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Salads for Lunch: Buddha Bowl

Last week when in Provincetown, we stopped for a quick dinner at The Canteen. A quick-casual walkup counter restaurant with a few tables inside and a bunch more outside overlooking the beach behind the restaurant. The restaurant offers hot and cold sandwiches, soups, appetizers, and salads. One of the favorites for many is the crispy Brussel sprouts which Gary got as a side dish. His main entree was a Buddha Bowl.

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I thought a Buddha Bowl was just something on this menu. Apparently, I have been living under a rock because Buddha Bowls are everywhere and vary greatly. If you are also a rock dweller like me, allow me to explain. It is a portion of grain or starch (rice, barley, millet, quinoa, sweet potatoes, or corn), a smattering of protein (tofu, chickpeas, or beans), and an assortment of various vegetables, both raw and cooked. It is originally vegan although they now can include meat protein. Much to the dismay of angry vegans everywhere. Original Buddha Bowls are artistically arranged to make a great Instagram picture (I’m serious, here). Finally, most are finished with a dressing.

Bottom line: It is a salad. And for the record, the bowl from The Canteen was not arranged to be “instagramable,” but it was made to taste amazing. At least that is what Gary said. FYI, I have no picture of the bowl from The Canteen because I had no plan to blog about it.

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This is an image of the art of the Buddha Bowl – aka salad. Photo by Anna Pelzer on Unsplash

Lunch Salads Getting Started

Upon our arrival at home, I realized I had a bag of quinoa in the pantry so I told Gary I would make him various Buddha Bowls for his lunch. He is a very happy man. I also found a bag of lentils. When I pulled that bag out of the pantry, Gary exclaimed, “I love lentil salads.” I said, “good cause I am making some for you as well. What I decided to do was make a big pot of quinoa and a big pot of lentils.  I then portioned out enough quinoa for Gary’s Monday lunch and enough lentils for his Tuesday lunch. The balance of each was put in storage containers for later in the week. So let’s get to it.

Buddha Bowl

Before I get to the recipe, let me be clear; my Buddha Bowl will taste good, but it will not be a beautifully arranged piece of food art. And secondly, the Buddha Bowl is a made up name that has no direct relationship to the Buddhist religion. In other words, it is a trend, but as long as it tastes good, I am all for it.

There will be no portion quantities in this recipe because it depends greatly on how much you are making and for how many people. Like most salads, there is a base ingredient and then a little of this and a little of that. The ingredients in this bowl are based on the ingredients in the bowl Gary had at The Canteen.

Ingredients

Quinoa, cooked according to directions on the packaging
Brown Rice, cooked according to directions on the packaging
Tofu, cut into 1/2 inch blocks
Broccoli, blanched and roughly chopped bite-size
Napa Cabbage, thinly sliced then roughly chopped
Almonds, roughly chopped
Raisins, blanched
Ginger Miso dressing

Preparation

Prep at of the ingredients as stated above. For this recipe, I chose two parts quinoa to one part brown rice. Place the grains in a bowl large enough to toss. Add in the remaining ingredients except for the tofu and the dressing. Toss well to blend the salad. Add in the tofu and lightly toss to not break the tofu. Pour on your dressing and taste for seasoning and add salt, if desired. Lightly toss again to distribute the dressing. Enjoy.

Can be made the day before as I did for Gary.

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Two parts water to one part quinoa.

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Cooked quinoa. The little tail on each quinoa grain pops out when cooked.

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I cheated with the brown rice. There was none in the pantry. I did not need much. So I bought this. If the store had had the Brown Rice (only) packet, I would have bought it, but they were out.

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Blanched and beautifully green.

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When the broccoli was almost done, I threw in the golden raisins for about 30 seconds to soften. I hate dry-ish raisins.

I use Marcona almonds because they are less bitter than California almonds. They are expensive, but I can get a large jar at Costco for less than I can find anywhere else with half as much.

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Everything but the tofu and the dressing before the first toss.

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Be gentle with your tofu. It crumbles easily.

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I could not find miso to make my own. And I could not find pre-made Ginger Miso either. So I bought this. Gary liked it.

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Pretty and delicious.

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Gary wanted a stronger sesame flavor, so I added a drizzle to his liking.

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Download Printable PDF Here: Buddha Bowl


 

My neighbor Natalie loves her Blue Planet Sunglasses. You can get a pair too at Blue Planet Eyewear. Don’t forget my 20% off coupon code: CoffeetoWine20

blue planet
Andiz – Black Onyx / Zebra Wood / Ice Blue Mirror Lens

 

That is all for now.

Cheers,

rick


 

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