I love Buddha bowls, for so many reasons. They’re a fantastic way to use up random things in your fridge, like leftover cooked rice or beans, and they’re great on a steamy Sydney night when you don’t want to eat a hot meal but feel like something a little more substantial than salad.
This is not a recipe as such, because the whole idea of a Buddha bowl is that you take whatever ingredients you have to hand, toss them in a bowl, pour on a tasty sauce and voilà – dinner is served. The basic formula is a cooked starch (such as rice, quinoa or sweet potato), a legume (try chick peas, black beans or lentils), a green leafy vegetable (cooked, raw or both), a selection of other raw and/or cooked vegetables, and a creamy sauce.
Mine was made from:
- Sweet potato, baked in the skin until soft, then peeled and roughly chopped
- Beetroot, peeled, diced, drizzled with Golden Orange Caramelised Balsamic Vinegar, which I’m currently obsessed with :), and baked until fork-tender (about 30 minutes)
- Zucchini, cut into batons, drizzled with Golden Orange Caramelised Balsamic Vinegar, and baked for 20 minutes
- Asparagus, drizzled with Golden Orange Caramelised Balsamic Vinegar, and baked for 20 minutes then cut into 5 cm lengths
- Silverbeet, shredded and steamed until tender
- Broccoli, cut into florets and steamed until just tender
- Cooked chick peas
- Coriander, finely chopped, as a garnish
- And a sauce made from natural soy yogurt*, tahini, peanut butter, tamarind purée and blackstrap molasses, whisked together
* I make my own, using Bonsoy and a dairy-free culture from Green Living Australia
