More About Mia and her Soulful Food...

Hi, I'm Mia, veg and fruit lover extraordinaire. My plant-based journey started with a love for this planet and everyone who's living on it. Through travel, experimenting, and a lot of curiosity, I have discovered just how easy, accessible, and simple (yet diverse, tasty and nutritious!) vegan food can be. It is very important to me that my diet supports all my nutritional needs, and so my recipes focus on finding ways to this this whilst also tasting scrumptious!

What I love the most about cooking is the community aspect of it. The joy and comfort of gathering and sharing – how it brings everyone together. My regular recipes and posts are to do just this! I will be sharing my favourite tasty and healthy vegan meals and treats with you. And I hope that you will enjoy looking after yourself by eating them, and of course sharing them with your own tribe, large or small. 

Wishing you lots of love, health and happiness, Mia xx 

BEAUTIFUL BUDDHA BOWLS - what are they? 

Buddha Bowls have been getting more and more attention over the last few years, and it’s no wonder! This full-on, easy to prepare, meal not only packs in a powerful blend of important nutrients, but will also leave you with full belly and a contented Buddha smile.

These fabulous bowls of goodness can be widely diverse since there are no fixed recipe or technique. That makes it a joyous playground for experimentation! It’s such a fabulous opportunity to practice our intuitive nature and let colors, tastes, shapes and smells be our guide.

Whether you have never made a Buddha Bowl before, or if you make them at home regularly, today I want to share my favorite combination of ingredients, those that I often feel drawn towards.

You can use this recipe exactly as it is and follow it step-by-step. Or, you can just use it as a template for your own bountiful creation! Just switch out like-for-like ingredients – for example cous-cous instead of buckwheat, or green lentils for kidney beans, or maybe cucumber or mange tout in place of broccoli. It’s a lot of fun to include whatever your body wants on a given day and see how it works!

So what are 'Beautiful Buddha Bowls'?

Most of the delicious offerings will be a grouping of mixed warm and cold ingredients. These usually include a combination of the main (Vegan) food groups; complex carbohydrate, protein, fat, and vegetables. To this we add fresh herbs, seeds and beansprouts, to make a glorious gathering of all kinds of flavours. And of course, we can’t forget the simplistic beauty of the fact the these are all brought together by a delicious dressing, and served ‘as one’ in a bowl.

Apart from tasting delicious, why are they so good for us?

When it comes to a beautiful Buddha bowl, balance is everything. By including elements of all the main food groups in a natural and deliciously tasty way, a Buddha Bowl is the very essence of what a healthy and balanced diet looks like.

 GRAINS... In this recipe, Buckwheat, is our main contributor to the essential complex carbohydrate food group. As a slow release energy source this nutritious grain supports you in finding your centre, your mental focus and your relaxation.

As it is high in fibre, it is also very good for your gut and digestive system – cleansing and strengthening. The bioflavonoid ‘Rutin’ is also found in buckwheat, which is great for blood vessels and capillaries, improving circulation to hands and feet, and maintaining healthy blood pressure.

GREENS... Cucumber and Broccoli are my favourites today!  

With its cooling thermal nature, your system benefits from adding cucumber to this meal. It is especially useful during the hotter times of the year since the high water content helps to cool and hydrate – very helpful to inflammatory and heat related conditions. Also due to its water content it cleanses blood, moistens the lungs, purifies the skin and is a natural anti-depressant.

Broccoli doesn’t just taste great and add fabulous green colours to your bowl, but it adds a huge amount of vitamins and nutrients to your meal. These include Vitamins B1, B2, B3, B6, Vitamin C and Vitamin K, Iron, Magnesium, Potassium, Zinc, and plenty of fibre. If this wasn’t enough, scientists are also currently looking into the anti-carcinogenic properties of broccoli, so you could be helping your body protect against cancers.  

PROTEINS... As a plant based source of protein, red kidney beans are some of the best! There can be as much as nearly 9 grams of protein in every 100 grams of boiled red kidney beans. And, it’s not just protein, they also help to add fibre, Vitamin B9, Iron, Copper, Manganese, Potassium and Vitamin K1 one to you nutrients for the day.

THE GOOD FATS... One of our very favourite ‘good fats’ comes from the humble Pumpkin Seeds that we add to this dish. They help to nourish your body with Omega 3 (as well as zinc), working to keep your heart healthy, support your joints, help you sleep better, and possibly even boost your memory.

INGREDIENTS

Makes 2 fully loaded bowls for hungry herbivores

BUDDHA BOWL INGREDIENTS 

BUDDHA BOWL DRESSING 

2 tbsp tahini (sesame paste)
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp water
Juice of ½ lemon
Salt and pepper to fine tune to your taste

PREPARATION

• Preheat your oven to 200 degrees centigrade.
• Start by chopping sweet potato into small cubes. Put in a bowl and drizzle lightly with the olive oil. Then massage in all the spices except the turmeric.
• Spread the sweet potato cubes out on a baking sheet and place in the oven to bake for about 20 minutes.
• While the sweet potato bakes, cook your buckwheat according to instructions on the packet. Cooking time depends on your choice of buckwheat (raw, kasha).
• Add the turmeric to the buckwheat just as it is finishing cooking.
• In the meantime dice your cucumber.
• Then, drain and wash your red kidney beans.
• And, chop your Broccoli into smaller pieces.
• After the sweet potato has been cooking for 20 minutes, place broccoli in oven to roast with it until slightly crisp. Keep your eye on it, this will not take more than 5 minutes. Use a knife to test if sweet potato and broccoli are soft (to your own liking).
• Finally mix all the dressing ingredients together in a measuring jug, gently whisking with until smooth.
• Then, all you need to do is arrange everything in your chosen bowl, and pour over your delicious dressing!
• Top with pumpkin seeds, cress and chives.

If you love this, then you will love my other Soulful Vegan Recipes from around the world... Just click here for my Delicious Vegan Dahl and my Perfect Vegan Cacao Pancakes.

I really hope that you enjoy this delicious bowl of goodness! Until next time, sending lots of love, health and wellness to you. Mia xx