Sweet Potato and Sprout Rice Bowl

 

The Everyday Energizing Rice Bowl

 

We made this delicious meal and brought it to Pink Lake in Gatineau Park. Dinner and a hike!

Yielded Servings: as many as you need. No instructions for amounts of base or veggies so that you can decide for yourself based on a big family, wanting to prep work lunches or simply have a big appetite! *for each person however, you want approximately 1-2 cups cooked rice, 1-3 grilled toppings and a generous helping of veggies. The dressing serves apron 4 people.

Prep time: approx 10 mins (chopping, cutting)

Cooking time: rice approx 45 mins, potatoes approx 45-1hr, grilled items approx 20 mins

Overall time: approx 1 hour

Ingredients

-starch base of your choice (since this is a rice bowl, I used brown short grain rice but you could use basmati, baked potato, soba noodles or rice noodles)

-greens of choice (I loved steamed kale so I used it for this recipe)

-chopped fresh veggies (and fruits!) of choice. I used green onion, purple cabbage and romaine lettuce (more green power).

-sprouted bean or seeds of choice. I love sunflower sprouts (used in this recipe) but alfalfa, sprouted daikon, bean sprouts etc work too. Perhaps you even sprout your own?

-grilled item of choice (tofu or tempeh for added protein, sweet potato for extra carb hit). I used a sweet potato (1 medium sweet potato for each bowl you are making).

-dressing ingredients: 1 cup whole raw cashews, 3 tsbps tamari, 1-2 cloves of fresh garlic, 3 tsbps maple syrup, 1tsp miso paste, 1tsp Dijon mustard

(you can even simplify that to a 1:1:1 ratio of tamari : Dijon : maple syrup !) or you can just spray Bragg’s sauce directly on and drizzle Sriracha overtop of you bowl. I will post more dressings soon so you have lots of choice.

-add topping such as: cayenne, pepper, Mrs. Dash, nutritional yeast, broken kale chip crumbs (that you didn’t know what to do with), black sesame seeds, chia etc!

Add fresh ingredients of your choice. It’s better to pick what you love than to follow the recipe to a T. Experiment with greens like kale, collard, swiss chard and veggies like peppers, edamame, tomatoes and avocados and sprouts and toppings like alfalfa, sauerkraut, fresh herbs like dill and mint and even seasonal veggies like roasted cut squash.

Instructions 

-cook your base (rice in rice cooker or on stove top by package direction) or noodles as per package direction or potatoes with fork holes in overn for approx 45 mins at 375-425 F depending on your oven. (They’re done when you can easily slide a pairing knife through). You may want to start with this step as the rice or potatoes need time to cook.

-chopped your desired veggies (in this case dice the green onions, shred purple cabbage and cut up romaine).

-break greens up (for kale break by hand off the stem) and steam in a bamboo steamer for 5-10 mins (to desired texture).

-put all dressing ingredients in high powered blender and blend with added water (pour in very small quantities at a time to desired thickness). Add more tamari for savoury or more maple for sweet as desired to suit taste.

Store extra dressing in a mason jar or cleaned out recycled bottle (example: maple syrup bottle, mini vodka bottle etc). measure out desired amount for your bowl. (I used shot glasses which gave the perfect amount for a base of about 2 cooked cups of brown rice).

-Slice Tempeh or tofu into thin wedges/slice sweet potato length or width wise into simmilarly thin wedges (a few cm thick). Using a BBQ or foreman style indoor grill, dry grill (no oil) your desired item and add a spray of tamari or Bragg’s spray as a marinade. You can add a spice blend such as a BBQ blend or simply cayenne and black pepper if desired. Wait a few minutes per side and wiggle with tongs to unstick if a little stuck before turning. (no oil means a little more babysitting. Hint: tempeh sticks less than tofu or sweet potatoes so you may want to try it until you are used to the technique). You will start to see grill lines on each side (about 5 mins per side and repeat twice or to desired amount) to tell they are done.

Arrange your bowl in a large pho-style Asian bowl, wooden bowl or in a glass Tupperware if transporting. Add your desired toppings.

Enjoy!

Try some variations and post #PlantKind on Instagram for a regram. Here are a few of mine.

Grilled lemon pepper tofu steaks with sunflower sprouts and stir fried veggies on jasmine rice on the beach.

Grilled tamari tempeh with shredded carrot, avocado and kale chips on brown rice at home

The finished product of the recipe above! Grilled sweet potato with steamed kale, shredded romaine, purple cabbage, green onion and sunflower sprouts with dijon-maple-miso dressing.

Hope you enjoy!

Jane