What's for dinner

Pineapple salsa, panfry fish fillet and carrot rice.

I find pineapple salsa works very well as a side condiment to fish. It is a little tart, with a slight hint of sweetness, and helps to add some dimension to a simple dish like a sea salt and black pepper seasoned fish fillet.

Recipe for pineapple salsa

Freshly chopped pineapple
Diced red onion
Diced red chilli (I left this out as I didn't have any at home)
Italian parsley
Pinch of sea salt
Pinch of black pepper

Mix all of the above in a bowl. Let it sit for at least an hour before serving.

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Bento Update: Froggies

I'm getting more creative with bento-making. This is the first bento that I've made with coloured rice. There are many ways you can colour the rice. The most natural way of colouring is to use strong coloured food like carrot (rice will turn orangey), beetroot (to turn rice into pink) or dried parsley leaves (for green coloured rice) which is of course much healthier for the kids. Otherwise just use food colouring which will save you a lot of time. In this bento, I used green colouring because firstly, I did not have much time, and secondly, I have not used dried parsley in rice before and have no idea if the taste is good. But you really don't need a lot of colouring to tint the rice so I guess it isn't too bad.

Anyway, I decided to make froggies for Aiden's bento the other day and he really like the cute characters. The eyes were cut from a piece of white cheese and the eyeballs, mouth and nostrils (which are not noticeable from the picture but I did give those froggies some nostrils) were cut from nori sheet. I made beef patties as the side with steamed broccoli, a cherry tomato and a small piece of japanese egg roll (which I prepared the night before). Aiden doesn't like broccoli and tomato so I told him I needed to add those in to decorate the lunchbox and he could leave them out if he really didn't want to eat them. Secretly, I was hoping that if I keep putting these in his bentos, he may just eat them one day. Wishful thinking?

Recipe for Beef Patties (in case anyone is interested)

Minced beef
Finely chopped onion
Grated garlic (I sauteed the onion and garlic to release their fragrance before adding them to the minced)
Grated carrot
Grated parmesan cheese
Sea salt
Pepper
Sesame oil

Marinate the above for a couple of hours. Shape them into patties and coat with plain flour before panfrying them.