If you are anything like me and want to save a whole lot of time (and money in Pret), then meal prepping is the way forward! I have always been quite good at making an extra portion for dinner so that I can eat it for lunch the next day, but I got to a point where I was so bored of eating the same thing for lunch that I had eaten for dinner the night before. I am lucky enough to have a mum who is a nutritionist, and she recently held a cookery demonstration day called ‘How To Build A Buddha Bowl’ – this totally opened my eyes to a whole new way of meal prepping and I have now found a way to create lunches that I actually look forward to and enjoy.
So… what is a Buddha Bowl you are asking? Well apart from being healthy, colourful and VERY instagrammable, they are bowls with a combination of food including a grain, a protein, vegetables/salad, a dip and a topping! And in essence, it’s an overstuffed bowl resembling the belly of a Buddha – hence the name. If you want to get technical, you should try to stick to 15 % lean protein, 25% grains, 35 % vegetables/salad, 10% dip and 30% toppings like nuts and seeds when creating your bowls. You can literally mix and match any foods you want, and that is the beauty about them as you can change it up every day so you don’t get bored. Below I have listed some examples of the grains, proteins, vegetables and dips I tend to go for, but you can really be creative and use foods that you enjoy.
Grain Options:
Rice
Quinoa
Soba Noodles
Protein Options:
Chicken
Salmon
Falafel
Vegetables/Salad Options:
Lettuce / Spinach Leaves
Cucumber / Tomatoes
Carrot / Beetroot
Broccoli / Pak Choi
Dip Options:
Hummus
Taziki
Topping Options:
Cashews
Chia Seeds
I hope this inspires you to get creative and try these buddha bowl options for your lunch! They are so easy to prepare and really delicious compared to left over dinner from the night before! If you would like to attend any of my mums cookery demonstration days, please follow @lifestylestudioherts to keep up to date with cooking events, day retreats and fitness classes!
Olivia x