With searching for an apartment and a much busier restaurant to work at, I don't have time and energy during those work days to make lunch before work and dinner after work. We eat dinner at midnight or later. Shameful I know. Such is the life of a line cook grunt.
I usually try to have things in the freezer to take out each night. I often make more than enough for one meal like soup or curry or whatever. If I'm too tired after cooking for other people at work I have something ready to heat up.
I want to try to keep things as light as possible since we tend to indulge on days off. Then came the light bulb moment. I realized that the trendy Buddha bowls that have been around quite a while, especially in the plant based or vegetarian community, is a perfect way to have nourishment and convenience at the same time without sacrificing enjoyment.
I suppose you could call it a salad bar with lots of stuff but it usually has a protein, a starch, and some veggies.
I chose several random items and prepped them along with sauces. The thing about the sauces is that I wanted them to be suitable as a salad dressing as well. I intended on having greens with each dish.
For the proteins I chose tofu, tempeh and lentils. I marinated the tempeh and the tofu for a few hours. I just use any random things such as veggie broth and water, soy sauce, miso and seasonings such as garlic and onion powder salt and pepper. Just taste it first to make sure it's suitable. With tofu, it doesn't absorb as well as tempeh so you'll want to make the tempeh marinade less salty.
For the tofu and tempeh I cooked it in the marinade until all the liquid was evaporated. The lentils were cooked until tender but still have a bite to them.
For the starch I made rice noodles, jasmine rice and quinoa making sure none of them were overdone.
To add I toasted sesame seeds, walnuts, pistachios and peanuts.
I made three sauces which had different themes and flavors. This to me is the most important part. After you decide what goes in the bowl, you can decide on the sauce to accompany.
Curry sauce
1 small onion diced
4 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon minced ginger
4 fresh small hot chilies
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon asafoetida
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon turmeric
Juice of a lime
1 sprig of fresh coriander
1 cup veggie soup broth
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup cashews
3 or 4 soaked dates or sweetener (optional)
1 handful of curry leaves
Brown onions garlic, ginger chilies and cashews then add the spices and curry leaves to hot oil. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for twenty minutes. Cool down a bit and blend until smooth. I added some extra fresh garlic, ginger and chilies but just a little.
Peanut Sauce
1 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons sesame oil
Juice of 2 limes
5 or 6 dates pre soaked
4 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon minced ginger
3 chilies or hot sauce
Tahini herb sauce
1/2 cup tahini
1 cup lemon juice
5 cloves garlic
1/2 cup olive oil
1 cup chopped parsley
1/2 cup fresh mint
Salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon agave nectar or sweetener (optional)
Blend until smooth adding more seasoning if necessary to suit your taste
I chose to put the curry sauce with the tempeh and rice, the peanut sauce with the tofu and rice noodles, and the herb sauce with the lentils and quinoa.
These bowls can consist of any items you choose and can be super fun to put together.
I think it would be a fun way to encourage kids to eat healthier foods. They can choose from what you supply and make their own bowls. I know most kids wouldn't eat half of these things but you could choose the healthiest of the things that you know they'll eat.
In the past, I've had these bowls hot and cold, and a combination of hot and cold. I have purchased ready made bowls from the super market that were supposed to be eaten cold. The main thing is to make a bunch of items and sauces then keep them in the fridge mixing and matching for variety.
The possibilities are endless.
Thanks for dropping by and have a great day.
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