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Snap to it and make these Balance Bowls! No matter what you call these plant powered “balance bowls“— Powerbowls, buddha bowls, Macro Bowls, Quinoa Bowls, etc.,they truly are easy to make! A healthy meal prep bowl packed full of balanced macronutrients, vitamins, minerals, and more!
Well what do you know, it’s Thursday. Almost the weekend. And ya’ll, I so off track with life. Like whoa! Our trip home was nice but then I can come home needing to tackle what’s left of work for the week. Recipe testing… and testing…. and testing, Nourish Bowls Cookbook writing (anyone wanna help?), and restocking the fridge. Cause we be EMPTY. That’s slang for we are without food.
That being said, I decided to kick my butt into gear with these snappy plant based balance bowls. Basically meal prep bowls that help fuel your day with “balanced” eating. I put balanced in quotations marks because, let’s face it, everyone’s form of balance is different. All in all, balance bowls means they are macronutrient based; wholesome gluten free carbohydrates, healthy fats, and protein! What you choose as your macro is up to you! You can focus on whole 30 friendly balance nourish bowl (grain free, dairy free, etc), or you can power it up with rice/grains and marinated chicken. You get what I’m saying, right? Balanced is individualized.
Speaking of balanced, I made these quinoa balanced bowls over 3 months ago and totally forgot to post them. Hence the picture of me in a hoodie. Uh, it’s definitely not hoodie weather here. It’s hot! Oh well, it all balances out, right? Haha, such is life. Le sigh..
Okay Okay, moving on. For these snappy plant powered balance bowls we are using 2 SUPER grains as the base, raw veggies, legumes (black beans), as the plant based protein, organic cultured dairy and olive oil as the healthy fats. Capeesh?
Let’s dive a little deeper into the PURPOSE of the MACRONUTRIENTS. I think you will like this. Well, at least I hope so. Nerd our NUTRITION time ya’ll!
PLANT POWER MEAL PREP BOWL –> BALANCE YO!
- Quinoa:1 cup has almost 8 grams of plant based protein, 20-30% Magnesium, and 15 % Plant based (Non Heme) Iron.
- Rice:resistant starchI used a jasmine rice mixed into the Quinoa. White Rice is easily digestion, and when cooled is a great for healthy gut flora.
- Black Beans: Another great source of plant based protein! Plus they are rich in folate and fiber.
- Carrots: Carrots are rich in beta carotene, a precursor to active vitamin A. Beta carotene has been shown to help boost immunity in the body. Plus carrots have a good source of Vitamin K. P.S If you spiralize the carrots like I did, they are more nutrient dense. KIDDING!
- Cilantro: This herb can do wonders for digestive distress. It has many healing anti-inflammatory properties.
- Onion:
- Yogurt Cheese (Kefir Cheese). Plain Greek Yogurt or Organic Sour Cream (or non dairy Yogurt/Sour Cream) also work!Get the full fat. It’s lower in lactose! Plus the organic cultured cream or kefir cheese/yogurt is a great probiotic!
- Olive Oil:Full of healthy unsaturated fats and rich in Vitamin E!
- SPICES : Cumin (rich in B-complex vitamins and antioxidants), sea salt, pepper, and garlic.
- Flaxseed to top – Rich in Omega 3 fatty acids, protein, and fiber. Also, they contain a good source of vitamin B6, Iron, copper and zinc. (source)
See, now that’s one EPIC balanced MACRO bowl, even if it is all plant based. YEA Buddy!
Plant Powered Balance Bowls
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- Author: Lindsay Cotter
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 3 1x
Description
Plant powered “balance bowls,” aka powerbowls, buddha bowls, Macro Bowls, Quinoa Bowls, etc. are easy to make! A healthy plant based, gluten free, meal prep recipe.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 cup cooked quinoa
- 1 cup cooked white rice
- 15 oz cooked black beans (canned and drained or homemade cooked black beans)
- ½ cup chopped onion or shallot
- ½ tsp garlic, minced
- 1 tsp olive oil or avocado oil (extra for drizzling on top)
- ¼ tsp Salt and black pepper (to taste)
- ¼ tsp cumin
- 1 large carrot (spiralized or julienne cut)
- 4–5 tablespoon cultured kefir yogurt cheese or sour cream. See notes for vegan option.
- Fresh Cilantro
- 1 tbsp flaxseed
Instructions
- Prepare quinoa and rice as instructed on package. You can use leftover rice or rice cooker for a quick version. If you need to know a stove top way to cook quinoa, I explain it in this recipe.
- Once you have cooked rice and quinoa, mix them together in a large bowl. Add a pinch of sea salt and set aside.
- Next saute diced onions with oil in a sauce pan for 2 minutes. Add beans, garlic, cumin, and cook until fragrant. Add salt/pepper last.
- Using a spiralizer, spiralize or julienne cut carrot. This should make at least 2 cups of shavings/noodles.
- Spoon all the ingredients above into 3 bowls. Add a handful of cilantro to each along with with 1 -2 teaspoon flaxseeds each.
- Top each bowl with 2 tablespoon kefir yogurt cheese or sour cream. Drizzle with extra olive oil. Salt and pepper to taste.
Notes
- For kefir yogurt cheese I use the Laban Brand.
- These make great meal prep bowls.
- For vegan option, you can use tofu or even non dairy plain yogurt instead of the kefir cheese. You could even try making your own vegan sour cream
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: main
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 303
- Sugar: 2.7 g
- Sodium: 364.5 mg
- Fat: 7.6 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.8 g
- Carbohydrates: 48.1 g
- Fiber: 11.2 g
- Protein: 11.6 g
- Cholesterol: 5.6 mg
Have you ever heard of macro bowls or balance bowls?
What is balanced eating to you. Ohhh so much thinking on Holiday week. Sorry folks!
Cheers!
