Year of the Bento: Bento No. 5: Thai Curry Croquette Finger Food Bento
I know what you’re thinking.
“Curry croquettes aren’t healthy!”
While I’d never claim they’re going to win me any prizes for “most nutrition-packed foodstuff of the year,” there’s no reason curry croquettes HAVE to be unhealthy. Not if you bake them, anyway.
More after the jump.
A Sage Idea
If you, like me, live in the frozen tundra of the midwestern US, and you also happen to attempt growing things in your garden, now is a very sad time of year for you. Chances are good you’ve watched first one, then another of your beloved plants die off, and you know that some of them aren’t going to come back again.
Depending on what you’ve planted, though, some plants are in fact enjoying this weather. And will hang on for a little while longer before giving up the ghost. My sage, as you can see above, is still going rather strong. Which works out well, because this soup wouldn’t be the same without it.
You can’t get more basic than this: roast and season a butternut squash (I like a bit of thyme, salt, and pepper), cut into bits, cook in some water/veg broth/chicken broth, blitz with a stick blender, and season to taste. Oh, and of course fry up some freshly bruised sage leaves in a little butter and cook them in the soup so you get that lovely sage flavor. Have more sage on hand to garnish. You could, of course, add a little cream in at the end…but with a texture that’s naturally creamy like this, why would you?
I like a bit of nutmeg in my soup, too…but don’t go too crazy with it, or it will take over faster than you can say “butternut squash.” :9
Oh, you should also know that I took this photo, as I was in a bit of a hurry. My apologies if it’s not up to the usual standards. 
Corn Chowder
I don’t need to tell you how good homemade soup can be, do I? It’s a very sad thing that, as a society, we’ve fallen out of the habit of preparing even pleasures of the most simple sort for ourselves. Homemade soup is exponentially rewarding for a comparatively small amount of effort. Of course, you can put as much or as little effort into it as you choose; while a homemade stock upon which to base your soup will always be the paragon of taste, there are commercially available stocks that will serve to make a perfectly good batch of homemade soup as well. 1 From there, the sky is truly the limit. And the best part is, omnivores, vegetarians, and vegans alike can all make themselves exactly what they want to eat.
You have the power. You just need to use it. And why wouldn’t you, when the result is something this good and satisfying? I have a wonderful book on soup by Barbara Kafka called Soup: A Way of Life. I mention it here not only because it’s a great book, but because the title couldn’t be more accurate. Try making yourself some soup and instantly, you will understand.
- If you go this route, please choose a variety that says it’s “low sodium.” One major downfall of commercially prepared stocks and broths is that they do go rather heavy on the salt. [↩]
Janaki
