Home-made: Gigantic Burgers (2 types)

Bento Lunch Prep Done! Dky asked for hamburgers this week, so that's what he got!

Burger one is topped with egg and ketchup, burger two with bacon and BBQ sauce. The homemade beef patties comprise a half pound of lean beef mince EACH, as well as chopped up kale, carrots and onions. Thanks to the addition of some crisp, sweet vegetables, the burger patties are super juicy and moreish! Burgers sit on some rather nice foccacia buns from Swissbake and are accompanied by either a kale and bacon salad in sesame sauce, or a fresh mesclun salad with radishes, sweet corn nibblets and vinaigrette.

These half-pound cheeseburgers are MASSIVE! Even Roxy, the dog,  was stunned by the sheer size of it (and then she recovered instantly and demanded to jump on the burger bandwagon)...
— eating Cheese burgers

Home made Bento: Baked Halibut & Grilled Chicken Breast

 

Baked halibut

 Bento Lunch Prep Done!
Two styles this week. First off we have baked halibut in herb crust, stirfried veggies and a sunny side up, accompanied by baked baby sweet potato wedges.
Version two is couscous (made up with the last of my post-Christmas turkey bone broth) topped with grilled chicken breast and assorted vegetables (choysum, carrots, tomatoes, onions).

Grilled Chicken with cous cous

Chef's tips on baking fish:
Rub a bit of butter on the shiny side of your foil and plop the fish skin side down (I do skin side up for salmon to get crispy skin). I usually bake at 220 degrees Celsius for around 15 mins and give it a poke in the middle, if it flakes it's done. I find it's okay to slightly under-cook fish since it continues to cook after coming out of the oven.

Note: I don't usually thaw my fish fully before baking since I generally use dry rubs on it (eg Lawry's salt-free steak herb mix). If you use fully thawed fish, perhaps just 10 mins for a thin fillet would do? Try baking with frozen halibut, it's pretty cheap and fairly forgiving as it is a slightly fatty fish (yummy texture and rather neutral flavour that absorbs seasonings well. Try it with pesto and scatter with toasted pine nuts and torn basil leaves)!

Home-made Bento: Pork Collar and Cabbage with Sweet Potato Chips

This week we have broiled pork collar marinated in apple juice, dijon mustard and balsamic vinegar, accompanied by cabbage done two ways (red with carrots, bacon and onion in a balsamic reduction; green braised with granny smith and Reuben apples and homemade stock).
On the side, some oven roasted beetroot, white and sweet potato "chips".

Home-made Bento: Green Lentil Stew & Spaghetti Primevera with Pumpkin-pesto Sauce

 

Bento Lunch Prep for the week done! Two types this week.
Had a massive craving for lentils so first up is green lentils stewed with linguica sausage, peppers and lots of onions, accompanied by a variety of grilled vegetables (broccoli, zucchini, fine beans and pumpkin) and buttered red potatoes! Second type of bento comprises spaghetti primevera with pumpkin-pesto sauce (pumpkin makes the sauce creamy without need for dairy), topped with a Mediterranean sausage.