Year of the Bento: Bento No. 2: Pan-Seared Tilapia with Caramelized Leeks and Roasted Eggplant and Tomato Salad Bento
As you may already have guessed, this isn’t a Japanese bento. I enjoy Japanese food a lot, but as with most other things, I don’t like to restrict myself to only eating one type of food. I like flavors that play well together, and giving respect to ingredients, cuisines, cultures, and traditions. However, I’m a multicutural person and my particular style of cooking tends to reflect this—as will my bento.
That having been said, follow the jump for details and a gallery.
Pan-Seared Tilapia with Caramelized Leeks
I had some tilapia fillets in the freezer, so I took about 1 tsp. of olive oil and added it to a hot skillet. I then added one fillet, seasoned with a little salt, pepper, and herbes de Provence1 . Quickly seared on both sides, done. Be very careful here; tilapia is a lean, white fish, and it will get very dry very quickly if you overcook it. Don’t overcook it. Please.
I had a portion of a leek leftover from a chicken I’d roasted for dinner previously, so I sliced it up and caramelized it to form a nice bed for my tilapia fillet while it cooled.
Creamy Polenta
Two of my favorite things in the world are a good risotto and a good polenta. When you get down to it, they’re very similar in concept and texture to other comfort-food porridge favorites from around the world—congee, jook, and yes, grits. This bento started with the tilapia, and I worked my way around from there, figuring out what sort of flavors and textures I wanted to incorporate. That’s really the best way to build any menu—pick a single point and use that as your compass for the rest of your menu. That keeps you focused. For this polenta, I used chicken broth, a little marjoram2, salt and pepper. Topped it with some parsley and shaved parmesan.
Roasted Eggplant + Tomato Salad
More leftovers! This time, I had leftover eggplant slices that I’d salted lightly in preparation for a baked eggplant parmesan I’d recently made. I’ve spoken to lots of people who all have the same problem I do: when making eggplant parm, there’s always just slightly too much eggplant! Not a problem, really—as long as you know what to do with it.
I lightly greased a sheet pan with olive oil, then stuck my leftover eggplant slices in the oven at 375F for 25 minutes. Bonus: since they’d been salted, much of their liquid had already drained, as you want when making eggplant parmesan. It’s also a bonus for baba ghannouj, which I’ll be making later with the roasted eggplant I don’t use for my salad, and which will probably make it into a bento later this week.
Roasted eggplant, sliced campari tomatoes, and chopped flat-leaf/Italian/plain parsley (usually grocers refer to it by one of these three names). Tossed with a little sumac, it’s delightful.
Sumac?
No, not the poisonous kind. Did you know there are several different varieties of sumac in the world?3 In North America, we’re mostly familiar with the poisonous kinds, such as poison oak, poison sumac (duh), and their good friend poison ivy. However, a variant of sumac that’s common in the Middle East is delicious when dried and used as a piquant, slightly tart and lemony spice. You may see it used in hummus, or salads, such as I’ve done here. It’s also a key ingredient in the fabulous spice mixture known as green za’atar, which also features thyme, oregano, and sesame seeds…really, what’s not to love?
Apple Bunny
The only types of bunnies you’ll ever see in my bento are ones carved from fruits or veggies. That’s pretty much my only personal dietary restriction—no rabbits will ever be harmed in the making of my food. (Otherwise Moo, the benificent owner of our house, will make me pay for it. 
) Top tip for keeping sliced apples from turning brown: soak them in a little lemon juice. This counteracts the oxidation that’s responsible for turning your apples brown once you’ve removed their peels or cut them in any way, and they’ll stay pretty and tasty for your lunch—or just for snacking in general. 
Today’s bunnies were made from an organic Michigan Idared.
Our total for today:
Pan-seared tilapia over caramelized leeks: 240 calories
Creamy polenta: 220 calories
Roasted eggplant + tomato salad: 80 calories
Apple bunny family: 65 calories
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TOTAL: 605 calories of tasty, healthy, filling, gorgeous nutrition! :9
This entire bento was created using ingredients that were either leftover or already a part of my pantry. It’s not hard to do, it just requires a bit of critical thinking about what you’ve got on hand. Some people find it’s easier to do this if they write things down. I’m a compulsive listmaker, and I find that this helps immensely—especially if you’ve got things for which you particularly want to find new uses. I don’t like wasting food, so I try not to when and where possible. Doing bento definitely makes you think more about the contents of your refrigerator, and more importantly, what you can do with them to bend them to your delicious will. It’s a fantastic way to make sure you get the most out of whatever you’ve taken the time, effort, and money to put into your fridge in the first place!
Notes
Astute bentoists will have already surmised that most of what was in today’s bento would probably fare better when heated. The fish and salad could certainly be fine at room temp, but room temperature polenta is usually ill-advised. Likewise, room-temperature caramelized leeks may not work out so well, either. While I’ll be making plenty of bento that skew toward the proper bento tradition of featuring items that are quite good at room temperature, I do have a microwave. I’m not afraid to use it. My bento boxes are microwave safe, and it’s January in Chicago. I’m eating my polenta warm, and I think you should too, if you want to. Nyah.
Regarding the apple bunnies, while I’m happy to do most things with either my trusty chef’s knife or my santoku, I’d advise using a paring knife here. If you have it, a bird’s beak knife is even handier, but I wouldn’t advocate running out to buy it if you don’t already own one. Bentoism is about making the most of what you have, not about buying exorbitant new toys.
I truly believe that bento-as-concept is something anyone, anywhere, cooking any style of food can incorporate into a healthy, happy, busy lifestyle. If you like what you’re seeing here but are too busy to do bento yourself and live in the Chicagoland area, why not contact me?
- Classic mixture commonly found in…wait for it…the Provence region of France, which is in the south. Ratios and additional herbs included may vary, but it typically includes lavender, savory, fennel, thyme, and basil. It’s especially good with poultry, fish, tomatoes, potatoes…and scrambled eggs. Delightful with scrambled eggs, actually. Try it sometime. [↩]
- What is marjoram? For the uninitiated, marjoram is like oregano’s sister. They’re very similar in flavor and appearance. Where oregano can sometimes be big, bold, brash, and overpowering, marjoram isn’t. Instead, it’s sweet and thoughtful. Just be aware that oregano will beat you up if you keep looking at his sister like that, buddy. [↩]
- Well, now you do. See, you really do learn something new every day! [↩]
Janaki
on January 18th, 2010 at 2:15 pm
I love sumac!
How are you dealing with the salad being best room-temp or cold, but the other items better warm? Simply eating the salad first, then reheating the container and eating the rest?
on January 18th, 2010 at 2:30 pm
Sumac is lovely, isn’t it?
Wait’ll I make up some mankoush…:9
The salad is actually best warm, so that’s not a problem. It’s fine room-temp or cold, but I like it better warm.
on January 18th, 2010 at 4:13 pm
These are so cute, and healthy, too! I admit I have never had tilapia – what other kind of fish is it similar to?
Fun fact: The sumac we know in the U.S., the sumac of Middle Eastern cooking, and poison sumac are all species of the Rhus genus. Poison sumac is Rhus venix.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumac
I only recently heard of sumac the spice, although I’ve known for some time that you can make tea from sumac berries.
on January 18th, 2010 at 4:21 pm
You know, oddly enough, I’ve never had sumac tea. I’ll have to give it a try sometime, given my tea addiction.
Also, I’ve got that same article linked in my post. XD
Tilapia is a fairly plain, delicate white fish in both taste and texture. The taste is so delicate, in fact, that it’s recommended by some for people who don’t actually like fish (or think they don’t like fish). Texturally, it’s kind of similar to flounder. It’s kind of like the gesso-impregnated blank canvas of the edible fish world, just waiting for you to do something tasty with it.
Thanks, I’m glad you like them! I’m really enjoying this a lot, and it’s already improved my lunchtime eating habits immensely. I’ve got some leftover hot dogs in the fridge that I am hesitant to include in one of these, although if I do omuraisu, *maybe* I’ll squeeze one in. And then say, “don’t do this at home, this is an anomaly because I didn’t want to throw this out!” XD