With all the indulgences of Thanksgiving behind us, many of us are thinking about creating simple and satisfying meals that are also good for us, perhaps to counter the excesses of the past week. This simple, healthy meal-in-a-bowl not only packs tons of nutrients and big flavor in every bite, but is also so easy to put together on a busy weeknight.
Some call them grain bowls, some call them health bowls, or, energy bowls. Whatever you want to call it, the idea behind this popular trend of a healthy meal-in-a-bowl is to combine a variety of grains with an assortment of cooked and fresh vegetables, a simple protein, and then bring everything together with a delicious dressing. This is more of a concept than a recipe and the simplicity of it is that it allows us to prep or cook ahead of time many of its components.
Ingredients for the simple healthy meal-in-a-bowl
The base of a meal-in-a-bowl is some type of cooked grain; in this case I used farro. I often cook grains over the weekend then set them aside to use later in the week. To the grain base, I added green beans, ribbons of raw carrot, and mushrooms sautéed in a skillet with garlic and thyme. I then simply tossed everything together with a delicious vinaigrette that I always have on hand, and, added some crumbled Feta cheese to give this dish an extra salty tang. Just like that, a meal was ready in no time. If you have left-over cooked beans, left-over rotisserie chicken, or, left-over salmon, those would be a great addition and more protein for your healthy bowl. The combination possibilities are endless. Let me know what you come up with, friends, I would love to see your creations!
- 1 cup quick cooking farro or barley
- 1½ cups green beans, trimmed
- 1 medium carrot, peeled & shaved
- ½ lb. Cremini mushrooms, cleaned & sliced
- 3 TBSP. extra virgin olive oil
- 2 small garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 TBSP. fresh thyme, chopped
- ½ cup Greek Feta cheese, crumbled
- Lemon Vinaigrette
- 4 TBSP. extra virgin olive oil
- 2 TBSP. lemon juice
- 1 tsp. lemon zest
- ½ TBSP. shallots, minced
- ½ tsp. sea salt
- ¼ tsp. freshly ground pepper
- Cook the farro in a pot of salted water, following the instructions on the package. About 4-5 minutes before the farro is ready, add the green beans.
- While the farro and the green beans are cooking, whisk together the ingredients for the vinaigrette in a large bowl. When the cooked ingredients are ready, add them to the vinaigrette while they are still warm.
- Peel and shave the carrot. Add it to the bowl as well and stir gently. Taste and adjust the seasoning and, if necessary, drizzle with some more olive oil.
- Place a medium skillet over medium-high heat and add the sliced mushrooms. Dry-sauté them for a couple of minutes and once the mushrooms release their liquid, add the three tablespoons of olive oil then season with some salt and pepper. Cook for two minutes and, once they begin to brown, add the garlic and the fresh thyme. Cook briefly and remove from the heat.
- Arrange the marinated farro, green beans and carrots in a large serving bowl. Top with the mushrooms and the crumbled Greek Feta.
-- Each component of this recipe is interchangeable: you can substitute the green beans with fresh peas, the carrot ribbons with sautéed zucchini ribbons and the mushrooms with corn, or with any other vegetable you might have on hand.
For more ideas about grain bowls, here is another recipe from this time, a year ago:
Also, this healthy salad bowl, from a while back, on the blog’s archives:
Lastly, some of you have asked me for my favorite chicken pot pie recipe (for which you can easily substitute turkey). Here it is:
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Looks wonderful, Marilena! “Meals-in-a-bowl” are a favorite for my nowadays smaller family. This looks like a very interesting combination that I definitely have to try! The lemon zest in the vinaigrette dressing should be adding a lot of flavor to the dish!
Thank you Marianna! I hope you try it – it is such an easy dish to put together and you can do most of the prep work ahead!
Simple and healthy meals are always welcomed, and this also looks very yummy 🙂
Thank you very much Mako, I really appreciate your kind words!