Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Bento #5


Today’s bento is very simply full of love. I racked my brain on how to bring out the spirit of Valentines Day in my bento. When I was at the store I went to the Valentines section and found a multi-size heart shaped cutter set and I guess the wheels began to turn. Then I saw the Fish & Salsa Bento by Sherimiya of Happy Little Bento and though I could do mini chicken tacos. Yeah I know my bento is a far cry from hers but it was the taco aspect that caught my attention. You know I like to work in miniature. Then I thought what else can I do to go with the tacos of course chips and salsa and that is when it hit me. So that’s how this bento was born. It’s very simple in presentation but big on taste.

In the first part there are mini chicken tacos and baby carrots. In the second part there is salsa and heart shaped home made tortilla chips.

Here’s how the tacos were made. Basically I baked a medium chicken breast in my crock pot. I find this method leaves the chicken nice and juicy every time I cook it. It took about 2-3 hours on low to cook but the slow cooking keeps the meat from drying out and as I am up very early it was ready by lunch time. I usually cook two or three chicken breast at a time for various recipes so look for more to come.

Then I shredded the chicken breast by hand. I like the texture I get better than chopping it. I then put it in a skillet with the juices from cooking the chicken plus about 4 tablespoons of store bought chicken broth. Then I put in about 1/3 of a packet of taco seasoning, cumin and cayenne to taste. After the chicken simmered for about 5 minutes I added about 2oz of chopped red pepper to the pan to cook for about a minute to release its flavors then I added about 7oz of french cut green beans. Let it simmer for about 3 minutes then its ready to serve.

I got the small taco shells by cutting 9” rounds out of larger tortillas. Don’t worry I used the leftover tortilla at another time. I put on a small slice of cheddar cheese and a small amount of the chicken mix. Then I put them in my toaster oven for about 4 minutes to melt the cheese and lightly toast the outside.


Then there is the heart shaped tortilla chips. I simply took three different size heart shaped cutters and cut out the shapes from a tortilla. I then fried them in vegetable oil however they can also be baked in the oven. Then I seasoned them with table salt although they can be seasoned any way you with. I usually make my tortilla chips by just cut them into simple triangles but in honor of Valentines Day I cut them into hearts. I served them with store bought salsa (I haven’t tackled making my own salsa yet). There you go.

Itadaki masu!

10 comments:

bento zen said...

very cool tortilla hearts, and this lunch looks SUPER tasty!

Marisa Lyn said...

Thanks Megan, It was very tasty if not very pretty. Thanks for stopping by.

Lia Chen said...

Tortilla chips are awesome! It's full of love, yes :)

Marisa Lyn said...

Thanks Lia, I think the chips are cute too.

Whats Cookin Italian Style Cuisine said...

my kind of snack!

Happy Little Bento said...

Ooh, the heart chips are great! I should have done that with the potato chips too :)

Those mini tacos look superb too!

Marisa Lyn said...

Thanks Claudia, I've made the chips before only not this fancy and we love finger food. I may put them in an appetizer post but we shall see.

Marisa Lyn said...

Thanks Sheri, I like doing stuff like this I guess thats why I love making bentos. They're not as pretty as yours or the other girls but the taste is great.

Anonymous said...

That tip about cooking chicken breasts in the slow cooker is a excellent one. I'd like to try that. Do you season the breasts first? Add oil or any liquid?

Marisa Lyn said...

Hi, I do season my chicken before I put it in the slow cooker with seasoning salt and pepper. I do lightly spray the aluminum foil with cooking spray so that breasts won't stick. I'm glad you asked about this. I was playing on writing a post on my cooking method. Please come back in the next couple of days to see a more indepth explaination of my method.