How to build the perfect vegan bowl

Turning vegan is exciting. A whole new world is about to open up for you. The new universe where you constantly feel good, energized and   lifted up. These sensations, however, come with a price. While the vegan diet might seem misleadingly easy - just eat your veggies and you’ll be fine, the dietitians note that the plant -based life style requires more serious and meticulous approach to what you eat. The meals should feature a wide variety of different foods - legumes, veggies, seeds, nuts, fruit. That’s why a vegan bowl is such a good choice when it comes to a balanced meal. You might see such bowls featured on any plant based menu. But you don’t have to go out to get this delicious meal - it’s easy to make one at home. The key element is knowing how to pair up the ingredients. It’s like wine and cheese - some things are just make sense together.

There are several key elements that you want to include in your vegan bowl:

1. Grains. Start building your meal with the grains. I normally chose from quinoa, white or brown rice, buckwheat.

2. Legumes. If you have time, you can prepare your legumes from scratch, otherwise use canned goodies. My favorites are beans in tomato sauce, lentils, and chick pea. Note that grains and legumes are better be cooked and warm. It’s s hot meal after all!

3. Mushrooms just can be paired up with everything. And it’s a wonderful element that would bring a lot of texture to your bowl. You can steam them or sauté with garlic and soy sauce or cook them any way that you like. I prefer working with oyster mushrooms as their texture is so crunchy.

4. Veggies. Don’t overload your bowl with too many veggies. It’s up to you if you serve them fresh, cooked or pickled. For  example, you can pair up fresh corn, sautéed bell peppers, and sautéed spinach. Or it can be boiled beets, pickled onions and fresh spinach leaves. Massaged kale leaves with olive oil and lime juice, fresh red onions and pickled artichokes or palm hearts. Sautéed carrots, roasted potatoes and fresh arugula leaves.

5. Secret ingredients. Adding avocado, seaweed salad is always a good idea.
   

6. Seeds and nuts. Don’t be thrifty when it comes to your nuts and seeds. Toasted nuts add a smoky flavor to your dish when seeds, though not contributing to the flavor, give extra nutritious boost to your bowl.

''What about the dressing'' - you might ask. In reality, you don’t really need an extra dressing as so many elements of your bowl are cooked in different ways. But if you feel like adding some extra dressing, the sky is the limit. You can look up and master some new dressing recipes if you have extra time or you might use your favorite dressing from your fridge. The only recommendation is to put dressing on the side in case you won’t need it.

Don't forget to sprinkle your delicious bowl with the nutritional yeast! Get that vitamin B12❤️

PS: As much as it might seem very time consuming, in reality, it is not. Just be time efficient. While preparing your grains, you can sauté your vegetables or chop some of the ingredients. Be creative! Normally, the preparation of my vegan bowl takes about 30 min :)

Thank you for reading this article. Good luck with creating your very own delicious and healthy vegan bowl.