Bento lunches: sushi bowl, risotto, pumpkin naan, bean balls and a stuffed courgette

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Hi there! I hope everyone is enjoying this year’s Vegan Month of Food. :) I’ve mostly been participating through Instagram, but I thought I’d also share another blog post today. For those following VeganMoFo’s daily or weekly prompts, this week is Budget Week. One way to save money is to pack home-cooked meals instead of eating out, so here are a few vegan lunch box ideas! (I personally don’t need to pack meals very often at the moment because I work from home, but I love my rabbit-themed box and bentos make me happy, so why not?)

These bentos are made up of leftovers as well as other bits and bobs I happened to have in my kitchen at the time. There’s some overlap with the meals in my previous post — and again, it’s been a while since I took these pictures, so I hope I still remember most of the ingredients!

Bento #1: sushi bowl leftovers

These were the leftovers from the sushi bowls I posted about earlier this month: vinegared sushi rice with baked tofu, thinly sliced raw courgettes, roasted mini tomatoes, marinated yellow tomatoes, pumpkin kinpira and mashed avocado. I loved this lunch! In addition to being delicious, the vinegar helps the rice keep longer if you need to store the box unrefrigerated for a while. 

Bento #2: tomato risotto

More leftovers. Bottom tier: risotto with mini tomatoes; top tier: green lentil salad + courgette, yellow tomatoes and more tiny red tomatoes.

Bento #3: deconstructed naan sandwiches

This was a deconstructed mini version of the naan sandwiches from my previous post: pumpkin naan, seitan chunks and lettuce in the bottom tier, guacamole and a chickpea and tomato salad in the top tier. 

Bento #4: bean balls and pancakes

On the bottom tier, we’ve got homemade bean/veggie balls with lettuce and roasted tomatoes. I think the dips on the side were mashed avocado with sriracha and yellow tomato chutney. The top tier holds a leftover pancake with strawberry jam, grapes and apple slices, and a tiny cup of soya yoghurt with more fruit. I thought it might be nice to include a dessert. It was good, but I prefer savoury dishes and fresh fruit. If I’m going to have yoghurt, I’d rather just have a normal-sized bowl instead of a mini portion.

Bento #5: stuffed courgettes

I’d bought round courgettes and stuffed them with a tofu spinach filling, and they were just the right size to fit into my bento box! Also pictured: sliced apples, a white bean and artichoke salad, cherry tomatoes and some of the courgette innards that I was left with after stuffing them (I think I cooked those separately with olive oil and garlic).

Links of the day

– The blog Food for Dissertating has been posting about packed lunches all month! I especially love the look of this taco salad.
– I can’t wait to try this vegan Vietnamese fish dipping sauce by Ann Mai from Plant Crush.
– This Spanish tortilla by Angie/Ladyfunk25 looks so good. I bet the leftovers would be delicious served cold in a bento box as well. (Recipe here.)