Buddha Bowl
In the family of food trends, meet the latest arrival: the buddha bowl. Truly healthy or just trendy? Let's take a look.
The buddha bowl is a meal made with vegetarian ingredients, mainly vegetables, grains or pulses. It gets its name from the bowl it is served in, which recalls Buddha's round belly.
No exact recipe, but proportions to follow
- 2/3 raw or cooked vegetables and greens (spinach, kale, rocket)
- 1/3 grains (quinoa, millet, rice) and pulses (beans, chickpeas, lentils, tofu)
- 1 sauce to bring it together and season it
- Optional toppings such as sesame seeds, nuts, fresh herbs…
The buddha bowl gets everything right. Simple and fun, all you need to do is follow the proportions and let your creativity run free. It looks lovely, and it's balanced and complete too. Raw vegetables keep all the nutrients and vitality of the plants. The food combinations are ideal for digesting well and absorbing all the nutrients. And you get complete plant proteins.
For a truly perfect buddha bowl, choose organic and seasonal vegetables, keep at least 1/3 raw vegetables, and prefer wholegrains to refined grains (wholegrains are richer in fibre and nutrients and have a lower glycaemic index).
Our 2 favourite sauces for a buddha bowl
Creamy peanut sauce (serves 4)
2 tbsp olive oil (organic, virgin, cold-pressed) + 2 tbsp sesame oil (organic, virgin, cold-pressed) + 2 tbsp tamari + 1 tbsp lemon juice + 1 tbsp rice vinegar + 1 heaped tsp peanut butter
Smooth sweet-and-savoury sauce (serves 4)
3 tbsp olive oil + 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar + 1 tbsp agave syrup + 1 heaped tsp cashew butter + 1 large pinch of salt + 3–4 turns of the pepper mill
