I’m a big fan of bowl meals. If I could eat every meal from a bowl, I’d be pretty satisfied. My formula for the perfect bowl goes like this -

• At least half of the bowl’s content is vegetable, either sautéd, steamed, or roasted

• Animal and/ or plant-based protein, such as a poached egg, tempeh slices, or sardines

• Healthy fats such as avocado, almonds, coconut milk, or tahini lemon dressing

• Some variety of whole grain or other starch, like wild rice, buckwheat groats, or mashed sweet potato

• Spice and flavor! This is the fun part.

Most components of my bowl meals are made ahead of time in batches. For example, I will cook up several sweet potatoes and roast up a head of cauliflower to have on hand to build quick lunches. When its time to eat, I’ll poach an egg, slice some avocado, and voila! Lunch bowl! This particular creation was inspired by a visit to Cafe Umami in Oakland, CA. They create such wonderful savory bowls, and the owner went to the same school of nutrition as I did.

Umami Bowl

Serves 4

Base

- 1 cup buckwheat
- 2.5 cups broth or water
- 1 TBS ghee or coconut oil
- 8 oz. tempeh, in bite size slices
- 4 cups chopped kale
- 2 cup sliced shiitake mushrooms

Garnish

- Pumpkin seeds
- Almonds
- 1 large avocado, long slices
- Nutritional yeast
- Chili peper flakes
- Nori or dulse seaweed flakes
- 4 eggs (your choice: hard, soft boiled, or poached)

Miso Dressing

- 2 TBS miso paste
- 1 tsp fresh grated ginger
- 1 clove garlic, crushed and minced- 4 TBS toasted sesame oil
- 1 tsp maple syrup
- Half lime, juiced
- Pinch of sea salt

Directions

Cook buckwheat with broth/water and ghee/coconut oil in a rice cooker or stovetop. Sauté kale and shiitake mushrooms in coconut oil in a pan until wilted. Add in the sliced tempeh and cooked until golden brown. Divide up buckwheat, sautéed veggies and tempeh into four bowls. Season the vegetable/tempeh with a sprinkle of soy sauce or sea salt. Divide evenly into bowls atop the buckwheat. Divide garnish ingredients and one egg (sliced into two halves) into each bowl and drizzle with miso dressing.