Hurry up, Spring!

[mmmbento]

Left: strawberries, kiwi, mango, and mandarin oranges
Right: SPAM fried rice with egg flowers (GF)
Snack bento (non-GF): steamed bun with spinach filling, panda cake (for Tai Shan!), mini-choux a la creme pastries



The beautiful weather we had this weekend is starting to go away. I just wish spring would get here already! My gyoza-pleating friends and I went to the National Zoo on Sunday, and we were lucky enough to see the baby panda. Isn't Tai Shan cute?

You can't really tell in the picture above, but the pink flowers are sakura-shaped and the yellow flowers are normal flowers. I made thin 1-egg omelets and then used my cookie cutters to make the shapes. The pink tinge is from food coloring (I should make green eggs and ham one day). I kind of made the rice up as I went along, but it came out pretty tasty!

SPAM FRIED RICEIngredients*
1 1/4" slice of Spam, diced into little cubes
1/4 red bell pepper, diced
diced onion, about the same amount as the red bell pepper
1 scallion, thinly sliced
1 cup cooked rice (leftover rice works best)
1/2 tbsp. butter
1/4 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. sake
1 egg (or 2 eggs if you are going to be cutting shapes)
Steps

1. Heat a small frying pan over medium heat. Spray with cooking oil and add 1 beaten egg. Swirl pan to coat. Once egg begins to set, flip it over. Slide egg out of the pan once it is done cooking. Repeat with another colored-egg mixture if desired.
2. Spray the same pan with cooking spray and add the red bell pepper and onion. Stir-fry until onions begin to turn translucent, about 2 minutes. Remove vegetables from pan.
3. Add the Spam cubes and a pinch of sugar and stir-fry until the edges begin to crisp (or more if you like). Remove from pan.
4. Wipe out the pan with a damp paper towel to remove any residue. Then add the butter. Once butter has melted, add the rice and stir-fry, breaking up any clumps as you go. Add the scallions and cook them with the rice. Once the rice is hot, add the veggies and Spam cubes, as well as the salt, sugar and sake, and continue to cook until heated through. Taste and adjust the seasonings as you prefer.
5. Cut the omelets into shapes and garnish. Otherwise, take your one omelet and julienne into strips and mix it through the rice evenly.

*Use gluten-free products
© Cooking Cute