Mermaid Salad Rolls Bento

Make your next bento a deep-sea adventure by adding these mesmerizing mermaid salad rolls.

 

Mermaid Salad Rolls - Learn how to transform regular salad rolls into mermaid salad rolls, by filling them with mermaid noodles! 100% natural dye technique that is shockingly simple! Recipe at loveatfirstbento.com | bento box, bento, lunch box

Mermaid Salad Rolls - Learn how to transform regular salad rolls into mermaid salad rolls, by filling them with mermaid noodles! 100% natural dye technique that is shockingly simple! Recipe at loveatfirstbento.com | bento box, bento, lunch box

Warning: Eating these mermaid salad rolls might just turn you into a mermaid.

Okay, that may be stretching the truth just a teensy bit; but, I can at least guarantee that you’ll feel like a mermaid after eating them. Who doesn’t want to feel like a beautiful mythical creature come lunchtime?

By the way, this whole bento box is 100% vegan. I’m actually a vegetarian myself, so it was a nice change being able to actually eat everything I prepared (seeing as I’m usually preparing bento boxes for a die-hard carnivore). The box on the right contains chickpeas seasoned with Korean red chili pepper and finely chopped shiso leaf, steamed broccoli sprinkled with more of the red pepper-shiso topping, quick-pickled red cabbage, and fresh blackberries. The salad rolls can be filled with any veggies you’d like, but I filled mine with orange bell pepper, cucumber, leafy greens, red cabbage, and mermaid noodles. What, exactly, are mermaid noodles, you ask? At their core, they’re just rice noodles. They truly enter mermaid realm, however, once we turn them a mesmerizing aquamarine.

Any guesses how the mermaid noodles obtain this oceanic hue?

Answer: Red cabbage. I know, I know, incredibly glamorous. It seems so unsuspecting, yet red cabbage is a bit of a vegetable wizard when it comes to conjuring up natural dyes. Once this veggie is boiled, the water becomes a deep sapphire color, which then becomes a vibrant aquamarine by sprinkling in a pinch of baking soda. As soon as that baking soda hits the water, it’ll instantly start to change color – seriously, it’s about the coolest thing you can possibly witness in your kitchen, and it takes almost zero effort. Cheers to being kitchen wizards! (Chopstick wands are optional.)

Mermaid Salad Rolls - Learn how to transform regular salad rolls into mermaid salad rolls, by filling them with mermaid noodles! 100% natural dye technique that is shockingly simple! Recipe at loveatfirstbento.com | bento box, bento, lunch box

So, can we just agree that, if the ocean served salad rolls, mermaids would definitely be eating these? And since we’re all mermaids here, this means you require these salad rolls in your next bento box. They’ll surely make waves at your next lunch break. 😉

 

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Mermaid Salad Rolls - Learn how to transform regular salad rolls into mermaid salad rolls, by filling them with mermaid noodles! 100% natural dye technique that is shockingly simple! Recipe at www.loveatfirstbento.com | bento box, bento, lunch box

Mermaid Salad Rolls


  • Author: Shannon
  • Category: Elegant Bento

Description

Learn how to make Mermaid Salad Rolls, along with naturally dyed “mermaid noodles”, for a delicious vegan or vegetarian lunch. {Vegan, Vegetarian}


Ingredients

  • Circular rice paper wrappers
  • Rice noodles
  • Veggies of your choice (such as bell pepper, cucumber, carrot, cabbage, radish)
  • 1/4 chunk red cabbage
  • Baking soda

Instructions

Mermaid Noodles:

  1. Place 1/4 chunk of red cabbage in a medium-sized pot, then fill with water until the cabbage is fully submerged. Bring the water to a boil.
  2. Once water is boiling, add your rice noodles (no need to remove the cabbage). Mine took about 10 minutes to cook, but follow package directions for a more precise cooking time.
  3. While your noodles are cooking, chop your veggies into thin matchsticks.
  4. When rice noodles are finished cooking, take the pot off the heat and add a pinch of baking soda to the water – it’ll turn a lovely aquamarine! Allow noodles to sit in the water and soak up the color for a minimum of 15 minutes. After the noodles have turned the desired color, drain them in a colander.

Assembling Salad Rolls:

  1. Submerge a single rice paper wrapper in warm water for 10 seconds (I like to do this on a large plate), then place on a dry, flat surface.
  2. Place mermaid noodles and cut up veggies in a straight line in the middle of the wrapper. Make sure to leave some space on all sides.
  3. (Working from your POV) Fold the right and left side of the wrapper over the ends of your filling, then take the piece of wrapper closest to you and fold it over so that it covers all of your filling + the folded right and left ends. Start rolling everything away from you until the remaining wrapper is all rolled up. Cut into slices with a sharp wet knife, and enjoy!

Notes

© Love At First Bento. All images and content on this site are copyright protected. Please do not use any image without my prior permission. If you’d like to share this recipe on your own site, you are required to (1) link back to this post and (2) rewrite any instructions in your own words.

 

Interested in more vegan & vegetarian bento boxes? Have a look at this Pumpkin Spice Onigiri Bento Box.

 

Tools used to make this bento:

Comments (2)

  • Looks so beautiful and tasty too, Thanks Shannon!

    Reply

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