Bento 88: Purple carrot flowers

.

There is a glaring omission from today’s bento. I usually base my bentos around some sort of carbs – mostly rice, soba noodles, pasta or bread. This goes with the first rule & objective of bento packing, ensuring that lunch consists of the food pyramid with carbs:veggies:protein . My carbs usually consists of 25-30% of lunch, sometimes going up to 50% if I am having fried rice etc. So I thought today I might try something different – a very low carb version. The main carb in this bento is probably the 2 tbs hoummous and the thin slices of carrot flowers.

And speaking of carrot flowers….

.

.

Aren’t they pretty!!? I find it impossible to purchase pretty purple carrots here in the UK, and resort to planting my own!! I seed some carrot seeds in late spring this year, and for 2010 I have used purple carrot seeds. As fall descends, it is time to pull them out of the ground … so here they are, making an appearance in my bento – which was why I planted them in the first place. They look like a cross between regular carrots and beetroot, when I slice into them purple juices seep out. I can’t get over how pretty they are. All you need are some flower cutters, widely available in craft/baking stores and also online. By the way, you can purchase purple carrot seeds here 🙂

.

.

In today’s low-carb bento, there is an assorment of quick stirfried veggies with a hint of oyster sauce (you can just use soy sauce to make it vegan). I added a dashi-simmered previously dried shiitake mushroom on it, and some slices of carrot flowers.

On the other side of this lock-and-lock box, I have two thin slices of sweet hot-smoked salmon for some protein and a piece of rolled tofu skin which had been simmered in dashi stock. I also included strawberries in a heart-shaped silicon cup and lastly,two tablespoon of olive & sundried tomato hummus with cucumber slices to dip. Tofu skin is also known as yuba, and the one I have is homemade, deliciously soft and fluffy. No I didnt make it myself, but I do know of a tiny fabulous place in London to get home made tofu products! I get everything they have whenever I make it down to London. This box still contained good selection of flavours, texture and taste, which is what I usually aim for when packing a bento. I think I will miss the carbs (an onigiri will go veeeery well here!) but I am seriously trying to cut down on the overall amount of carbs I eat, so this is a good option.

.

Carrots are one of my favourite veggies for fall, and as the weather starts to cool, I always look forward to pulling out homegrown carrots that have been growing throughout summer. I always save them for last to harvest as they would happily stay outside in the worsening weather. So because of that, I am entering this bento in Debra‘s BOMB for September!

so….pretty…

.