1 Bento #237 - Curried Chicken Salad & Purple Lettuce

I love chicken salad!  I happen to make a kick-butt chicken salad, but I love this curried chicken salad from Whole Foods - it's got red currants and slivered almonds.  So yummy.  I'm admittedly taking a risk giving this to E for lunch, because she's not the biggest fan of curry, and a container is a very dear $22 (don't tell my husband.)  What was I saying last week about extreme couponing?  I've gotta make a clone recipe....

The chicken salad is in a silicone cup nestled in a bed of purple artisan lettuce.

Bento #237 - Curried chicken salad, purple artisan lettuce, Stacy's Garlic & Parmesan pita chips, and a Clementine.  Snack - Apple banana spice muffin (not shown.)

Have a great weekend!

8 Bento #175 - Shrimp Noodles & Mango

Here we have a medley of ceramic flower-shaped measuring cups I'm using as bowls.  They are just too sweet.  I made rice noodles and stir-fried them with shrimp and curry sauce, sprinkled with fresh cilantro.  Ella loves shrimp and noodles of any kind, so it's the perfect medium to introduce some Indian flavors.  She ate most of it [edit: this was a non-school day lunch.]

Bento #175 - Curry rice noodles & shrimp, fresh mango, dried cranberries, carrots and grape tomatoes.

2 Ginger Curry Carrot Dip

Well that's a mouthful!  This recipe is so easy, delicious and good for you.  I saw it in a recent Family Fun magazine, but tweaked it a little to better suit my taste.

You'll need:

2 medium sliced carrots (I grabbed two large handfuls of organic baby carrots)
1/4" piece of sliced and peeled fresh ginger (or 1/2 tsp pre-shredded/crushed ginger)
1 small tomato (optional - I used a Compari tomato.  Tomatoes add natural sweetness, so you can use less honey.)
3 cloves crushed garlic
1/4 tsp curry powder
1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
2 tbs olive oil
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/4 - 1/2 tsp honey (optional)
cracked pepper to taste

First, steam your carrots (and ginger, if using fresh) for about 10 minutes until they are softened.

Dump all the carrots, and the entirety of the rest of the ingredients into a food processor or blender, and blend until very smooth.

Taste test and adjust salt and pepper, and serve either warm or chilled, with crisp crackers, spread on French bread with maybe a little parm on top and broiled, or with other veggie crudites.  The orange color is so pretty!