Think of health bowls as a kind of upgraded salad. It’s not just a pile of leaves in a bowl that you feel obligated to eat. It’ll make you excited about eating vegetables—and vegetables really should be enjoyed—because of its variety of tastes, temperatures, and texture.
Here’s what you’ll need to have on-hand and how to make this lightning-fast lunch.
Serves 4 (or 2 people with a chance of leftovers)
Recipe
- 2 whole beets, cooked (or part of a jar of pickled beets)
- 1 cup of quinoa
- a whole block of tofu
- 4 generous handfuls of arugula
- one zucchini
- a handful of cherry tomatoes
- olive oil
- a few splashes of soy sauce
- dried oregano leaves
- parsley
- garlic powder
- cumin powder
- feta cheese
- Balsamic vinegar
- around 10 olives
- (optional) pumpkin seeds
Method of preparation
-Start by putting two cups of homemade stock or water into a pot to boil.
-While you wait, wash all of the produce and shake it dry. On a plate (so that you don’t stain your cutting boards!) cut the cooked/pickled beets in half and then again, as many times as is needed to produce bite-sized pieces. Put the chopped beets aside for now.
-Once the stock/water boils, pour a cup of quinoa into the pot. Let the water return to a boil and bring the heat down to medium with the pot almost fully covered, with only a gap for steam to get out.
-Prepare a pan (cast iron is ideal) by drizzling olive oil on it and turning on the heat to a medium level.
-Cut a whole block of tofu into little rectangles or cubes and distribute it evenly on the pan, letting it get a little bit crispy. Splash some soy sauce on top. A few minutes later, sprinkle on all of the spices listed above. Flip the tofu over so that all sides are cooked.
-While the tofu cooks, cut the cherry tomatoes in half. Cut the zucchini into round slices. Once the tofu has a slightly darker colour to it on all sides, make space in the middle of the pan, add some more olive oil, and drop in the zucchini to sautée. Finally, place the chopped cherry tomatoes in, seed-side down, and allow them to get seared nicely.
-When the quinoa is done, fluff it with a fork and lay out a bed of quinoa onto each diner’s bowl. Wash as much arugula as you’d like to eat and place a handful on top of each bed of quinoa.
-Once the zucchini looks more translucent and the tomatoes are a bit blistered, distribute everything from the pan on top of each health bowl. Take a few chunks of feta cheese for each bowl and crumble it over the mixture. De-pit the olives and add a few to each bowl. If you’d like some nuttiness, sprinkle a handful of pumpkin seeds on top. And finally, neatly drizzle Balsamic vinegar on top of each health bowl.
Of course, feel free to substitute or remove any of these ingredients. The core principle is variety and balancing out healthy fats with vitamin and mineral rich vegetables, protein, and whole grains. But definitely leave the beets in there, that’s one of the nicest parts!
Head isu!
