Recipe Round-Up: Vegan Bowls

I love bowls. I serve most of my food in bowls. Things just taste better out of bowls. And I love the concept of bowls as a meal as well. Vegan Bowls by Zsu Dever has you covered, with a huge variety of delicious bowls, from grains to sautees to pastas, soups, grilled bowls, breakfasts, salads and more. I have been having a lot of delicious fun with this book! This is one of my newer books, so this is my first round-up from it as well.

Freekeh Stir-Fry Bowl with Broccoli and Shiitake: Freekeh makes a nice change to rice in this stir-fry bowl, which has lots of vegetables in it as well as the broccoli and shiitake (and yep, I used carrots instead of capsicum). I liked the sweetness of the scallions and the crunch of the water chestnuts in here. I also added some Japanese-marinated tofu cubes.
Rating: :)



Thai Panang Curry Bowl: The sauce is so super yum! I used 1 tablespoon of store-bought red curry paste and it was just right for me. Because of my weird coconut fat issues, I used a 270mL tin of light coconut milk made up to 400mL with water instead of a full tin of coconut milk. For the vegetables I used 2 small carrots, a zucchini, a large handful of green beans, some roasted sweet potato, and I also added a tin of chickpeas. It is served over some lovely pea-studded quinoa. So good.
Rating: :D



Indonesian Stir-Fried Noodle Bowl: For me this bowl was a little bland and dry, I required a much higher sauce to noodle ration I think! I got three serves rather than four here. As well as noodles it has red onion, broccoli, cabbage, celery, kale and edamame in it, so you will definitely have no issues getting your greens in!
Rating: :| ... would be higher with more sauce!



Lemongrass Bok Choy and Tofu Bowl: It is pretty hard to explain how amazing this is. First of all, the cashew-based lemongrass sauce is pretty much drinkable on its own. The recipe says to strain the sauce before adding to the pasta, but my blender made it smooth enough for me so I skipped that step. The sauce does thicken up fast! I used 8 oz of penne, rather than 12 oz, but you will definitely need some of the reserved pasta water to thin it out even if you are using slightly less pasta. It is then served with some fried tofu and wilted bok choy (I added a smidge of Braggs when I was cooking the bok choy). So very very very good.
Rating: :D



Puttanesca Bowl with Sauteed Kale: I really enjoy puttanesca, it is one of my favourite pasta sauces. This is tasty recipe, with loads of olives and capers and a touch of miso as well. The satueed kale is served on top of the pasta, however I had way more kale that that. So I have kale under the pasta and then a bit on top. I recommend seasoning the kale lightly when sauteeing it. I got 3.5 servings out of this.
Rating: :)



Tex-Mex Pasta Bowl with Pintos and Broccoli: I really liked this one as well. The sauce has masa harina and miso in it, giving it a very distinctive taste, kind of like yummy corn tortillas. I didn't have any chipotle puree, but I just used a teaspoon of chipotle powder and left out the regular chili powder - just right for my sensitive soul.I blended the sauce up with a hand blender rather than whisking. I didn't have any of the option vegan cheese, so I just plonked in about half a cup of nooch.
Rating: :D



Mac and Cheese Bowl with Spinach and Garlic Breadcrumbs: There is no nooch in this mach and cheese... shocking, I know. But you know what? It doesn't seem to miss it. The sauce is based on cashews, pumpkin, onion and miso. It is meant to have roasted capsicum in it, but I left it out and it was dine. I did add some smoked paprika and a spot of ume vinegar to make it a bit smoky. I had some leftover seasoned panko crumbs in the freezer, so I used these as the base for the breadcrumbs. I only had half a cup, rather than a full cup, but that was plenty for me.
Rating: :)



Spinach Salad Bowl with Warm Pecan Dressing: I decreased the oil in the dressing here by using water with a pinch of broth powder and guar gum to thicken it. The dressing, made with ground up toasted pecans, is quite sweet. I liked the savoury quinoa and the fresh fennel to counter act it. I also served this over some leftover roasted sweet potato.
Rating: :)



Two-Bean Salad Bowl with Pesto Dressing: The two beans here are green beans and chickpeas, and the chickpeas are cooked with almonds and spices to become quite the tasty treat. The pesto dressing is tahini based, making it rich without being too oily. It is very fresh and tangy. I got two servings out of this using half the quinoa but a full batch of the rest of the ingredients.
Rating: :)



Chocolate Cherry Granola Bowl with Almonds: This was the first time I had actually made granola... what took me so long? Chocolate and cherry is one of my favourite combinations, so I always knew I would like this. I loved it! I used St Dalfours cherry jam as the 'fruit spread', which had whole cherries in it... I am not sure if fruit spread is meant to be smooth? I kept it in the fridge after I made it in case the whole cherries went yucky. Dried cherries are hard to come by and expensive here, so I used a half and half blend of cherries and cranberries. This was delicious as a cereal, and also very snackable!
Rating: :D



Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



Do not be alarmed. This is Boe, the bow-tied Burm. He is so devastatingly handsome, that for your own safety we had to blur his face. Or he is such a silly non-stop kitten, he wouldn't keep his head still. One of those two things.