Bowls are the new salad

I’m a HUGE fan of a well-balanced lunch bowl.  They’re easy to pack to bring to work, and the options are limitless – which is why I am really excited that they’re this month’s RecipeRedux theme!  I can’t wait to see all the other members’ combos (links below) and give folks some inspiration for lunches that taste and feel awesome.

How to Bowl

Here’s my guide to building a bowl from scratch:

1. Pick a base: a whole grain (quinoa or millet work well), rice, or legume like lentils or beans – aim for 1/2 cup

2. Pick your greens: kale, spinach, collards, lettuces – 1-2 cups

3. Pick 2 proteins: cheese, diced meats, tofu, hard-boiled eggs, nuts, seeds – roughly 20g worth; consult the labels to make sure it adds up

4. Add 2 other veggies (green beans, diced pepper, onion, tomatoes, even a cooked diced sweet potato) – roughly a cup total

5. Herbs + acid + oil (chopped fresh basil or cilantro, lime or lemon juice, and olive or grapeseed oil) – about 2 Tbsp

I recently brought a bowl to a potluck – they make fantastic side dishes, too!  I cooked up farro, which is wheat’s higher-protein cousin (not gluten free!), then added:

• Chopped roasted carrots
• Raw edamame
• Shaved raw brussels sprouts (I used a mandolin)
• Fermented beets (my first ferment!)
• Feta cheese
• Dried cranberries
• Pumpkin seeds
• Chopped pecans
• Pomegranate arils (alleluia, it’s pom season again!)

Gorgeous colors, right?  And the result:

I dressed it with some rice wine vinegar, salt, pepper, and EVOO – the ingredients themselves had so much richness and diversity in flavor, texture, and temperature that it didn’t need much!  If I weren’t going to a potluck, I’d have stored all the ingredients separately and made different combos through the week for lunch – here’s what a single serving looks like:

YUM.  Try your own – what’s your fav combo?  And don’t forget to check out the rest below!