I love this dinner/lunch option because there are so many different ways to make it. It includes a grain as the base, a protein seasoned in something yummy, and a veggie either raw or air fried.
This is a meal we make typically at the end of the week when we're just shooting to finish up what we have in the fridge. Truthfully, I look forward to it! Here's what's involved:
We use basmati or jasmine rice as the base. Recently, we've started to pick up quinoa from the refill store for more protein. I love looking up new ways to make the rice/quinoa. Here's one of my favorite:
COCONUT STICKY RICE: Make the coconut rice. In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the coconut milk, water, coconut sugar, and salt. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring a few times to dissolve the sugar. Add the rinsed brown basmati rice to the saucepan and stir. Bring the coconut rice up to a boil, lower the heat to a simmer, and then cover the saucepan with a lid. Simmer until almost all of the liquid is absorbed, about 40 minutes. Turn off the heat.
Add the lime zest and juice to the coconut rice and fluff/lightly stir with a fork. Return the lid to the pot and let it sit on the warm stove for 3-4 minutes, or keep warm until ready to serve.
Protein is your choice, we frequent firm high protein tofu or garbanzo beans. Again, I love looking up ways to make the tofu and beans. This helps teach you how to make your own dishes which = not always having to look up recipes!
For tofu we will drain it with a towel trying to get max moisture out of it. Cube it roll it in olive oil, nutritional yeast, Hawaiian sea salt and garlic powder. Air fry until crispy crunchy!
Then, select a veggie! We love air frying kale, making a spinach salad with a homemade dill sauce, or keeping it simple with cut up carrots, celery and/or cucumber with a dill sauce.
Two of my favorite sauces for veggies are dill sauce and tahini sauce.
For the dill sauce:
1/2 cup vegan mayo
1-2 tbs dill fresh or dried
1/2 - 1 lemon OR apple cider vinegar
nutritional yeast, sea salt and garlic powder to taste
mix all of these together and adjust the seasonings as needed.
For the tahini sauce:
1/3 cup tahini
2 tbs soy sauce or amino acids
nutritional yeast & garlic powder
lemon OR water
these are rough estimates of measurements because some people like their dressings thick and others like them watery so experiment and learn how you like to make yours!
With each sauce, massage it into the leaves (if you're doing raw kale or spinach), if not, throw it over the veggies!
So here's how the bowl will go:
Rice/quinoa
Tofu/protein on one side of the bowl over the rice
Veggies on the other side of the bowl over the rice
Throw some barbecue or your favorite sauce over the protein - I love Trader Joe's barbecue sauces
Then put your dressing over your veggies...
enjoy!
ps the dill sauce with the barbecue sauce is killer.