Seitan and three-color pepper stir-fry bento

Ingredients

• •1/2 tbsp olive oil
• •3 tbsp green onion, roughly chopped
• •2 tsp fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
• •1/3 medium red bell pepper, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
• •1/3 medium green bell pepper, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
• •1/3 medium yellow bell pepper, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
• •salt
• •2 oz seitan, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
• •black pepper, to taste
• •1/2 tbsp soy sauce
• •lettuce leaves (to use as bento dividers), washed and dried
• •1 large green cabbage leaf
• •1 2-inch length English cucumber, sliced into thin rounds
• •1/2 tsp sea salt
• •1 tbsp lemon juice
• •4 florets broccoli
• •4 cherry tomatoes
• •1 cup cooked sushi rice

Steps

1. 1For Seitan:
2. 2Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the green onion and ginger and stir-fry for 1-2 minutes until the oil is fragrant. Turn the heat up to the highest setting and add the peppers to the pan. Stir-fry with a spatula or long chopsticks. Sprinkle in some salt--this draws out moisture from the vegetables and cooks them a bit faster. Continue stir-frying for 4-5 minutes, until the peppers are cooked.
3. 3Push the vegetables to the sides of the pan, and add the seitan to the exposed bottom. Leave for a couple of minutes, then turn over to cook the other side. Stir everything together, and add black pepper and soy sauce.
4. 4For instant cabbage and cucumber pickles:
5. 5cut out the tough vein of the cabbage leaf, and slice the rest into strips. Sprinkle the cabbage and cucumber with the salt and massage well with your hands until the vegetables go limp. Let rest for at least 5 minutes. Add a squeeze of lemon juice.
6. 6Squeeze out any excess moisture before packing into a bento box. I like to put the pickles in a bento divider cup or cupcake liner to prevent the flavors from mingling with other flavors in the box.
7. 7For Blanched Broccoli:
8. 8Put just enough water in a small pan to cover the broccoli. Bring the water to a boil, add a pinch of salt, and put in the broccoli florets. Boil for 2-3 minutes, drain the water, and run cold tap water over the broccoli to cool quickly and fix the bright green color. Drain well. Use broccoli and cherry tomatoes to fill in gaps in the bento box.