Meat Free Monday: Vegetarian Buddha Bowl

By SweetnSpicyLiving on June 18, 2018 • ( Leave a comment )

Veggie Bowls are becoming more and more popular now a days, and I am not surprised at all. Rice bowls or noodle bowls are one of the easiest, fun and heathy meal you can prepare in less than 15 minutes and the variations are endless. Sometimes you don’t even have to plan what you will put on the bowl, I often just use whatever vegetables that I have in fridge and I just mix them all together in the bowl. It’s more like a “no recipe” dish, a mix and match of ingredients that you like. There’s not even a right or wrong in making it, do what you like and choose the combination that works for you whether it’s a vegetarian bowl or rice bowl loaded with protein or even fruits. It’s so easy.

Inspiration of this Veggie Bowl

I’ve made a lot of rice bowl before because they are my favorite quick meal, I started getting introduced with it when I tried “Bibimbap”. It’s a Korean spicy mix rice bowl with veggies, meat and egg. It was so good that for several days I had been making my own version, all with egg but with variation in the protein that I am using. Sometimes I use minced beef and sometimes I used chicken. I am not vegetarian, you might be wondering why on earth I am doing a meatless Monday post and talking about meat in the dish. I still eat meat from time to time, although quite a lot of times now I eat vegetarian meals. Recently, veggie bowls has become my obsession, I just cannot helped by mix everything in a bowl, there’s something about a bowl full of mix and match veggies that seems to be very appealing to me. I had been challenging myself to eat make veggie, not only during Monday’s but as many days a possible.

Cheesy Zucchini Tots Made this Veggie Bowl Standout

Few months ago I made my Cheesy Zucchini Tots and since I made quite a lot (13 pieces for me is considered a lot), I started looking for ways to enjoy, aside from having it on its own. I had used it for my Vegetarian Gyros and I have to say they were amazing, so good! That gave me the idea to use it to make this Veggie Bowl, it’s like a wrap without the pita and instead everything is in a bowl. I get to add more stuff, it was fun.

No Recipe Salad

As I mentioned before, this is more like a “no recipe” dish, so you don’t have to stick to the vegetables I have here, you can change it to what vegetables you like, but please give the Cheesy Zucchini Tots a chance and try it. One batch makes 13 pieces, good for 2-3 people a good serving portion for each. The Zucchini Tots is kind of the replacement for the meat, and I have to say it did the job pretty well. I did not miss the meat at all, I enjoyed the meal and honestly don’t mind having more. Let me show you how I made this very easy meal, give it a try and let me know what variation you made. Let’s get started!

Ingredients:

Cheesy Zucchini Tots
1 small cucumber
1 small red bell peppers
1 cup cherry tomato
1 small avocado
1/4 cup Tatziki (or any dressing you like)
1/2 cup cooked Quinoa or Couscous

Instructions:

Make Cheesy Zucchini Tots .This can be made-ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator until ready to use. Bake for 10 minutes at 300F to reheat.
Cook Quinoa or Couscous as per package instructions.
In a large bowl, arrange the quinoa, veggie and Cheesy Zucchini Tots. Drizzle with Tatziki dressing or any dressing that you like.

There you go! Quick and easy healthy meal for you. Give it a try.