Buddha Bowl

There are soo many different kinds of Buddha bowls, the way I see it you can have any whole grain as a base, then chuck anything you want in it! 

I've been trying to be more conscious of how my meals are nourishing me and that I'm getting all the nutrients I need. So I tried to make this one as balanced as possible: 

• brown rice - whole grain, great for fibre and minerals like manganese and selenium
• avocado - fat and protein, source for B vitamins
• mushrooms - great for lowering blood pressure and cholesterol
• sweetcorn - fibre, helps to clean those guncked-up intestines
• pumpkin and sesame seeds - protein, folic acid, antioxidants, lowers LDL cholesterol and increases HDL cholesterol
• courgette - vegetables, loaded with vitamins and minerals

I was craving a fresher sweeter lunch than a grounding salty dish, so I made a lighter bowl with some sweet bits to satisfy that sugar craving, like sweetcorn, sweet potato and tomatoes.

Ingredients:

brown rice

sweet potato

sweetcorn 

tomatoes

avocado

courgette

mushrooms

spring onions

coriander 

sesame seeds

pumpkin seeds

spring onion

flavours of your choice (I chose garlic + chilli)

Instructions:

Start with cooking the brown rice, the amount is dependent on how hungry you are and how many people you are cooking for, but the general rule for brown rice is 1 cup of rice to 3 cups of water, if you prefer your rice a bit harder and not sticky reduce the amount of water, and increase it for stickier, fluffier rice.

While the rice is cooking start preparing the other food: slicing the avocado, tomato, mushrooms, raw sweet potato and spring onion, chopping the coriander and fresh chilli, grating the courgette. 

Heat a little bit of oil in a frying pan and add whatever seasoning you like (I really like using garlic and chilli), add in the mushrooms cook them to how you like them, I just soften them a little, I like the chewiness (mmmmm), then chuck in the chopped coriander and 1/2 of the spring onions. Fry for 2 or 3 minutes, moving them around every now and then. 

Put the sliced raw sweet potato into the toaster for 4 minutes, check if they are cooked enough for you, if not, keep putting them in at 2 minute intervals. SAFETY NOTE: DON'T STICK ANYTHING METAL IN THE TOASTER! I use wooden chopsticks to pick out the slices.

That's all the cooking done, now it's just the plating up! Some people like to make it look pretty and take pictures (me when I've got loads of time), and some just like to wack it all in and dive in (me when I'm starving), so it's completely up to you! I only used a handful of pumpkin seeds, and about a teaspoon of sesame seeds and the rest of the spring onion to sprinkle on top.

Bon appetit!