A bowful of delight!

Kandla Nijhowne

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We would like to introduce you to a new concept doing the rounds, ‘Buddha Bowl’, which means that a bowl is piled high with cooked meats or veggies, brown rice, raw greens, legumes, a few squirts of dressing and seeds. It derives its name from the big belly of the laughing Buddha. The Buddha bowl is also a very neat trick to use up small scraps of veggies or meats that are not sufficient in themselves to make up a full meal. Here's my favourite alchemy!

Roasted garlic and veggie 'Buddha Bowl'

• 1 whole bulb of garlic cloves.

• 1 cup chopped zucchini

• 1 cups chopped spinach

• 1 medium sized sweet potato

• 100 gm mushrooms

• ¾ cup cooked kidney beans (rajmah) or chickpeas (kabuli chana)

• Salt and pepper to taste

• 1 cup cooked brown rice

• ½ cup chopped spring onion shoots

• 1½ tbsp sesame seeds, melon seeds or nibbed almonds

• 2 tbsp peanut butter

• 2 tbsp olive oil

• 1 tbsp balsamic or apple cider vinegar

• 1 tbsp soy sauce

• 1 tbsp honey

Method

• Skewer the garlic bulb and roast over an open gas-flame. You can also use an oven for this procedure.

• Boil the sweet potato, cool, peel and dice onto chunks.

• Use a wok; add spinach and a splash of water. Steam the spinach for barely 40 seconds.

• Heat a pan and add a little olive oil. Stir fry the zucchini and chopped mushrooms. Sprinkle a little salt and pepper as you proceed.

• Peel 5-6 cloves off the garlic bulb, peel and crush. Place in a small bowl.

• Add the last 5 ingredients to make a dressing. Check seasoning.

• Season the brown rice and add a drizzle of dressing over it.

• Use medium sized bowls to assemble the dish. Add warm rice, some cooked zucchini and mushrooms, the spinach and sweet potato and chickpeas in rough layers.

• Top with the dressing, spring onions and seeds.

• Serve warm with extra dressing and, wait to hear the applause!

Note: A Buddha Bowl is quite like a Pandora's box. Experiment to your heart's content, over the contents! Replace spinach with cucumber, lettuce or broccoli, soy sauce with hummus, Tahini or mayonnaise, veggies with tofu, pineapple, chicken or prawns, rice with pasta or sprouts. Do not have a jungle of components. Remove some elements liberally, as you add any new ones.

(Nijhowne is a Chandigarh-based culinary expert)