder. with more yellow and orange, hmm I just realized that ha-ha. So, for lunch, I wanted to make something fresh and kind of light, but that would hopefully satisfy me. I do have like a 9.5 hr day tomorrow and I can't leave the shop, so have to be able to eat. I found a recipe for Tomato, Bean, & Potato Salad with Gremolata in a magazine. It looks yummy so I thought why not. To my despair, I thought I grabbed parsley out of the kitchen at work...got it home, today I realized its Cilantro. Nope that wont work. So I didn't do the gremolata, I just mixed the garlic and lemon with some Italian dressing I had. add a bit of salt and Pepper...mmm tasty!! The cool thing about this Bento is the lid unscrews to another smaller compartment. And what better to put in that, than my treat of Blackberry Peach Fool!! Woot lunch and dessert!! And what do you ask are those cute little butterflies in my salad?? Thats right, I used my little cutter from her box to shape the potato's into butterflies. There, imagination and creativity!! Again, not so sure if its a technical Bento, but its a start, and I am excited about them =). Here they are together =) my breakfast and lunch. I can't wait for tomorrow!!!
Tomato, Bean & Potato Salad with Gremolata
10 small new potatoes, scrubbed and cut into bite size pieces
1/2 lb green beans, cut diagonally into slices
1 1/2 lb ripe mixed tomatoes ( I actually used halved graped tomatoes its what I had at the time) cut up. You can use any variety you like.
4 scallions, thinly sliced
1/2 lb young spinach leaves
1/4 tsp salt
freshly ground pepper
1 Tbsp Gremolata (follows)
2 ripe tomatoes, peeled and seeded
Gremolata:
1 small lemon
2 fat garlic cloves, finely chopped
Handful of flat-leaf, Italian Parsley, roughly torn

1. Cook potatoes in large pan of lightly salted boiling water 10-12 min or until just tender. Add beans and cook for 2 additional minutes. Drain and rinse under cold running water.
2. Toss potatoes and beans with tomatoes, scallions and spinach; season lightly with salt and pepper.
3. To make the Gremolata: Use a vegetable peeler to pare thin stips of rind form the lemon ( I just zested it ha-ha). Carefully remove as much white pith as possible. Finely chop rind and toss with the garlic and parsley; set aside.
4. Squeeze the lemon into the bowl of a food processor; add peeled tomatoes and Gremolata. Mix for 10-15 seconds. Pour over potato mixture and toss through.

Thats it. the picture in the magazine just looks sooo good, I couldn't pass up trying it. But I didn't get to try it all seeing as I didn't think that Cilantro will pass for parsley very well ha-ha!