bento contest on justbento.com

and this is my bento for the spring bento contest at justbento.com, here the notes that go with it.

spring is a little late here in northern Italy so I had to assemble a late-winter/early-spring bento, as it includes both winter and spring ingredients.

when eating and packing my bentos, I always try to combine my different needs: first of all, I have to choose gluten-free ingredients because I'm coeliac; not less important, I always try to buy local products because they are cheaper, healthier, taste better and make me feel more respectful to the environment; being always in a hurry, I usually choose very simple and quick recipes.

so, this is my bento: on the right, grilled salmon with baked pumpkin&leeks and a litthe dillweed as it matches perfectly with both salmon and pumpkin; on the left, semi-polished rice savoured with turmeric powder and organig sunflower oil & dandelions (taraxacum) sauteed with garlic; a small radish (ravanello in Italian).

with the exception of salmon, all other ingredients are grown nearby: I usually buy semi-polished and brown rice at a farm 50 kilometres from Venice where I live (it is delicious), while I bought the pumpkin and the dandelions at Venice vegetable market: the pumpkin came from the Island of Sant'Erasmo and the dandelions from the Island le Vignole, both in Venice Lagoon. as for the bentobako, I used a basic lock&lock plastic container, and a disposable wooden fork. well, I guess this is it