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“Bowl of Soul”

It was hard to come up with a name for this dish because it contains so many nutritious delicious ingredients. All the ingredients plant based, so it’s completely vegan, as well as gluten and dairy free. I settled on “Bowl of Soul” as suggested by one of my Facebook fans (thanks Melissa!).
Prep Time 25 minutes
Course Lunch, Main
Servings 2
Calories 563 kcal
Dairy Free, Diabetic, Gluten Free

Ingredients
  

Marinated mushroom and kale salad

  • 3 teaspoons soy sauce use GF soy sauce if you need to
  • ¾ teaspoon sesame oil
  • 1 ½ teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 8 button mushrooms swiss brown or small shiitake mushrooms, sliced
  • 1 ½ cups shredded kale or cavolo nero finely sliced, tough stalks removed
  • 2 teaspoons sesame seeds toasted

Quinoa, date, carrot, and beetroot salad

  • ½ cup quinoa cooked
  • 1 carrot peeled and shredded or coarsely grated
  • ½ medium beetroot peeled and shredded, coarsely grated or cut into thin matchsticks
  • 8 cherry tomatoes cut in half
  • 3 medjool dates
  • ¼ cup almonds roasted, I used tamari-roasted almonds, but normal roasted almonds are fine
  • ¼ cup flat-leaf parsley and mint leaves (each) chopped

Salad dressing

  • 1 ½ teaspoons apple syrup agave or honey (non-vegan)
  • 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 pinch salt good
  • ½ teaspoon thyme leaves finely chopped, optional

Nut butter dressing

  • 1 tablespoon nut butter e.g. almond or peanut
  • 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon soy sauce use GF soy sauce if you need to
  • 1 teaspoon apple syrup agave or honey (non-vegan)
  • 2 teaspoons water
  • ½ clove garlic finely minced

To serve

  • 1 firm ripe avocado
  • 1 baby radish
  • 2 handfuls alfalfa sprouts
  • 1 tablespoon pumpkin seeds
  • 2 wedges lemon

Instructions
 

  • Mix soy sauce, sesame oil and extra-virgin olive oil together in a bowl. Add sliced mushrooms and toss with the marinade to coat the mushrooms well. Set aside to marinate for 15-20 minutes while you prepare the quinoa salad and dressings.
  • Peel and shred or coarsely grate the carrot; peel and coarsely grate the beetroot or cut into thin matchsticks; cut cherry tomatoes in half; chop dates and chop almonds.
  • Mix all salad dressing ingredients together and set aside. Whisk all nut butter dressing ingredients together until smooth and set aside (you may need to add 1-2 teaspoons more water to get a dressing consistency).
  • Cut avocado in half and remove the stone. Thinly slice the baby radish.
  • Toss kale/cavolo nero and sesame seeds with marinated mushrooms. Toss cooked quinoa with carrot, beetroot, cherry tomatoes, dates, almonds, parsley, mint and dressing.
  • To serve, divide marinated mushroom and kale salad, and quinoa salad between plates. Place an avocado half, slices of radish and a small handful of alfalfa sprouts on each plate. Spoon some nut butter dressing over the avocado and scatter with pumpkin seeds. Serve with a wedge of lemon to squeeze over just before eating.

Notes

This bowl is full of fresh flavours and textures; it contains a quinoa, date, almond, carrot and beetroot salad, a marinated mushroom and kale salad, half an avocado and a divine nut butter dressing. All together it works so well – it tastes amazing and it makes you feel that way after eating it!
Don’t be daunted by the seemingly long list of ingredients – it’s mainly ingredients for the dressings. The whole meal takes all of about 20 minutes to make – just start by cooking your quinoa first, and then get on to the rest of it while the quinoa cooks and cools. If you don’t have quinoa, feel free to use brown, red or wild rice, or just skip it out.