There’s been a lot of talk about buddha bowls lately, and I’m all ears! This is the perfect lunch or light dinner. It’s hard to go wrong when you combine all your favorites!

I’ve added broccoli, carrots, zucchini and spinach to our bowls with great success. Black beans, kidney beans and chickpeas are all awesome protein additions, as are bite-sized pieces of tofu or scrambled egg. Swap out the brown rice for quinoa. Make it your own, and then come back here and share your combos with us!

 

Basic Buddha Bowl
Ingredients

• 1 cup rice, uncooked
• 1 cup mushrooms, chopped
• 1/2 red onion, chopped
• 1 bell pepper, chopped
• 1 cup beans (drained and rinsed if canned)
• 1 avocado, thinly sliced
• Buddha Bowl sauce (recipe below)
• 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions
Cook the rice according to directions (generally 1 cup of uncooked brown rice to 2 1/2 cups water). In a medium pan, quickly sautee the mushrooms, onion and pepper for only a 3-5 minutes until barely softened. Add in the beans and heat through. Top a serving of rice with the sauteed veggies, sliced avocado and shredded cheese.

Serves 2-3.

Buddha Bowl Sauce
Ingredients

• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup tahini
• 1/4 cup chickpeas
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1/4 cup water
• 3 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/4 c nutritional yeast
•  1/2 tsp turmeric
• pinch of salt

Directions
Add all of the ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. This stores really well in the refrigerator for weeks…maybe even months – if you don’t eat it all first!

 

This delicious sauce recipe was developed from the From Scratch Club to mirror the secret “Tali” sauce from Portland’s famous Whole Bowl food cart. But every Buddha Bowl is different! Depending on what you’re in the mood for, you can use a salad dressing, barbeque sauce or a splash of tamari.

 

Most importantly, have fun!

 

Featured image: Meatless Monday’s Green Buddha Bowl