Totoro bento: happy onigiri twins stuffed with miso-glazed salmon; steamed sweet potato flowers; edamame

---

Or, I should say, chúc mừng năm mới!

Today's bento box features two 3-D Totoro characters - pretty nifty, eh? The kinchaku to the right is new too. I bought both more than a month ago, but temporarily lost them in the chaotic mess resulting from renovations in December. Now that the construction workers finally are out of my house, I am trying to get back into the groove of bento-ing and cooking in general. I've missed my kitchen!

I didn't have a ton of time this morning, so I made a little snack bento. The onigiri are stuffed with some miso-glazed salmon leftover from last night's dinner -- I made their faces using a craft punch. The edamame were boiled straight from the freezer and tossed with a little kosher salt. I cut the sweet potato into thick slices before using a mini-cookie cutter to make the flowers. I then tossed everything into my handy microwave steamer for cooking.

Best wishes for 2007! And good luck keeping all of your resolutions. ;-)

Tags: bento, onigiri stuffed with salmon, veggies, cute food, gluten-free