When people tell me plant-based eating takes too long, this bowl is my answer. It comes together in the time it takes to set the table — and it's the kind of meal that leaves you energized for the whole afternoon, not crashing at three.
Make the drizzle once on Sunday and you'll find yourself reaching for it all week.
Why it works. When you eat the rainbow, you're getting different phytonutrients from every color — that's the design at work. Each color brings something different to the table, and the body uses every one of them.
Ingredients
For the bowl
- 1 cup cooked quinoa or brown rice (use leftover, or batch-cook on Sunday)
- 1 cup shredded purple cabbage
- 1 large carrot, shredded
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 cucumber, sliced
- 1 ripe avocado, sliced
- 2 tablespoons hemp seeds
- 2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds
- Fresh herbs — parsley, cilantro, or basil
For the tahini-lemon drizzle
- 3 tablespoons tahini
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 small clove garlic, finely grated
- 1 teaspoon pure maple syrup
- 2 to 4 tablespoons water, to thin
- Pinch of sea salt
Method
- Whisk all the drizzle ingredients in a small bowl, adding water a tablespoon at a time until it pours easily.
- Divide the quinoa or rice between two bowls.
- Arrange the vegetables around the grain in colorful sections — cabbage, carrot, tomato, cucumber, avocado.
- Sprinkle generously with hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds, and fresh herbs.
- Drizzle with the tahini-lemon sauce. Eat right away.
Notes
- Save the sauce. The drizzle keeps in the fridge for a week. Make a double batch — you'll use it on everything.
- Use what's bright. This bowl is endlessly customizable. Whatever raw vegetables are most beautiful at the market that week, use those.
