3-Ingredient Meals: Bowls Pt. II

We’re back to make our bowls! If you missed part I of this post check that out too.

Meal prep

• You can prepare all 3 ingredients: veg, beans, and grains at the same time or you can meal prep one or more ingredients in advance. I like meal prepping beans. They are the least impacted by storage in the fridge. They can be easily reheated.

• You can also meal prep dressings and sauces. Most dressing recipes require minimal time (5-20 minutes) and can be stored in the fridge all week.

chickpeas, cooked from dry

Beans

I like cooking dried beans in my Instant Pot. This couldn’t be easier. Google [bean name instant pot], e.g. black beans instant pot. Open the first search result, and/or do a quick scan for the highest ‘star’ rating. This is the search result I used. You’ll need beans, water and salt. I cooked the beans without onion. Adding onion is great, but not required. There’s no need to soak the beans. If you want to soak, go for it, but I use the no soak recipes because I don’t want to invest the time.

I posted instructions for cooking dried chickpeas in the Instant Pot previously.

Don’t have an Instant Pot? No problem! Use the stovetop cooking instructions on the package or Google [bean name stovetop].

“Super Grains” package: quinoa, millet, buckwheat

Grains

Cook your grain in an Instant Pot, rice cooker, or on the stove.

You can also stir spices like turmeric, onion, garlic, oregano, basil, thyme, parsley, chili powder into your grains. I’d do that right after you turn off the heat from cooking to prevent degradation of the antioxidants in the spice.

swiss chard

Veg

Make veg the biggest part of your bowl. It can be cooked. It can be raw. Experiment! The most important part is stocking up at the market so you have greens available. Try thinking of vegetables as the main course. Everything else is a side. If this is new, start with your favorite vegetables. Then increase the volume, then try vegetables you’ve never had before or aren’t used to eating. Experimentation also has brain benefits.

cooked “Super Grains” mix, black beans, oregano

Proportions

One serving of veg for me is typically the entire bunch or the entire box. Veg is the largest volume of the bowl, followed by beans, followed by grains. The beauty of whole food plant-based? Eat as much as you want. Eat until you’re full. This is a big transition for most people, especially if your digestive system is not used to the fiber. You can increase volume over time until you get used to the fiber. Oil free, vegetable-focused meals are higher in nutrients and lower in calories. Understand that you’ll need to eat more whole food plants (higher volume) compared to calorically dense processed and animal foods, if weight loss is not your goal.

Recipes

Black Bean Bowl

AKA “burrito bowl”

Swiss chard, kale, arugula, or spinach
Black beans
Quinoa or one of brown, red, or black rice
Salsa
Avocado (optional, but I highly recommend it)
Fresh cilantro (optional, adds an additional nutrient boost)

Instructions:
- Pan fry or steam veg in water. I recommend including garlic.
- Cook black beans and whole grain of choice. You can also use canned beans, but check the sodium content.
- Add cooked whole grain, beans and veg to a bowl. Keep in mind proportions noted above. Add salsa, add sliced avocado.

If you’d like to get fancy, you can try adding homemade vegan sour cream (made from cashews). Check out these recipes for more ‘burrito bowl’ ideas.

black beans, “Super Grains” mix (quinoa, millet, buckwheat), arugula, garlic, mushrooms, fresh salsa, nooch

Nutrition

3/4 C cooked black beans
1/2 C cooked quinoa
142 g arugula — 1 box
227 g baby bella mushrooms — 1 box
5 cloves fresh garlic
1/2 C salsa — I used Jalapa Jar
1 tbsp nutritional yeast — I used Bragg’s

calories: 465
fiber: 22 g
sugars: 15.1 g (added sugars: 0 g)
fat: 4.6 g
protein: 28.3 g (including all 9 essential amino acids)
iron: 134% DV
calcium: 26% DV
vitamin A: 75% DV
vitamin C: 94% DV
vitamin B12: 100% DV*
folate: 146% DV
potassium: 77%

*The B12 is from the nutritional yeast

black beans, “Super Grains” mix, arugula, mushrooms, garlic

Chickpea bowl

Swiss chard, kale, arugula, or spinach
Chickpeas
Quinoa or millet
Lemon tahini dressing

Instructions:
- Pan fry or steam veg in water. I recommend including garlic. For an extra nutrition boost, add mushrooms.
- Cook chickpeas and whole grain of choice. You can also use canned beans, but check the sodium content.
- Add cooked whole grain, beans and veg to a bowl. Keep in mind proportions noted above. Add dressing.

chickpeas, “Super Grains” mix, swiss chard, lemon tahini dressing

Check out these recipes for more vegan bowl ideas.

Tips

• I know that adding large quantities of green veg to dishes like burrito bowls is new for many. Pay attention to how your body feels after upping your veg intake. I guarantee your body will thank you.

• Have you had avocado and quinoa? This is one of my favorite combos. The creaminess from the fat in the avocado can really change your experience of the meal. If you don’t like avocado (who are you?!), try a no added oil cashew or tahini dressing.

• 1 serving of avocado for me is typically 1/2 of the avocado. Depending on your caloric/energy needs, start there. Don’t skimp on calories if you are trying to maintain or gain weight, eat the whole avocado if that makes more sense for you! Unlike processed oils of any kind, avocados contain fiber. Not just 1 or 2 grams per avocado, but 9 grams of fiber. I douse the remaining half of the avocado in fresh lemon juice, store in the fridge, and use it the next day. It may be a little brown on top, that’s fine.

• If you are on a low sodium diet, replace salsa with homemade, salt free pico de gallo or simply add sliced fresh tomatoes.

• I steam or pan fry my veggies in water and/or rice vinegar. I like pan frying green leafy vegetables and steaming broccoli. If you’re pan frying, keep in mind you only need a little bit of water to get the cooking started. Vegetables release water as they cook.

• I’ve talked about oil previously. At some point I’ll do a full post. I generally don’t cook with oil. My digestion is better without it. Oil is calorically dense, so it’s filling without the nutrients of a whole food like avocado. I eat out, I eat at other people’s homes. ‘Oil free’ is not a requirement in those cases. I don’t sweat it.

• Add fresh garlic when you pan fry (not required). Fresh garlic takes 5 minutes to chop. I like a lot of garlic, I typically use 4-5 cloves. Fresh garlic is inexpensive. I paid 90 cents for 1 bulb of organic garlic at Whole Foods this week. Garlic has numerous health benefits. I’m not self-conscious about the smell.

• Beans are cost effective. I bought 1.75 pounds of organic dried chickpeas in the bulk section at Whole Foods for $4.88. They don’t stock dried black beans in the bulk section at this location, so I bought the Whole Foods 365 package which was $2.99.

• I used the Whole Foods 365 ‘super grains’ blend for my chickpea bowl. Check Amazon if the grocery store options near you are limited. I found this option on Amazon. You may also look into Thrive Market. I haven’t tried Thrive, but it may be useful.

• The lemon tahini dressing was very good with the swiss chard!

• If you’re used to eating rich food, it’s likely it will take time for your taste buds to adjust. You may experience cravings. Stick with it!

chickpeas and swiss chard with PlantStrong Foods peanut curry sauce

Happy eating!

Leave a comment below if you like making bowls or have a favorite bowl recipe.

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