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Pesto Chicken on Mashed Potatoes Bento
Bored with the usual chicken? Super Pesto to the rescue!
I have to admit to being an abuser of pesto. Aside from the usual Pesto-laced pasta, I’ve tried adding pesto to a varied array of food. Pesto Rice, Pesto Mashed Potatoes, Pesto on crackers–just a few of the many ways I’ve tried serving it up.
This morning’s pesto concoction was unplanned but nevertheless inspired. My initial idea was to make Pangrilled Cajun Chicken but the bottle of sundried tomato pesto in the fridge sent me its siren call. Suddenly, Delifrance’s Chicken Pesto sprung to mind and a quick googling helped me arrive at the conclusion that turbo broiling it would be the way to go.
Contents: (Scroll to the bottom for recipes)
• Pesto Chicken on
• Mashed Potatoes
• Cream Cheese & Kani Salad
• Ponzu simmered Shimeji (original idea from mamichan)
• Quartered Plum Tomatoes
The Chicken turned out interesting. Admittedly, the pesto flavor wasn’t that pronounced but you could definitely smell it. It tasted mostly of sundried tomato and cheese–not a bad combination at all. Next time, I’ll try using plain basil pesto.
Surprisingly, the mashed potatoes turned out good, considering I used the instant kind. Usually, I like making mashed potatoes from scratch, but on hurried mornings like this (and when I feel lazy), having the instant kind on hand helps a lot. Doubly so when I’m making such a tiny portion.
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Yes, I have a new bento box. While I already have a lot, I still buy new ones because I’m obsessed. My official excuse is that I don’t have a box of that dimension / parameters yet, but who am I kidding? It’s simply because collecting bento boxes and accessories is an obsession. And I know I’m not alone with the said obsession so to help out, I’ll be giving mini-reviews on the boxes I have to help out other people who are eyeing the same boxes. Let’s start with my newest one.
Bento Box Review: Aristocats Marie
Volume / Capacity: 440 ml
Price: 88 PHP (Roughly $1.80)
Source: Daiso / Japan Home Center
Capacity is nice for light lunches. I like the fact that the divider moves, letting me adjust it according to that day’s food. While the divider is repositionable, it still stays in place and is effective in keeping most sauces away from the other compartment. Still, it’s not totally watertight so keep the stews and other dishes with thin sauces or liquidy bases away. My one issue with the box is that I appears that the lid is not totally secure. While it’s fitted with a rubber seal that’s supposed to make it airtight, the fact that the cover slips off easily makes the seal useless. I was worried about the cover so I just used it in combination with a bento belt. Good enough, I say.
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Pesto Chicken v. 3 May 2007
Ingredients:
1 chicken breast
1 tbsp pesto
a few strips of cheese
a few strips of sundried tomatoesProcedure:
1.Switch the broiler on grill then preheat.
2. Rub the chicken breast with pesto.
3. Broil chicken for 7-10 minutes until almost done.
4. Top with remaining pesto. Arrange thin cheese strips and sundried tomatoes alternately.
5. Broil again til cheese melts.
Cream Cheese and Kani Salad v. 3 May 2007
Ingredients:
1 piece imitation Japanese crab stick, sliced then flaked
1 tsp cream cheeseProcedure:
With a paper towel, pat dry crab stick flakes. Make sure all the excess moisture is removed, otherwise, salad will be watery. Mash together shredded crab stick and cream cheese until well blended.
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WOW!!! Ganda ng layout ha! Congrats on the domain and the website!
Thanks.
Happiness is me 
Yum! I love the site! It looks so neat. I saw that bento box in Daiso! I want to get it because Marie is all the range in Japan when I was in Disneyland, but I decided to wait till my next visit to the store. Ugh, wrong move. I’m worried that it’ll be gone soon.
Thankies
About Marie, there’s still a lot, don’t worry. 
I am thinking of getting the Lilo&Stitch box at Japan Home hehehe.
I like your idea of pesto chicken. Hmm. Maybe I ought to keep a jar of pesto at home. Was thinking about it already actually.
Pesto is good! Buy the Gourmet Cafe brand OR make some of your own. I swear by Gourmet’s Sundried Tomato Pesto. Ish sheer love.
And the Marie / Lilo & Stitch / Mickey Mouse boxes are a nice size. Perfect for a small rice meal. But do secure it with a bento belt. I don’t think it can withstand being swung about with it.
Is the Gourmet Cafe brand being sold in the Salcedo Park market?
Great! A recommendation
Will get the Lilo & Stitch one then. 
I’m not sure but it’s sold in most supermarkets, weirdly enough, with the refrigerated salad dressings.
[...] One of my refrigerator staples is bottled Pesto, particularly, the ones blended with Sundried Tomatoes. It’s pretty flexible as you can use it for pasta, rice, as a dip, or even as a recipe ingredient. [...]
hey!! i was strolling at toys r us in robinsons ermita yesterday, and i saw a very lovely metal bento box, it has a cinnamoroll and my melody character prints!! xuper cute!! its tiny though..i actually want one T_T..kea lang…xobrang xpensive..sobsobsob..it cost P999.00..xo sad..my mom would not buy me one for sure..xo i have to make ipon..huhu..
eniweiz,,juz telling you,,coz i can tell that you are obsessed with bento boxes…^______^
p.s there are other designs too..i also saw a hello kitty lunch bag..its cute!
1k? for Bento Box? Kahit cute, it’s not practical for me because I keep switching boxes depending on what I plan to bring. Original Sanrio no? My only expensive bento box is my thermal one, by Thermos, but for me, it’s justifiable cause it’s thermal. Still, all of my other boxes cost less than 150 PHP, with most of them just costing me 88 cause they’re mostly from Daiso or Japan Home, hehehe! Thanks for the heads up pero I’ll pass. No money