How to prepare a buddha bowl

The buddha bowl They are, without a doubt, the trendy combo platters at the moment. If you have Instagram and are interested in healthy food, surely you have already seen many colorful bowls full of healthy and plant-based foods.

There are two theories about the origin of its name: the first says that it is about bowls so full that they look like the belly of Buddha. And the other that comes from the Buddhist monks who walked through the villages with their bowls accepting the food of the inhabitants and thus formed a plate with different foods.

But either in one way or another, it is a very healthy dish, ideal to prepare during the batch cooking and perfect to take to work; light but satiating, comforting and nutritious. And the best thing is that there are thousands of possibilities to do them. Let’s see how they prepare.

Do you know the Harvard plate? Find out in the following video and have a healthy diet.

How to prepare a buddha bowl

A buddha bowl should form a complete and balanced plate, that’s why it should copy the famous “Harvard plate” or “healthy eating plate”, which means that half of the plate should be made up of vegetablesa quarter for protein and a quarter for complete carbohydrates, and also a sauce cannot be missing to unite all the ingredients.

Preparing this type of dish may sound complicated, since it contains many ingredients. But with a little practice we can prepare a buddha bowl complete in no time. Or even better, we can prepare the base during the batch cooking and combine everything just before serving. At the beginning of the week we can, for example, cook a couple of vegetables in the oven, wash green leaves, grate cabbage and carrots, cook some legumes and a cereal and prepare some sauce, and thus we have food ready for the following days.

What should a buddha bowl contain?

Below you will find the main components of the buddha bowl, with ideas for ingredients and ways to include them. It is important that the dish has all kinds of different colors and textures: crunchy, creamy, soft… The best thing is that there are thousands of possibilities, you just need to be willing and imaginative.

Vegetable should form the base of the plate. We can include all kinds of vegetables, both raw and cooked, depending on the season and our body’s needs.

Inside of raw vegetablegreen leaves such as kale, spinach, arugula, lettuce, watercress, lamb’s lettuce should not be missing… In addition, we can use grated carrots, zucchini noodles, tomatoes, cucumber, radishes, cabbage… On top we can include some fermented vegetables such as kimchi or sauerkraut to nourish the microbiota and dress the dish with a touch of acidity.

The Boiled vegetables it provides a different texture, it is more comforting and in the colder months it warms us up. There are many options on how to prepare it and which vegetable to choose. For example, eggplant, pumpkin, beetroot or peppers are very tasty baked; we can skip mushrooms or zucchini; broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus or leeks can be steamed, etc.

Can play with cooking styles and types of vegetables and with different flavors adding spices such as paprika, curry, nutritional Yeast, tamari…

When it comes to organizingin our batch cooking weekly we can leave the green leaves and other raw vegetables washed and even cut, since they last about 2-3 days. In addition, we can make salads, even with dressing, with harder vegetables such as carrots, beets, kale or cabbage and leave them in a container in the fridge for a couple of days.

And what should not be missing in our batch cooking is to make a huge tray of baked vegetables, since they last well for 3-4 days in the fridge and so we can add them to our bowl.

complete carbohydrates

Carbohydrates provide us with energy, fiber and a variety of minerals and vitamins. For the buddha bowl we can use all kinds of cooked whole grains such as rice, quinoa, millet, buckwheat, etc., in addition to their derivatives: pasta, couscous, bulgur, polenta (the best, grilled), potatoes or sweet potatoes cooked, steamed or baked.

Protein should not be missing from our preparations, since it has an important role in our diet. The basic ones are all kinds of legumes such as lentils, beans, chickpeas, edamame or peas. In addition, the legumes, simply cooked, can be used in different preparations such as baked chickpeas, lentil bolognese or all kinds of meatballs and hamburgers.

we can also use vegetable proteins such as tofu, seitan or tempeh in different recipes such as grilled, baked, battered, sautéed…

The sauces in the buddha bowls are essential because they unite all the ingredients to create a dish. We can use all kinds of creamy sauces like sauce tahini and lemon, peanut sauce or other nuts, guacamole, hummus, tofu mayonnaise or pesto; Or, if we fancy a lighter dish, prepare olive oil based vinaigrettes, apple or Modena vinegar, lemon juice, etc. and add garlic, mustard, maple syrup, aromatic herbs…

To give it a special touch and provide different textureswe can add avocado, nuts, olives, dried tomatoes, fruit (fresh or dehydrated), sprouts, algae…

Buddha bowl recipe with tempeh and sweet potatoes with carrot and ginger sauce

Here you have an example of buddha bowl, that you can modify to your liking.

Ingredients (2 servings):

1 sweet potato2 tablespoons of olive oilA pinch of cinnamonA pinch of paprikaSalt250 g of tempeh1 tablespoon of tamari1 tablespoon nutritional yeast 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil 2 handfuls of arugula or other green leaves 2 handfuls of cherry tomatoes ¼ red cabbage 1 avocado

Dip:

4 tablespoons of tahini100 ml of water4 tablespoons of rice vinegar1 clove of garlicA pinch of stevia or 1 tablespoon of maple syrup3 cm of ginger2 carrots½ teaspoon of salt2 tablespoons of lemon juice1 tablespoon of tamari

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 200 ºC. Wash the sweet potato well, cut it into cubes with the skin. Pour into a baking tray; season with salt, paprika and a pinch of cinnamon; drizzle with olive oil and bake 35 minutes or until golden brown.Prepare the tempeh. Cut it into slices. In a bowl, mix with the tamari, oil and nutritional yeast. After 10 minutes, add to the pan with the sweet potato and bake with it for 25 minutes. Prepare the sauce. In a glass blender, or with the help of a blender, blend all the ingredients until smooth. Taste the flavor and add more vinegar, salt or sweetener to your liking. Add more water if necessary. Grate the red cabbage. Cut the avocado into slices and the tomatoes cherry in half. In two bowls, divide the vegetables and avocado and add the sweet potato, tempeh and the sauce.