I like to cook, but putting up to 21 meals on the table every week as I did when my children were young is a duty I am happy to be free of. Following the new trend to intermittent fasting, I no longer eat breakfast. With only two adults at home, I became much more casual about lunch and dinner. But when I realized that I had eaten nothing but sandwiches (including when out at lunch meetings) for three days in a row, I decided that I had become too relaxed about my meals. I needed some variety but still wanted all the advantages of sandwiches. Enter bowls. See why I love making bowls, and then get my Golden Noodle Bowl Recipe below!
Just as Easy And Versatile as a Sandwich
Nothing wrong with sandwiches, but they can be a little heavy on the carbohydrates and light on the fruit and vegetable side if they become an almost exclusive diet. However, their big advantage is that they are quick and easy and can be put together with whatever you might have in the fridge. Then I found bowls, another meal with all the advantages of sandwiches and more.
The bowl trend has been around for a while. But it picked up steam with poke bowls a few years ago. Found in Japanese restaurants and take-out places, poke itself originated in Hawaii. Poke has many varieties but usually comes on a bed of rice, beautifully arranged sushi fish, greens and other vegetables, exotic fruit like carefully diced mango, and other yummy bits such as pickled ginger.
The Perfect Clean The Fridge Meal
The beauty of bowls is their infinite versatility. Your base can be greens instead of rice. You can replace or supplement the sushi fish with other proteins and add vegetables, fruit, and garnishes according to your taste and whatever you have on hand.
This makes bowls a perfect clean the fridge meal, although you would never call it that to other eaters. What turns the odds and sods into something appealing is taking a few minutes to arrange everything carefully in a bowl. Since little or no cooking is involved, you can take the time to do this.
The Bowl Formula
You can use a bowl recipe if you like, but one of the strengths of bowls is that they don’t need a recipe. However, they do follow some basic steps, which are outlined below.
- Begin with your base: rice, quinoa, or any other starch, or use any greens.
- Then select your protein. No sushi fish on hand? Use any cooked fish, chicken, or other meat. Cheese or a boiled egg cut into wedges are good, and for veggie versions, diced tofu works, a scoop of any kind of beans (try edamame), or even hummus.
- Greens should be tucked into any bowl, even if they are not the base. They should be seasoned with your favorite dressing because it is important that every component of a bowl be delicious.
- Garnishes really make a difference to both the taste and the appearance of a bowl. Try parsley or other fresh herbs, nuts of any kind (another protein!), capers, olives, or whatever kinds of pickles you like and might have on hand. Pickled ginger works well with sushi fish.
Golden Noodle Bowl Recipe
Most bowls are served cold or with just the rice warm; however, most of us prefer hot food when winter comes. Here is a suggestion for a hot Golden Noodle Bowl that is perfect on chillier days. As with any bowl, feel free to add, subtract, or substitute to suit your taste and your pantry. Serves one.
Ingredients
- Single serving of pasta in the shape of your choice
- 3 ounces of a cooked protein of your choice, like chicken, tofu, or an egg
- Two varieties of cooked vegetables like broccoli, red cabbage, snap peas, squash, or any other favorite vegetable
- Tumeric to taste (can be substituted for curry powder or saffron)
- Chopped green onions for garnish
Directions
- Cook pasta in salted water. Drain and reserve the liquid.
- Place noodles at the bottom of your bowls and add one or more proteins of your choice. Raw fish does not work well in this dish.
- Arrange the vegetables by placing them in separate piles around the proteins on the noodles to contrast colors and textures.
- Add a spoonful of turmeric to the pasta cooking liquid to create a golden color. Bring to a boil, and pour the hot stock over your noodle dish. You do not want to drown your bowl, but add enough stock for taste.
- Add a garnish of chopped green onions and enjoy.
Want to give intermittent fasting a try? Take a look at Prime Women’s PLATE program. Now available in an app on Apple or Android with reminders to keep you on track.
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