Menu: Grilled Menuki fish marinated in saikyo miso, Pumpkin & egg salad, Spinach & bacon sautée, Cherry tomato, Rice with goma-konbu 

Mandarin mikan for dessert

Pumpkin & egg salad is something I put in a bento box on a regular basis. I usually steam half a pumpkin (here in Japan, we always see pumpkins sold in half or a quarter, hardly ever a whole one. Wonder why), mash it once soft, divide them in an ice cube dish and store them in the freezer. Whenever I need one extra dish or want to add a bright yellow orange into a bento box, this becomes very handy. 

Having said that, today’s pumpkin was freshly made and was extra delicious. It was the salad for lunch, and my daughter asked me to make soup out of it for dinner. So be it – I added chicken stock I happened to be cooking, and turned the salad into warm and tasty pumpkin soup.