Beach Picnic Bento

 I will be doing Japanese character bento workshop at Whole Foods Market on September 6th. (For moms and kids I think) I will post more details when I know:)!

You'd like to make cute bento, but have no time in the morning?
 How about trying to make it on weekends and going to a park to have picnic bento!?
My husband and I love parks and enjoy having bento outside.

For picnic bento, I try to make food that is good even when it's cold.
The tofu/chicken teriyaki slider  is one of my favorite picnic menu.

I wanted to use up pasta I bought in Italy, so have been cooking a lot of pasta!
This cold tomato/basil pasta is one of my husband's favorite!
I put pasta and sauce in a separate container so that pasta won't get soggy.

Enjoy a picnic before summer is over!!





Cold Pasta
3 Roma tomatoes
3tbs Basil dressing (Recipe below)
1tbs Shio Koji  or salt to taste ( See "Shio Koji Hamburger" if you are not familiar with it )
about 160g Capellini pasta



1. Peel tomatoes. (See "How to")
2. Cut the tomatoes into small pieces.

3. Place the tomatoes in a saucepan and heat over medium heat until you don't see big tomato chunks.

4. Turn off the heat and add shio koji. Let it cool.
5. Add the basil dressing.Cool in a fridge.
6. Cook pasta. Drain and cool with ice cubes. Drizzle a little olive oil to avoid them from sticking.


Basil Dressing
10 Large basil leaves
3 Garlic Cloves
1/2cup Olive oil
1tbs Lemon juice
1/2tsp Salt
1/2tsp Pepper

Place all the ingredients in a blender and mix well.


Making yachts with masking tape & toothpicks

Cut cherry tomatoes in half and insert this picks.

Making fishes with carrot 

1. Slice carrot and cook (boil, steam, microwave or however you like)

2. Draw fish on carrot with a toothpick

3. Cut along the line with a knife

I got a lot of cute picnic items at Daiso^^!!