13 March 2022 | Whole Food, Bowl Food: Vegetarian & Vegan Buddha Bowls & Healthy Salads

Date: 13 March 2022

Time: 1pm-3pm

Location: Canape Company, 141 Thorndon Quay, Wellington

Buddha or 'bliss' bowls are quick, healthy, vibrant meals built around fresh vegetables, herbs, a grain, some protein, and whatever dressing you fancy. The variations are endless! You can incorporate interesting flavours (think dried or fresh seaweeds), edible flowers, and the best part about these bowls is each person in your family can choose from the components and build their own 'buddha bowl.' 

This class will focus on how to create nutritiously balanced vegetarian bliss bowls (vegan option also available; please indicate when you book). We'll teach you how to prepare a variety of elements, with an emphasis on raw and cooked vegetables, herbs and edible flowers grown in our Wellington organic garden. We will talk through chopping techniques and discuss how important texture is and how you can play around with the shape and size of your raw vegetables to alter the texture; we'll also discuss using fresh herbs to add pizzazz (and which complementary herbs go well with particular vegetables), how to make delicious, easy salad dressings to go on your buddha bowl and how to store them, and how to create grain and protein pairings to increase digestibility and your body's ability to absorb the nutrients. We'll also discuss the importance of prep to save you time at mealtimes and ways to create your own home 'salad bar' with on-hand pre-chopped ingredients in your fridge to use to build your Buddha bowls. 

MENU: 

Condiments:

Fermented shitake mushroom

Cucumber Chilli Pickle (quick)

Chilli or wasabi mayo

Soy egg

Kimchi*

Dressings:

Ponzu*

Classic Poke*

Maple miso

Flavours of Asia dressing*

Classic French vinaigrette with Dijon

Soy ginger

Wholegrains

Pearl barley

Brown rice

Red rice and black rice

Freekeh

Farro

Soba noodles*

Beans and pulses

Chickpeas (from a tin, for ease)

Broad bean and pea balls*

Spicy fried Edamame

Cannellini beans (from a tin, for ease)

Lentils (make up a big batch and freeze portions)*

Vegetables

Red cabbage, sliced and/or pickled in some apple cider vinegar

Spiralised raw carrot or zucchini/courgette, beetroot

Teriyaki roasted cauliflower

Charred broccoli

Raw onion: red and spring onion

Salad leaves: kale, spinach, rocket, spoon mustard, beetroot leaves

Radish (pickle it with 4 T rice vinegar, 2 tsp sugar, ½ t salt and 4 radishes, sliced)

*Roasted veg (leftover pumpkin, beetroot, potato, carrot, whatever is on hand)

Toppings:

Crunchy nuts and seeds

Macadamia coconut crunch

Avocado and heirloom tomatoes from our organic garden

Pickled ginger

Seaweed sprinkles aka dulse flakes

Edible flowers from garden

Capers

Olives*

Sesame seeds: black and white

Hempseeds

Herbs: parsley, coriander, basil, chervil, mint from the garden

Goat or sheep feta (housemade)

Hummus

*items with * are suggested for you to include at home, and won’t be made today)

DID YOU KNOW that Buddha was actually quite thin? Most people think Buddha was chubby but the statue you may be thinking of isn't actually of Buddha. (Those statues you see in Chinese restaurants are of a monk who lived a thousand years later.) "Buddha's Diet: The Ancient Art of Losing Weight Without Losing Your Mind" by data scientist and Zen priest Dan Zigmond and digital strategist and wellness writer Tara Cottrell, describes how, like most of us, he hated dieting and sought a "middle way" between unhealthy overindulgence and unrealistic abstinence.