Whoa, this is my first non-vegan recipe…ever? Well, it’s not like I’ve been vegan for my 35 years of life, but I have been since I’ve started sharing my life on the internet.
For my vegan babes out there, don’t worry- this can very easily be modified to be vegan-friendly. Plus, this is a very plant-rich meal that covers just about every dang color of the rainbow. We love to see it.
Buddha Bowl
So, it was my turn to cook family dinner for the four of us, and I decided to get earthy with it. As most of you know already, I’ve been on my fertility journey, and a big part of that is keeping your womb warm.
You can do this with herbs, treatments, and practices. But, more importantly, you can also do this with food. The simplest way to consume more warming foods is to cook food, enjoy stews, and hearty, grounding meals.
While I love cooked food, I’m also a sucker for raw food. And I personally find my digestion loves an abundance of raw leafy greens on a daily basis. The Buddha Bowl was born from the place of wanting to combine raw with cooked to get the best of both worlds.
Variations of Buddha Bowl
If you follow my other recipes then you know one thing about me as a cook: I’m an estimator, not a measurer. And this recipe is no exception.
I know this can be frustrating for some people who want to be told exactly what to do in the kitchen. And I get it, being on your own can be scary. But the truth is that part of the reason I always offer variations to my written recipes is so you can get creative with it.
One of the most cathartic things ever is cooking, I swear. Especially when you’re free, intuitive, and creating. Talk about soothing the nervous system! Plus, getting to enjoy nourishing yourself and others. Hmmm…there’s truly nothing like it.
So, as always, there’s variations to be had here with this recipe. If you don’t have the exact veggies that I do, don’t worry about it. Work with what you do have.
If you’re intuitively craving a different sauce or dressing, then go nuts with your own version. Most of all, I want you to feel satisfied with what you create and consume.
Vegan variation Buddha Bowl:
To make this vegan, just forego the bone broth in the lentils. You can swap this with vegetable broth, or use water and add your own herbs and spices.
Added animal product variation Buddha Bowl:
I told you this recipe is plant heavy, which means it’s primarily vegan other than the bone broth. If you’re someone who wants to add any kind of animal protein to this dish, or sprinkle it with goat cheese- then go for it!
Plant variation Buddha Bowl
Okay, so we’re working with mostly root vegetables in the recipe I provide. However, if you’re craving more cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower and brussel sprouts- then those would be wonderful additives, as well.
We’ll all have varied plants in season, so try to work with what’s available near YOU in order to get the best results, richest flavor, and highest quality.
Buddha Bowl Ingredients
Serves 4 people
Cooked Ingredients:
1 cup tricolored quinoa
2 cups organic lentil blend
4 cups bone broth
4 large organic carrots
3 organic beets with tops
1 bushel organic asparagus
1 large organic sweet potato
Raw Ingredients:
Arugula
1 cup fresh basil leaves
2 cups purple cabbage
1 ripe avocado
Toppings:
1 cup walnuts
¼ cup organic tahini
1 lemon
Dijon mustard organic
Organic olive oil
Spices:
Cinnamon
Parsley flakes
Garlic
Onion
Himalayan salt
Black pepper
How To Make Buddha Bowl
Preheat oven to 370
Wash all vegetables, grains, and legumes before consumption
Prep and roast cooked veggies:
Start by chopping up the veggies that will be roasted while the oven is preheating. This means chopping the beets into medium cubes, slicing the sweet potatoes into rounds, and cutting the large carrots in half horizontally (so there’s still two large pieces of carrot left). Keep the tops of the beets, as we’ll use them for the salad.
Put all of the veggies into their own bowls, and toss with olive oil and salt and pepper to your liking. Lay them directly onto baking trays once they’re coated with olive oil and salt and pepper.
The carrots should be in two BIG pieces. Cover them in olive oil and ground garlic once on the tray. This will ensure they get nice and soft.
Add to the oven for about 30 minutes, to check, and flip as needed. They might need up to 50 minutes total in the oven depending on your set up.
Cook legumes and grains:
Once your roasted veggies have been in for about 10 minutes, then boil water for quinoa. Once boiling, add quinoa in, and lower to a simmer. Cover with a lid, and allow quinoa to cook through.
Next, add bone broth to a pot with the lentils,parsley flakes, dried onion, dried garlic, salt and pepper, and bring to a boil altogether. Once boiling, lower to a simmer and cover. You’ll want there to be liquid left, but not a full-on soup. Feel free to add more bone broth or water to make soupier.
Keep both on the stove on simmer to keep warm until you’re ready to serve.
Prepare toppings and dressing:
In a bowl, add your walnuts with a small drizzle of date syrup and sprinkle of cinnamon. Toss until all walnuts are coated evenly. Place on a baking sheet, and pop in the oven with the veggies for about 5 minutes. They can burn quickly, so make sure to check on them after 5 minutes, flip, or take out altogether. You want them to be cooked without turning black.
In a small bowl, add your tahini with one squeezed lemon, 3 teaspoons of dijon mustard, and 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Add a bit of salt, and mix. Taste to your liking. If you want it to be more runny, add more oil. For more mustard, add dijon.
Final touches:
In a large salad bowl, chop up the beet tops you saved, and add in arugula, shaved red cabbage, and fresh basil leaves. I like to chop up my basil leaves so they can be spread throughout, but it’s yummy to keep them whole, too.
When you’re about 5 minutes out from serving, saute asparagus in a frying pan on medium heat with salt and pepper. Try to avoid letting it get mushy, which means keeping a close eye on it, and keeping it uncovered.
Finally, slice avocado when you’re just about ready to serve, so it doesn’t brown.
Plating the Buddha Bowl:
This is one of those meals that can definitely be self-serve, so people get exactly what they want. It can also make serving even easier than plating yourself.
I like to plate it for people to make sure they can try everything, and I like to plate it in a large bowl that allows all ingredients to be shown. I do add a light drizzle of dressing to each bowl, but also bring the dressing to the table if they want more. Make sure not to over-dress someone’s bowl, because it could make it soggy and gross.
I usually just add a sprinkle of walnuts to plated dishes, and then bring those to the table, as well.
Most importantly, enjoy!
xx,
K