My #1 go-to lunch on weekdays are Leftover Nourish Bowl with Lemon Tahini Sauce. Loaded with leftover kid veggies, plant-based protein and a yummy dressing!
[Recipe Updated 9/26/19]
Nourish bowl. Also known on the food street as Buddha bowl or veggie bowl is an awesome nutrient back meal of goodness. Yes the name is a little corny, I know… And yes that’s right there is totally a food street scene. But name aside, this Orange and Green Nourish Bowl with Lemon Tahini Sauce is my #1 go-to lunch most days.
Right now things are starting to ramp up. Before getting our house on the market, things were CRA-CRA! Cleaning, de-cluttering, organizing, straightening up, dusting, and vacuuming. This last week though, we had a nice break. We lived our normal life in our normal home, making messes, leaving toys out, dirty dishes and laundry piles. And honestly it was amazing 😀
But now the real fun starts. Time to pack it all up. Great news is that I feel like we don’t actually have “that much” stuff. So my plan is to pack during every baby nap. Baby goes to sleep = me packing. Hopefully with few good baby naps I will get a good amount packed. Fingers crossed.
Lunch wise my meals have been a hodgepodge of things. Mostly sharing food with the baby actually. Since baby Poppy is a good eater, I make baby food maybe 2-3 a week. So my new trick is to roast or cook up lots of veggies for baby and I to share. That way I can build nourish bowls for my lunches during the week.
Basically a nourish bowl is composed of greens, carbohydrates, healthy fat, veggies, protein and dressing. Great thing about this meal is that it is so versatile! Roast up some veggies, cook up a batch of grains and make a dressing at the beginning of the week and you will have lunch for a few days.
Essentials:
Greens | spinach, arugula, kale, Swiss chard, mustard greens, etc.
Proteins | beans, quinoa, lentils, nuts/seeds, eggs, smoked salmon or tofu. Animal proteins: organic chicken, ground beef, turkey, bison or venison.
Healthy fats | avocado, olive oil, olives, nuts, seeds, grapeseed oil, sesame oil, avocado oil or tahini.
Veggies | carrots, bell peppers, cucumbers, zucchini, snap peas, peas, radish, green beans, broccoli, asparagus, cauliflower, basically any good veggie you love.
Carbohydrates | sweet potatoes, quinoa, millet, brown rice, wild rice, beans, corn or peas.
Add-ons | sprinkled nuts or seeds, cheese, hummus, apple cider vinegar, fresh lemon juice or a nice drizzle of olive oil.
Dressings | simple lemon olive oil vinaigrette, hummus, tahini (sesame seed paste) sauce, Greek dressing, Muhammara sauce or any simple homemade dressing you like. Most of the time I just drizzle olive oil and a good squirt of fresh lemon juice, with salt, pepper and crushed red peppers.
Today I made my nourish bowl from leftovers:
- Roasted carrots and butternut squash, leftover from baby food weekend prep
- Red quinoa, made a big batch last week and froze it
- Sautéed spinach and garlic, the only part of the bowl I actually cooked and took about 3 minutes
- Tahini dressing, easy to make and saves all week
- Pepitas on top
If you need a healthy and super-duper easy lunch, a Nourish bowl is the perfect thing!
Serves 2 bowls
Ingredients
- 1 cup quinoa (red or white)
- 1-2 cup butternut squash, chopped in cubes
- 1-2 cup carrots (about 3-4 carrots), chopped
- 3 large handfuls of spinach, roughly chopped by hand
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- Half a lemon
- 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
- 1/2 cup tahini
- 2/3 cups water (as needed)
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3/4 teaspoon sea salt (or to taste)
- Black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 400F degrees. Toss chopped butternut squash and carrots with 1 tablespoons olive oil and a good pinch of salt and pepper in a bowl. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Spread squash and carrots on the prepared cookie sheet and roast in the oven for 30-40 minutes or until fork tender and slightly charred. Stir halfway through.
- Rinse quinoa. Combine 1 cup quinoa with 2 cups water in a saucepan, and bring to a boil. Once water is boiling, bring to a simmer, cover and cook , about 15 minutes. Drain and set aside
- While veggies and quinoa cook, pour 1 tablespoon olive oil in skillet over medium heat. Add minced garlic and cook for 1 minute. Stir in spinach, a pinch of salt and pepper, and cook for 2 minutes until wilted. Finish spinach with a good squirt of fresh lemon juice.
- For the Lemon Tahini Sauce, whisk or blend all ingredients together. If sauce is too thick for your liking, add a little more water. Dressing will keep 5-6 days in the refrigerator.
- To assemble, grab a bowl, add about half the quinoa, roasted squash, roasted carrots and spinach. Drizzle tahini sauce over the bowl. Sprinkle pumpkin seeds on top. Save the rest of the ingredients for another meal or make a second bowl for a friend.
Notes
Serves 2 large portions, 3 smaller ones. All ingredients can be saved in the refrigerator and make great left over bowls (saves for 5-6 days). Also you can make each component of this bowl ahead of time. I love making the quinoa and a double batch of the veggies for my to share with my kids on the weekend and then I whip up the dressing on Monday with my first bowl.
Originally posted 2016-05-02 11:52:28.
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