Cooking an easy, healthy meal doesn’t have to be complicated; it’s all about how you approach it. You can put together a different healthy meal every night simply by switching up your combination of ingredients.
Here is a step-by-step guide to creating “versatile dinner bowls” with any combination of healthy ingredients that you like or have left over in your fridge!
Step 1: Pick a protein
-Fish
-Organic chicken
-Organic ground turkey or pork
-Organic beans or legumes (black, navy, adzuki, lentils, shelled edamame/soy)
-Organic tofu
Step 2: Pick some veggies (as many as you like!)
Best Raw:
-Red pepper
-Cucumber
-Cherry tomatoes
-Carrots
-Cabbage
-Snap peas
-Leafy greens: kale, spinach, bok choy
-Avocado
Best Steamed/Stir-fried/Oven-roasted:
-Zucchini
-Broccoli
-Cauliflower
-Brussels Sprouts
-Mushrooms
-Sweet potato/Parsnip/Squash*
*Potatoes, roots and squashes are quite high in carbs, so you can skip Step 3 if you include these in your bowl
Step 3: Pick a healthy whole grain carb
-Quinoa
-Brown rice
-Brown rice or whole wheat pasta
-Buckwheat or soba noodles
-Wheatberries
Step 4: Pick a healthy topping
-Nuts: slivered almonds, walnuts, pine nuts, pecans
-Seeds: Sunflower, pumpkin, hemp, chia
-Cheese: feta, goat cheese, parmesan, white cheddar
-Savory: olives, sundried tomatoes, capers, artichokes
Step 5: Make a dressing (2:1 oil to acid ratio)
- Pick a healthy oil: flaxseed, hemp, walnut, sesame, extra virgin olive oil, avocado
- Pick an acid: fresh lemon or lime juice, apple cider vinegar, balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar
- Add some flavors: garlic, ginger, tamari or soy sauce, maple syrup or honey
- Make it creamy: tahini, avocado, natural nut butter, Dijon mustard
- Add some spice: salt, pepper, cumin, chili flakes, turmeric
- Make a pesto: combine leafy green, nuts, oil, lemon juice, garlic & salt
Step 6: Pick a fresh herb (optional)
-Parsley
-Basil
-Cilantro
-Mint
Here’s an example of a dinner bowl I made the other night…
Sesame Brown Rice Pasta Bowl
Ingredients
Navy beans (sm can, organic)
Half head of broccoli
1 cup shaved carrots
Half red pepper diced
1 small avocado
Half package of brown rice fusilli
3 tbsp sesame seeds
Dressing:
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp tamari
2 tbsp maple syrup
¼ cup tahini
Method
Drain and rinse beans.
Chop all your veggies.
Steam broccoli for five minutes or until just done (retains most nutrients when slightly cooked).
Bring water to a boil and cook brown rice noodles according to package directions.
While noodles are cooking, make your dressing by whisking all ingredients together in a bowl or blender.
Combine beans, veggies, noodles and dressing in a large bowl and stir until everything is coated in dressing.
Spoon into individual bowls, sprinkle with sesame seeds and enjoy!
