Meatless Monday Inspiration: Buddha Bowls
Our friends at Well+Good have reminded us of one of our favorite ways to eat vegetarian food: In a giant bowl, all mixed together, but where the standout ingredients are, well, the standout ingredients. We like our vegetables the way God made them, and there’s no easier way to load up on them in when you’re in a rush than with a Buddha bowl. Simply: Prepare your veggies in advance, and then keep them stored in good glass in the fridge (I am partial to Duralex and Frigoverre, which you can get online at Green Depot, or in person if you live here in New York). My yoga school, Jivamukti, has these in the cafe, and I treat myself to one after class once a week (black beans, kale, avocado, tahini—YUM!). Appropriately, Well+Good got tips from master yogi Elena Browner (swoon!) by getting her to open up her fridge for them.
You should read the entire thing on their site...
This is a giant fridge.
It has to be. It feeds a lot of people. Me and my son, his caregiver, my son’s father, my assistant, my boyfriend Bentley—we’re a big family. But it’s really full right now. This is maximum capacity.
So is the amount of greens pretty typical? And where do you get them?
Yes, everyone here loves kale. Pretty much everything’s from Whole Foods in Tribeca. It’s the easiest for me. I know I can get everything there in one stop, though the Union Square Green Market is the best. I love to shop there when I can. …
Do you have time to cook much? What’s your average meal?
A Buddha Bowl. It’s a meal that I probably eat a couple times a day. It always has kale or a heap of greens and whatever veggies I have, plus tofu or tempeh, quinoa or grains, maybe some avocado. The ever evolving recipe is on my website. I make a dressing for it out of lemon, cold-pressed olive oil, and organic white miso and keep it in my fridge. I really look forward to eating it.
YUM! Find out more of her nutritional tricks here.
Do you ever eat your veggies like this?
Image of an actual branded “Buddla Bowl” via
I would love to know Elena Browner’s Daily beauty routine and the products she uses.
Great idea!
Sounds delicious! I’m gonna try this ASAP.
I don’t always have much time to cook, but I cook every day and normally make everything, (salad dressings, sauces, bread). I enjoy cooking immensely and find it to be a creative outlet for me. I’m not sure I have an average meal, because I love to cook a lot of different things and to experiment with my own ideas. However, I do try to go meatless for at least one dinner meal a week and several lunch meals as well.
I have a few main vegetable dishes that I make that are eaten in a bowl. Sometimes, I will grill shrimp to top them; other times I’ll roast a chicken, but many times I’ll serve them on their own by adding beans.
One of the quickest and easiest things to make is a grilled vegetable sandwich. Grilling vegetables takes 3-5 minutes and you can use anything that appeals to you. I normally choose squashes, eggplant, onions and tomato and sprinkle some oregano and pepper on top. To serve grilled vegetables in a bowl, I would skip the bread and add some kind of rice or grain and perhaps some chopped parsley.
I think the main thing, at least for me, is to keep certain staples on hand (and the freshest vegetables), so that I always have what it takes to make interesting meals that are satisfying to the soul, because food isn’t simply sustenance.
Wow! Thanks comagirl! I’m not a very good cook and so not creative in the kitchen. I also have zero time to cook and I always go to the grocery store without a list thinking, “what in the world do I need to get.”
I walk around aimlessly trying to decide what to buy. Im not one of those people that can look in her cabinets and just throw something together. I’m also gone m-f 7-7. It’s roughing coming up with healthy, satisfying, quick/easy meals.
Looooooove Elena!!! She is such an amazing person. Let’s definitely get her beauty routine!
ok i am trying to find new ways to eat kale.. any suggestions? i’ve tried it raw and it’s ok, and i know kale chips are good, but anyone have good ideas for how to cook/dress it? i want to like this lovely leafy vegetable but it’s sooo difficult.
I just bought my boyfriend one of those for his birthday! He has a habit of picking up his bowl while he eats (which i always tease him for) and I figured that it would be the perfect thing. He also loves to make “buddha bowl” type meals…guess this post was written for him!
@Alyssa M – try soup! There are a lot of great kale soup recipes out there which take away a lot of kale’s harder to love qualities. Kale and white bean soup is one of my winter staples.
You are more than welcome, Lindsay. Believe me, I don’t always have time to spend fussing about in the kitchen and sometimes I am just plain uninspired and unmotivated. Food and Wine has some terrific recipes for what they refer to as “fast” meals (20-40 minutes). I’ve never had a failure with any of their recipes, but often half to tone down the fats. My spouse has high blood pressure (er, had) and I always have to be particularly mindful of his dietary requirements. Sometimes just have the staples and purchasing things like rotisserie chicken really help. Best of luck to you in your culinary endeavors.
Oh, yeah, you reminded me of a website, that I cannot actually provide the link to because of the profanity. It is called “What the F### Should I Make for Dinner, as in www dot the whole phrase dot com.
Anyone interested in mainly vegetables or fruits might want to check out the Santa Monica Farmers’ Market Cookbook, which you should be able to find on Amazon. Because the book is based on what is sold at the SM Farmers’ Market, it contains mostly vegetable dishes and some fruit and nut recipes. It actually has an index by season, which is really helpful. I know there is at least one kale recipe in it. Here is the author’s website http://www.ameliasaltsman.com/ . Click on the photo to enter and select seasonal recipes from the menu to view a sample of four recipes. Cheers!
This is a standard way that I eat, usually a base of kale or cabbage with other greens or veggies.
@Alyssa, with raw kale the key is to really rub in the dressing – a mix of sea salt and an acid (I like coconut vinegar) with olive oil, massaged into the leaves, will give a great texture. If you cook it, I prefer the simplicity of heating with a really good olive oil, sea salt, and pepper. My more ambitious version of the raw kale uses a dressing with chickpea miso, almond milk, vinegar and coconut aminos or Braggs aminos. I also use my Vitamix to get kale into smoothies and soups (chunks of kale work well in soups too). Also, I recommend experimenting with the different types of kale in different recipes.
Where can I get one of these green bowls? I checked all three websites in this post I didn’t find anything. Thanks in advance :)
@Lindz… I am wondering the same thing!!