I realized that I have not been putting any of my recipes here on my blog this year! I will try to correct that!
I recently started making “Bowls”. Bowls are a rather newly popular culinary term for a one dish meal of healthy and delicious ingredients,
usually a grain base with a variety of vegetables and sometimes a protein to which various toppings, dressings and sauces are added that take this humble meal to the next level.
For today’s bowl I wanted to use up some food that I
already had in my fridge.
Last night, I made
baba ghanoush, a smoky grilled eggplant dip, and had it with dinner with pita chips. I wanted to enjoy the left-over eggplant dip with something else, so I tried it in a bowl recipe for lunch today.
I’ve been experimenting with Bowl recipes. They are so full of
flavor AND Nutrition! This bowl used up a lot of leftovers such as brown rice
cooked earlier in the week (I always cook a bit extra rice and put it into
containers to freeze or refrigerate until needed), baba ghanoush (eggplant
dip) from last night and a half cup of Greek yogurt left over from our smoothies. I had a couple jars of olives open and a mason jar of quick pickled
radishes and onions. I like the way one can create a fun and satisfying meal
from various odds and ends in a bowl!
This bowl is very versatile. Although I made it with
eggplant dip- Baba Ghanoush- you could also make this bowl with hummus. I used
a tzatziki dressing (cucumber, yogurt with lemon and dill) but it could be made with tahini dressing. I used shredded
carrots, sliced red onion, cucumber and cherry tomatoes along with a few pea pods but any vegetables
could be added! I also added pickled
radishes and onion and two kinds of olives but not everyone likes those so feel
free to add or not. The base was brown rice, and it was topped by red leaf lettuce,
but these can be changed up as well with quinoa or a lettuce base!
Baba Ghanoush and Tzatziki Bowl with Vegetable, Olives and Pickles on Rice
Place 2/3 cup or so cooked brown
rice, hot., in the bottom of a large shallow bowl. Repeat for other servings (You may use cooked quinoa)
Top with vegetable such as sliced
cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, a shredded carrot or other veggies. Roasted
cauliflower or broccoli might be great!
Add kalamata and/or green olives,
if you like olives
Add pickled radishes and
onions* if you have any on hand
Surround the outside of the
bowl with torn lettuce
Mound Baba ghanoush **in
the center.
Drizzle with tzatziki ***and
sprinkle with a fresh parsley if you have it
Enjoy!
Here is the bowl just before and added the lettuce and drizzle of Tzatziki. This shows one way to arrange vegetables in groupings, but you could also just scatter each item over the rice. You can see my bowl was not wide enough for a proper presentation.
*Quick Pickled Radishes and Red Onion
If you have a chance to make pickles for your bowl they really add a bit of zing and color! You can pickle radishes, onion,
I change this recipe often trying to figure
out the perfect amounts but basically it is vinegar, water, sugar and salt with
radishes and onions.
In a Saucepan, heat:
½ c water. Reduce to
simmer.
Add ½ cup white balsamic OR
red wine vinegar (makes a vibrant pink color) OR other sweeter white vinegar
Stir in ¼- ½ cup sugar (You could try 2-3 TBSP maple syrup or 2
TBSP sugar for a tart flavor).
Add 3 tsp kosher or sea
salt, More if needed
Stir until dissolved.
You may add red pepper
flakes or a drop or two of hot sauce or sriracha, dried chili, peppercorn, etc
Add a bunch of thinly sliced radishes
and a thinly sliced red onion.
Turn off the heat. Let it
sit on the stove, stirring occasionally for 20 minutes until cool.
Pour into clean mason jar
and refrigerate for at least a couple of hours and up to 1-2 weeks or more.
** Baba Ghanoush
Look up a recipe or try this one
I washed and cut one large
eggplant in half end to end
Brush with olive or avocado
oil. Sprinkle with salt smoked paprika and cumin.
To roast in oven, heat oven
to 425 and line a pan with foil. Place eggplant cut side down and roast for 30-40
minutes until eggplant skin is blistered and eggplant is soft and collapses a
bit.
To grill, heat grill to
very hot. Place eggplant skin side down. Grill until soft, about 15-25 minutes.
Watch while grilling so it does not catch on fire or over cook. Try not to over
oil so it won’t flow onto heat source. If you have a smoker cylinder or can, it
would impart and nice smoky taste. I might even use my smoker next time before
grilling or roasting for a quick flavor boost.
Let it cool . scoop out
insides, and salt them. You might want to leave the pieces in a sieve to drain
a bit if they are not dry enough.
While eggplant is cooking, dice
half an onion and heat low and slow with olive oil in a pan to caramelize. It can
take 20 minutes or up to 40! During the last 5 minutes add 3-4 garlic cloves
pressed. Generously Salt and pepper and a sprinkle of smoked paprika and cumin.
Cool.
Into Blender or food
processor:
About 1 TBSP Lemon juice
2-3 TBSP olive oil
Optional- ¼ cup tahini, 2
TBSP parsley, more seasoning and spice
Place everything into a blender
( vitamix or other powerful blender is best) or food processor. You may also
mash by hand for a chunkier dip. Add a TBSP of lemon juice. 2-3 TBSP or more of
quality Extra virgin olive oil. If desired, add ¼ cup tahini, you may also throw
in a couple TBSPs parsley.
Blend to desired smoothness.
Taste and add more salt, smoked paprika, lemon juice,, pepper, garlic powder or
pressed garlic, etc
Cool or serve warm.
Note: recipe may be
doubled. This will stay a few days in the refrigerator or can be frozen but
texture may be off.
***Quick Tzatziki
This is a quick and easy recipe I used for the bowl
today. You can look up more traditional recipes.
Grate ½ cucumber , salt and place in sieve to drain
slightly .
In a bowl blend together:
Add between 4-6 oz thick Greek yogurt
Add a ½ tsp grated lemon zest and tsp lemon juice
½ tsp dried dill
or dill seasoning mix
Add in drained cucumber
Salt to taste
