TIME TO GO BOWLING!… Everything you need for a complete meal, all in a single bowl. It’s my Summer Detox Chicken Buddha Bowl!!
When you hunt food on Instagram these days, the first thing you notice is these colorful bowls artfully done with anything and everything you can think of. Every food blogger worth his or her salt dishes out one pretty bowl after another. If stunning is the word given to any food presentation, this is it guys. If you don’t know what a Buddha bowl is, I assure you, you are living in different time than those hashtags and pins.
They come in different names… Buddha bowl, grain bowl, hippie bowl, macro bowl, power bowl, wellness bowl… anything that sounds hip, healthy and convenient. But when I think about these bowls, all I can think is “lazy” and “I don’t want to do dishes” . Seriously, laziness may be the main reason for their birth. I think Buddha bowls originated from some tired housewife, a mother perhaps! Maybe it was a bachelor who just didn’t want to deal with many dishes.
Just a few years back, when these bowls started popping up, I mentioned to Jason “Hey, isn’t that the same food we eat, just in a bowl?”… At the Beisers’ we usually have our grains, some type of protein and salad. Throw those dinner plates off your table and replace them with just one bowl. Tada, same thing!!
Happy dishwasher and happy Alpana! If there is one thing that I don’t like to do in the kitchen, it’s washing dishes, however beautiful the view is from my sink.
Coming back to these bowls, they’re a big rage for all kinds of trending diets now a days. These diets start with all the letters of the alphabet… atkins, keto, paleo, vegan, south beach, zone, intermittent fasting, ultra low fat, and countless more. Most people who follow these diets would be happy with some variation of these bowls. So yes, that’s the new big thing, BOWLING… GO BOWLING! As for us, we have never been into one or another type of diet. We just go with whatever appeals to the eyes, sensible to the brain and palatable to the soul. But most of our dishes do turn up healthy, quite by accident.
So we just decided to join the bandwagan and put some of our regular meals in a bowl. Hmm, it may be more effort to make it look pretty, but we can come up with hundreds of these bowls.
So what is a Buddha Bowl?
The name came from, of course, Guatama Buddha. According to author Dan Zigmond, “Buddha woke up before dawn every morning and carried his bowl through the roads or paths wherever he was staying. Local people would place food in the bowl as a donation, and at the end he would eat whatever he had been given. That was the original Buddha Bowl, a big bowl of whatever food villagers had available and could afford to share.” Buddha might be mighty impressed to see what people are creating and eating in his name. Who knows if the story is true, but the Budhha Bowl is here to stay.
So what is the anatomy of a Buddha Bowl? It’s really quite simple. It is a bowl full of whole grain as a base like brown rice, quinoa, faro, millet, barley… poor white rice would be sneered at here… Then we have some lean protein. A classic Buddha Bowl could be just vegan, but you have the option for a lean animal protein like chicken breast, ground beef, turkey or seafood. Then the main heroes that make it stunning, the colorful veggies, and your options are endless. You can use whatever veggies are in your fridge. You might decide on a certain direction you are going to take your bowl. Do you want it Thai, Mexican, Hawaiian, chipotle? Endless choices guys, endless! Let your creativity flow. And then there are the dressings, so many options. The sky is the limit. We will show you some, different ideas for Buddha bowls that we will feature every now and then. Try it yourself, be creative!
Its summer time and we are trying to eating clean and mean. I am calling this Summer Detox Chicken Buddha bowl.
I am going to roast some sweet potatoes, chick peas and onions with herbs and spices. Marinate and pan roast some chicken. I will cook some kale and brussels sprouts. Thinking of grains, I have a huge bag of quinoa that Jason’s mom ordered when she was on her quinoa rage. She ate so much that she got fed up and donated the rest to us. So yes, quinoa would go perfectly here. Some avocado would look great. All that’s remaining is to think of some sassy dressing. I can go so many ways. My mind is divided in between hummus and tahini… Tahini it is this time, but I will dress it up a bit.
So you see… are you getting the idea here? Throw in whatever your heart desires at the moment. Buddha Bowls are that easy, NO SWEAT!! Thank God. Many things in life are pretty simple and easy… maybe that’s the thing that Buddha realized to attain that Nirvana… well… who knows!!
This is how you build your bowl:
Don’t get intimidated by the long list of ingredients, or things to do. You can chose which one you add or pass on. Most of the steps are just cutting and prepping.
You will start by marinating your chicken with olive oil, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper. When it is time, cook it in a skillet.
Season your sweet potato, chick peas and onion cubes with salt pepper, cumin, garlic powder and curry powder after drizzling them with a little olive oil, then bake them.
Sauté your kale and brussels sprouts in olive oil with a dash of garlic, salt and pepper.
Slice your avocado whichever way you fancy.
For the quinoa, just cook according to instructions. All of your components are ready to assemble.
For the tahini sauce… combine together tahini, extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, maple syrup, sea salt, pepper and water. Whisk until thoroughly blended to your desired consistency. It’s yum!
If you want to give your tahini dressing a green makeover, you can add a couple of tablespoons of freshly chopped basil, dill, mint, cilantro or parsley. This would give a little different taste and set a different mood for your bowl.
And if you feel like you want a completely different dressing, that’s fine too… after all it’s your bowl!
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Summer Detox Chicken Buddha Bowl, on my Gypsy Plate… Enjoy!
Want more light, yet tasty, meals?
Rainbow Pasta Salad
Chili Lime Shrimp Tacos with Mango Salsa
Chicken Lettuce Wraps with Peanut Sauce
Greek Steak Salad Bowl
Hunan Shrimp
Bahamian Boiled Fish
Fasolada (Greek Bean Soup)
Summer Detox Chicken Buddha Bowl
Need a healthy meal to wash away those summer hamburgers and ice cream cones? Try this light and tasty Buddha Bowl. In case you haven't heard, Buddha Bowls are the big thing now!
Ingredients
Chicken
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 2 Tbsp olive oil, divided
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 Tbsp chopped garlic
- 2 tsp oregano
- Salt and pepper to taste
Sweet Potatoes, Onions and Chick Peas
- 2 sweet potatoes, cubed
- 1 red onion, cubed
- 1 can chick peas
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 Tbsp curry powder
- 1 tsp cumin
- Salt and pepper to taste
Kale and Brussels Sprouts
- 5 cups kale
- 3 cups halved brussels sprouts
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 Tbsp chopped garlic
- Salt and pepper to taste
Quinoa
- 1 cup uncooked quinoa
- 2 cups water
Tahini Dressing
- 2 Tbsp tahini
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tsp maple syrup
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Water until desired consistency
Bowl
- 1 avocado
- 1/4 cup goat cheese
Instructions
Chicken
- Marinate chicken in 1 Tbsp olive oil and remainder of chicken ingredients, preferably for at least an hour. Cook chicken with remaining oil in a skillet until browned and cooked through. Remove from heat and set aside.
Sweet potatoes, onions and chick peas
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Chop potatoes and onions into cubes. Add to bowl with chick peas, toss with olive oil and spices.
- Spread vegetables on greased baking sheet, bake 30 minutes.
Kale and Brussels
- Heat skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil.
- Add garlic and vegetables, sauté 5-7 minutes.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
Quinoa
- Bring water to boil in medium sauce pan.
- Add quinoa, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 20 minutes, or until water evaporates.
Tahini Dressing
- Combine all ingredients except water, whisk until smooth.
- Add water, continue to whisk, until desired consistency is achieved.
Bowl
- Arrange chicken, vegatables, quinoa, avocado and goat cheese to your liking. Add dressing.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Be creative! Try different grains, vegetables, proteins or even dressings!!
Nutrition Information
Yield 6 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 602Total Fat 33gSaturated Fat 6gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 25gCholesterol 38mgSodium 342mgCarbohydrates 55gFiber 13gSugar 9gProtein 28g
Nutrition information calculated by Nutritionix.
Welcome to GypsyPlate! I'm Alpana, former wordwide tour manager and professional caterer, now full time blogger. I love exploring cuisines from around the world, and my recipes have been featured on sites such as MSN, Parade, Brit + Co, CNET and AOL. You can explore my entire collection of sortable recipes in my Recipe Index or learn more about me here.
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