Building a Buddha Bowl
Do you ever get to the place where you are sick of salads and want something a bit more, well, comforting? Our foods should not only be nutritious, but also be diverse and delicious so as to fuel our minds as well as our stomachs. Check out the Buddha Bowl: a bowl of warm and comforting food that fills your belly with amazing nutrition and has delicious flavors but doesn’t make you feel lethargic and bloated afterwards.
A Buddha Bowl basically gets its name from a bowl so filled that it’s heaped up like the belly of a Buddha. You can fill it as much or as little as you like, however, the contents are what is important. Typically a Buddha Bowl consists of hearty grains, raw or roasted veggies, seeds or nuts and sometimes even a dressing to top it off. The more varied the color in your bowl, the more nutrients you are getting. You can try different varieties of veggies using quinoa (or your preferred healthy grain) as a base and top it with roasted sweet potatoes, sautéed kale or spinach, cabbage, onions, asparagus, carrots, mushrooms, brussel sprouts or whatever suits your palate.
My favorite Buddha Bowl consists of:
Spiralized & sauted zucchini
spiraled & sauted fresh beet
white navy bean
artichoke hearts
2 large handfuls of kale or spinach, sauted
I saute the zucchini, beet, and kale in coconut oil until soft
Top with an avocado dressing (blend a whole avocado with 1 garlic clove, 1/2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste, tablespoon or two of olive oil. Blend in a mini-food processor and add a bit of water to create a thinner consistency if desired)
Sprinkle on a few raw pumpkin seeds or pine nuts for crunch
Since my body really does best and feels best without grains (you can get my list of inflammatory foods to avoid here) I get my carbs from the beans (14 g of carbs in 1 cup of navy beans), zucchini and beets and proteins from the beans and kale (2.9 g of protein in 1 cup chopped kale, 6 g of protein in 1 cup of navy beans). Overall it’s a bit high on the carb side for me to be able to eat this frequently, but when it is cold outside my body craves a few more carbs. And these types of carbs don’t make me feel bloated, they make me feel satiated and full.
Feel free to be creative with your Buddha Bowls and add your favorite healthy grain, roasted veggies, nuts, and dressings. The sky is the limit! I’d love to know what your favorite mixes are!