I recently received this Eating Well publication in the mail and couldn’t put it down. Every page had a recipe I wanted to make. Bowls are very popular these days whether you call them grain bowls or power bowls, you will find a recipe for every kind of protein to get healthy dishes on the table from breakfast to sweets.
What’s great about healthy bowl recipes is sometimes you have all ingredients on hand needed to build a delicious meal in minutes. Leftover vegetables, eggs, maybe some pieces of beef, pork, chicken or fish, cheese, olive oil, nuts- and you have a new meal that practically makes itself.
I found a salad that included many of my favorite ingredients that I either cook with often or were in my pantry. It’s a salad using wild rice, parmesan, garlic, cherry tomatoes, feta, and a handful of slivered almonds that I wasn’t sure what to do with. The recipe calls for pine nuts, which I had, but I wanted to use up the small amount of almonds first. This shows the versatility of making a bowl – use what you have and get creative. I had plans to make a pizza topped with arugula, but nixed that and made this salad instead. It was a great choice. This salad is a keeper. I couldn’t get enough.
Look how gorgeous this is! I also had a small amount of pitted kalamata olives in the fridge and tossed those in too, even though the recipe didn’t call for them. I already have plans to make “Spicy Noodles with Pork, Scallions, and Bok Choy,” a “Farro-Vegetable Bowl with Lemon-Herb Sauce,” and “Lemon-Blueberry Cheesecake Chia Pudding,” which sounds like a dessert for this weekend (and I have all the ingredients!)
Start by making the wild rice salad. It’s beyond good. It serves 4 with 229 calories, 8 grams of protein, and 19 grams of carbs.
- 3 cups arugula, divided
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- ⅛ to ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon ground pepper
- 8 ounce package cooked wild rice (Note: I used a 4 ounce package of raw wild rice, cooked and drained and it was a perfect amount)
- 2 cups halved cherry or grape tomatoes
- ¼ cup crumbled feta cheese (I had the Mediterranean feta crumbles on hand and it was great)
- 2 Tablespoons toasted pine nuts (or slivered almonds work too)
- For the pesto, combine 2 cups of the arugula, Parmesan, oil, garlic, salt, and pepper in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth.
- Place the wild rice, pesto, tomatoes, and remaining 1 cup arugula in a bowl. Toss to coat then sprinkle toasted nuts on top and serve. Serves 4.
- (Note: I also added some pitted kalamata olives)
This sounds so healthy and delicious. I love wild rice.
Thanks, Lisa. It’s fabulous- you would love it!
Sounds delicious & from a cookbook with more tasty, healthy recipes to enjoy! Definitely making this soon & adding the olives is a must! Thanks for sharing.
Kim, that series of books has many healthy salad recipes and I’m sure I’ll have more to come.