Jump to Recipe
I love buddha bowls, but the problem is they often take so much time to prepare. That’s why I’m so excited about my rainbow buddha bowl with falafels – it takes good 30 minutes and it’s ready to eat!
Eat the rainbow – challenge 30-in-7
There are many ways to incorporate tons of veggies into your meal. At the moment, there’s a little challenge going on on my Instagram called Challenge 30-in-7. You can do it anytime you like and it goes like this:
Can you eat 30 different whole plant foods in a week? The point is to bring attention to what we eat and how diverse our diet is. Research showed that people who eat 30 different plant foods in a week have the best biodiversity in their gut (most diverse microbiome). So the challenge is to track what you eat and make sure you reach or exceed 30 whole plant foods in 7 days.
It might seem easy at first but the trick is after 3 days foods start to repeat and you’re not adding too many new items to your list. You can do this challenge for a whole month or just a week or you keep doing it as long as you can. Whatever you choose to do, you have to keep in mind these rules:
-> only whole foods allowed. Processed plant foods like store-bought burgers, plant balls, vegan cheese, etc. don’t count.
-> you can only count each of the foods once! If you have an apple a day, you write it to your list once.
-> think of 1-ingredient foods like fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds, grains, dried fruits (without sugar and other ingredients!), fresh herbs and spices, algae …
-> tempeh and tofu may go through, but I personally don’t count them in – they are processed indeed, but not heavily and are also very healthy foods.
-> plant milk, yogurt, cheese, flour etc. don’t count as they are 1) processed and 2) don’t really contain much of the original plant (like soy or coconut). At least not in its original form.
-> herbs, spices, teas, and coffee can count, but once again, I don’t count them in. This way 30 can be reached within a day and that’s not really the point. Coffee and teas also contain such small amounts of the original plant I just can’t count them in.
-> canned foods can be tricky, but as long as they only contain veg and (salted) water, it’s perfectly fine. Watch out for added sugar, additives, preservatives, colorants etc. Canned pre-made meals also don’t count as they contain a lot or a little sugar, additives, etc.
-> nut or seed butter is okay if it’s 100% nut or seed with no added sugar, salt, oil.
How many different whole plant foods can you count in this photo? (Hint: check the ingredient list in the recipe card)
*Answer: 8 (if you’re making your own falafels you can up that number to 10 or more)
Rainbow Buddha bowl for a healthy gut
As mentioned, there are many ways to incorporate different plants into your diet. One of my favourites is the buddha bowl. Especially if it’s done in 30 minutes. *woohoo*
Here are a few of my tricks for your buddha bowl, whatever vegetables you might include in it:
-> choose some fresh and some baked / cooked foods.
-> bake or cook ingredients together – in this case, I’m baking beetroot and pumpkin and falafels together. You can add more veggies to the mix if you want. Make sure your veggies are cut into small pieces – this way they will bake much faster.
-> fresh veg is going to give you more diversity without much preparation. Simply cut them and that’s it.
-> adding a sauce with nut or seed butter can be a great addition to the mix. Try with peanut butter or tahini sauce or go for hummus dressing like I am.
-> top your bowl with chopped nuts or seeds. Another way to add more taste, more texture, and more diversity to your meal.
Don’t overcomplicate when it comes to buddha bowls. Of course, you can go all in and complicate your life away, but why if your meal can be done in a very short time – yet still delicious, healthy, and satisfying. Just like this rainbow buddha bowl with falafels – I mean, who doesn’t like falafels? Btw, adding homemade burgers, patties, or falafels to the bowl can really up your protein in the meal.
If you like simple recipes and healthy snacks, you should try my vegan sandwich or homemade protein bars. In case you want to make your own hummus, you can check out my recipe for natural hummus or opt for a more colourful variant with beetroot hummus. Need a quick snack to take with you or to serve as a side dish? Oven-baked brussels sprouts never cease to impress.
Are you recreating any of my recipes? Don’t forget to take a photo and tag me on Instagram @littlekitchenvibes
Rainbow Buddha Bowl with Falafels
Ingredients
- 170 g beetroot
- 1 fistfull walnuts
- 200 g hokkaido pumpkin
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 pinch salt
- 1 tomato
- 1 pack of falafels
- vegan cheese firm, resembling mozzarella or feta
- 2 fistfulls rocket
- 100 g buckwheat
Hummus sauce
- 2 tbsp hummus
- 1 tbsp tahini
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 30 ml water
- pinch salt
- pinch pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200°C.
- Clean and peel beetroot. Clean hokkaido pumpkin. Cut both into small dices.
- Add beetroot to a bowl and add 1 tbsp olive oil and a pinch of salt. Chop walnuts and add them to beetroot. Mix it all well.
- Add pumpkin to another bowl and add olive oil and a pinch of salt. Mix well.
- Add beetroot to one side of a large baking tray and pumpkin to the other side. Set falafels in the middle.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes.
- Cook buckwheat in salted boiling water. This should take 10-15 minutes.
- Cut tomatoes into small dices.
- Cut vegan cheese into dices larger than tomato.
- Prepare sauce: add all the ingredients to a bowl and mix well using a small whisk.
- When everything is done, put it together into a bowl. You can mix it all like a salad or place it neatly side by side - rocket (arugula), pumpkin next to it, then tomatoes, beetroot next to tomatoes, and buckwheat between rocket and beetroot. Place vegan cheese on top of the rocket and falafels on top of the buckwheat. Pour sauce all over veggies.
0 Comments