My Green Goddess Bowls and Dressing are TO DIE FOR, make sure you pin this and save it and make it ASAP!
What is a Green Goddess Bowl?
When I first heard about this “Green Goddess Bowl” it was from a girl I follow on Instagram Shelley Paulson (@paulsonspantry). I thought this Goddess bowl idea sounded amazing! She had a yummy Basil Lemon Dressing to go with it too! I took some of her ideas and added my own twists to the bowl and the dressing, but I am really glad she turned me onto this!
From searching around on Pinterest, it seems like Green Goddess bowls are a very similar to Buddha bowls or Balance Bowl etc., but basically its a healthy meal in a bowl! You can really switch up the ingredients to your liking. They are GREAT for meal prepping!
How these awesome bowls fit in my lifestyle
Basically on Sundays I marinate and grill a bunch of chicken for my husband and I. Then I cook up some veggies and grains, and store all this in our fridge. I like to send Ian to work with lunches (saves on our pocket book and keeps us on track for healthy choices), so I will assemble our Green Goddess bowls or other lunches for the next few days. I love to buy these disposable condiment containers to hold the dressing in, it makes it easy to portion control your dressing and not have it make everything soggy. I also buy these meal prep containers in bulk for our meal prep, keeps life simple! We can throw them away or wash them and reuse.
How to build your own:
So, you want to start with a healthy carb (if you are keto – skip the carbs, add extra greens or do cauliflower rice), depending on your tastes and diet style. I like to do brown rice if I am eating grains or oven roasted sweet potatoes if I am living a grain free diet. You can totally use quinoa or another ancient grain as well!
GREENS – FILL HER UP!
PACK IN THE GREENS (put the GREEN in the bowl)! I used a handful of spinach, cucumbers, left over grilled asparagus, parsley, green onions etc (Kale, broccoli, green bell peppers are awesome too). I also added some tomatoes because we had them on hand and i LOVE tomatoes!
PROTEIN CHOICE
Then you need some PROTEIN, and this can be customized to your taste or diet! I always have grilled chicken on hand! You can use rotisserie chicken or whatever type of chicken that suits you! Salmon or Shrimp would also be an AWESOME choice. You could try some beef too (maybe leftover tri-tip or ground beef… really the skies the limit, have fun!). Also, try adding a hard boil or fried egg or some sort of bean!
CRISPITY, CRUNCHITY…
THE CRUNCH! I love to have a little crispy crunchy in my bowls! So I added some of my roasted garlic parmesan chickpeas I had made earlier in the week! Extra dose of protein and a flavorful crunch! You can add some roasted nuts, crumbed bacon, tortilla strips etc! To make these awesome treats, check out the recipe I found on roasting chickpeas 3 ways! (photo by Holley Grainger)
LAST, BUT NOT LEAST…
Finish it with the BEST DRESSING EVER! Make sure to make a bunch of that dressing and use it on these Green Goddess bowls. The dressing can be where salads or bowls ruin the health benefits of it for you. BUT this dressing is PACKED with Healthy Fats & Protein and FULL of flavor! I include substitutions for ingredients to help you stay within your diet!
Assemble everything together, I like to add everything in triangular shape instead of piling everything on top of each other. It makes for a beautiful presentation and allows me to easily build each bite how I like it!
I hope you enjoy this Green Goddess Bowl as much as my husband and I do! And let me know what combinations you come up with!
Green Goddess Bowl
Ingredients
- .5 cup brown rice cooked
- .5 cup spinach
- .5 cup cucumber sliced
- .25 cup cherry tomatoes halved
- .25 cup green onion chopped
- 4 oz grilled chicken breasts sliced
- .25 cup roasted chickpeas
Instructions
- Assemble bowl and add 2 Tb Creamy Lemon & Herb dressing
- Feel free to add to or exchange any ingredient, and let me know ho it turns out!
Love the idea that she can make healthy recipes, but with that tasty spark. 😍
Thanks Christina!
For my most recent grain bowl (aka Buddha Bowl, aka the-way-I-eat-all-the-time-just-with-a-trendy-name), I ve gone with Cottrell s advice and kept it simple AF. Use whatever grain you have on hand ( brown rice is usually around, but lately I ve been cooking farro ), and all the green veggies you ve got—roasted, steamed, raw, whatevs. The only real prep comes in making the tangy, herby Green Goddess dressing—which believe me, you ll want extras of. Toss the grains in the dressing, bowl it up with the veggies, drizzle on more dressing, and bam: suddenly, you ll be eating like Buddha, too.