Dragon Bowls: Grains, Greens, and 'Teins!

Lately I've been really feeling the dragon bowl. It's a great way to load up on fresh veggies and also use up any leftovers you have sitting in the fridge. I spent an hour on Sunday cooking all of the veg and cramming the fridge with carefully-stuffed tupperware, giving myself plenty of meal options for the coming week. The awesome thing about dragon bowls is that you can really throw just about anything in them – I usually start with some quinoa or brown rice, then toss in some arugula or mixed greens, and then I go wild with the veggies. Then, on top of some dry-fried tofu, I throw a little bit of dressing over it all. Yum! Healthy, filling, and flavorful.

You can't see all of the goodies but this baby is loaded with layers of veggies!

• Brown rice: I try to keep a container of rice or quinoa in the fridge at all times, that way it's easy to make a meal when I'm not feeling all that inspired.
• Mixed greens
• Dry-fried tofu: this is a super basic way of cooking tofu, but lately I've been trying to cut down on the amount of oil that I cook with. Dry-frying is great, oil-free cooking option. You basically press the tofu like you normally would, and cut it into whatever shapes/thickness your recipe or heart desires. Then you just heat a pan on medium-high heat, throw the tofu in, and use a spatula to press down on each piece to suck out any remaining moisture. This will make a really funny sound that always reminds me of the screaming mandrakes from Harry Potter. So this tofu is quick, easy, and entertaining. Press down on the tofu a few times, until the bottoms brown. Then you flip and do the same on the other side.
• Maple roasted brussels sprouts: I made a batch of Chloe Coscarelli's Maple-Roasted Brussels Sprouts late last week and figured they'd make a good addition to my dinner. I didn't have any hazelnuts on hand, but they ended up being really scrumptious.
• Asparagus: Usually I roast my asparagus with a good amount of olive oil, salt, and pepper, but this time I thought I'd try something new. I'm normally not a huge fan of boiling vegetables, but I decided to try it and I'm glad I did. I cut the spears into 1-inch pieces, boiled them up until they were fork-tender, then tossed them with a touch of olive oil and s+p.
• Kale with onion and garlic: I love love love kale, and garlic is obviously amazing, but traditionally I've been pretty anti-onion. I don't know what it is about onion, but for whatever reason I've spent the better part of my life avoiding them unless they are in a super flavorful dish like yellow curry. That's all changing now! I'm slowly introducing onions to my taste buds, convinced that you can train your palate to like foods if you stay persistent. And this combo is goooood. Saucepan, medium heat, a touch of olive oil. I chopped up a few cloves of garlic, a medium-sized onion, and threw them in, letting them brown with a healthy dose of cumin. Once these bad boys become translucent beauties (and fill your kitchen with a lovely scent), throw in a bunch of chopped up kale and ¼ – ½ cup of water to deglaze the pan. Mix it around a bit, throw a lid on that sucker (leaving a crack for steam to escape), and let it all cook together until the kale is wilted and a beautiful color. Drain the water and you're good to go!
• Carrots: A thin julienne has been my method of choice. Get those babies looking like matchsticks and toss them in just about anything.
• Peanut lime dressing: Taken from Isa Chandra Moskowitz' Appetite for Reduction, this dressing is basic but heavenly. Lots of store-bought dressings are loaded with tons of unnecessary shenanigans, so I try to whip up my own whenever a recipe calls for it. I normally use this one with Moskowitz' Pad Thai Salad (SO GOOD!), but I happened to have some of this sitting in my fridge nearing the end of its prime. Turns out, it serves as a perfect binding ingredient for all of the other parts of the bowl. Super simple: ¼ cup peanuts, ¼ cup lime juice, ½ cup water, 2 tbl agave, 2 tbl soy sauce, and 1 tbl chili-garlic sauce. Throw it all in a blender and buzz away! It's a super light, thin dressing, but I much prefer that to thick globs of dressing.

Load up a bowl with your grains, your greens, and your 'teins (protein. Duh.) and drizzle some dressing over the whole thing. A little goes a long way in this case. And there you have a super green, healthy, and absolutely delicious meal that fills you up and leaves you feeling good afterwards. Win win!

xoxoxo