In both my day-to-day life and here on the blog, 2016 was the year of bowls. Lunch bowls became an everyday thing for me, and then they started to take over my Instagram account. In March, I wrote a post detailing how I assemble my lunch bowls, with details about my favorite fixings and the nutritional guidelines I use to help guide me.
Not long after, I started sharing breakfast bowl ideas, including my cocoa strawberry quinoa bowls and, more recently, my sweet potato breakfast bowls with savory granola.
Why all the love for bowls? Well, for one thing, they’re easy. Throw a few staples into a bowl, drizzle it with dressing, and call it a day–a good bowl meal is no more complicated than that! Bowls let us get plenty of variety in a single meal without making our lives complicated or demanding too much cooking effort. And, lets face it, there’s just something undeniably cozy-feeling about eating a meal from a bowl.
I’m not the only person who loves bowls. My friend Jackie Sobon–the creative and talented force behind the blog Vegan Yack Attack–has even more persuasive things to say about the power of a great bowl:
You may ask yourself, “What makes a bowl any better than other ways to eat food?” Well, for one thing, bowls are fairly well contained from a logistical perspective. Have you ever tried eating a salad off a plate? It may be one of the messiest ways to eat something; you have to chase food around with your fork, and the last few bites are always the hardest to get. Second, some of the best foods are served in bowls! Imagine trying to chow down on some pho, or maybe creme brûlée, using a plate or saucer. Both of those situations sound like they could be a form of punishment. Last, bowls are a fun way to take a few foods or ingredients that you love–and that may not hold their own on a plate–and put them together in an incredibly tasty and colorful fashion.
Those wise words are from the introduction of Jackie’s awesome new cookbook, Vegan Bowls Attack! The book is a love letter to the bowl meals Jackie loves so much, and it’s a gift to any vegan–or anyone, really–who wants to take her bowl game to the next level. Divided into breakfast bowls, snack bowls, soup and salad bowls, and entree bowls, the book features 100 smart, colorful, and diverse bowl recipes.
The book also features useful tips on how to prep and assemble bowls, how to batch cook ingredients, and it even contains a chapter full of bowl essentials (like smoky tahini sauce and–for the dessert bowls–date caramel sauce). Some of the recipes I’ve been eyeing include the kimchi bowl with red curry almond sauce:
The spicy sushi bowl:
And the amaretto cherry ice cream (yum!):
Jackie’s vibrant, appetizing photographs make the whole book come to life, and her down-to-earth tone makes creating the perfect bowl feel easy and attainable for any home cook. If you read Jackie’s blog, then you already know that she has a special talent for making vegan living feel welcoming and accessible. That same attitude and approach is on full display in this warm, playful collection of recipes.
There are so many bowls from Vegan Yack Attack that I’m eager to incorporate into my routine, but the one that caught my eye first is Jackie’s vegan fish taco bowl. I’ve definitely tried my hand at creating homemade version of poultry and meat dishes, but I have yet to really experiment with plant-based interpretations of seafood.
I love that Jackie uses something super simple–hearts of palm–for the “fish” in this recipe, and her simple cabbage slaw and pico de gallo sweeten the deal. This is a perfectly refreshing, light, and balanced bowl meal for summer!
Vegan Fish Taco Bowl
Ingredients
For the cabbage slaw:
- 1 cup 70 g shredded red cabbage
- 1 cup 70 g shredded green cabbage
- 1 cup 110 g grated carrot. cup (60 g) vegan mayonnaise (soy-free, if necessary)
- 1 teaspoon white vinegar
For the pico de gallo:
- ½ cup 90 g diced tomato
- ⅓ cup 55 g diced red onion
- 1 tablespoon 1 g minced fresh cilantro
- 1 tablespoon 6 g minced fresh jalapeno (optional)
- ½ teaspoon lime juice Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
For the “Fish”:
- 2 cans 14 ounces, or 400 g each hearts of palm, drained
- 2 teaspoons lime juice
- ½ teaspoon dulse seaweed flakes
- Pinch of salt
For the assembly:
- 4 small corn tortillas cut into strips
- ¼ cup 4 g loosely packed fresh cilantro leaves
- 2 tablespoons 11 g sliced fresh jalapeno
- 8 lime wedges
Instructions
- To make the cabbage slaw: Place all of the ingredients in a bowl, stir together until combined, and then refrigerate for 20 minutes.
- To make the pico de gallo: Place all of the ingredients in a bowl, stir together until combined, and then refrigerate for 20 minutes.
- To make the “fish”: Preheat the oven to 350°F (176°C, or gas mark 4) and coat a baking sheet with a thin layer of oil or nonstick cooking spray. In a mixing bowl, using two forks or your hands, pull apart the hearts of palm until they appear shredded. Stir in the lime juice, dulse flakes (see note on page 104), and salt until combined and then spread the mixture out on the baking sheet in a single layer. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until the edges start to turn golden brown.
- To assemble: While the “fish” is baking, place the tortilla strips on a baking sheet, brush with a thin layer of oil, and sprinkle with salt. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until crispy. Divide the slaw, pico de gallo, “fish,” and tortillas among 4 shallow bowls, arranging the components in quadrants. Nestle the cilantro, jalapeño, and lime wedges in with the tortilla strips. Serve immediately.
If you’re interested in exploring Vegan Bowls Attack! for yourself, you’re in luck. Jackie and her publisher have generously agreed to offer one US or Canadian reader of this blog a free copy! Enter below to win; I’ll announce the winner on the widget in two weeks.
I know it’s been a while since I shared a cookbook review, but I have a few others coming up this month and next, so stay tuned for more news about great new recipe collections!
And for now, I wish you all a wonderful start to the weekend. See you soon, for weekend reading.
xo
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Pretty much anything, lol. But I’ve gotten my husband hooked on brown rice, kimchee, seared tofu, and steamed kale with a spicy peanut dressing. I could eat that every night.
That sounds really good!
Vegan ice cream of course is the best to eat out of a bowl for maximum toppings!
I’m a big fan of bowls for pasta!
I love eating almost everything in bowls!
I love to eat roasted veggies & quinoa with tahini sauce in bowls!
Wow, a vegan fish taco bowl! I can’t wait to give a version of this a try! I just read on Veggie Quest that hearts of palm are high in iron to boot. And love Jackie’s rationale for bowls. Thanks, Gena! Also welcome the chance to win the cookbook–fun stuff!! xoxo
I love bowls! Mostly I just throw stuff together and it ends up tasting good, but it would be fun to try out actual recipes/bowls with a cohesive theme to them.
My favorite bowl is a taco salad using Beyond Meat crumbles that I spice up with chili powder, cumin, and oregano. I top whatever greens I have in the fridge with Beyond Meat, onions, avocado, jalapeno, tomatoes, shredded cabbage if I have it. Salsa is my go to dressing for this.
This book looks awesome!!
i can eat pasta in a giant bowl or nothing! thanks!
I love eating pudding and banana ice-cream in a bowl!
I love building taco bowls so this recipe is perfect for me. Would love to try some of her other bowls!
basically anything on top of which i can put kimchi and crushed cashews!
I love big bowls of steamed greens, grains, and some beans. d some hot sauce or sriracha or kimchi on top – perfection!
Anything loaded with veggies and covered with a tasty dressing!
Like you, I am a hard-core bowl fan. My favorite thing to eat from a bowl, though, would probably be homemade smoothiebowls with lots of dried fruit, nut butter and granola!
Pasta or quinoa/vegetable bowls!
I love basically anything that can be placed in a bowl but I have a soft spot for anything that has to do with oatmeal, overnight oats, or granola + berries + nondairy milk! And soups of course.
I love Jackie’s recipies. Very creative use of the hearts of palm. I would love a burrito bowl recipe that uses jack fruit and any asian inspired bowl is always a winner in my book. Thanks for sharing!
I love pad thai with tofu and veggies!
Burrito bowls are great!
I love to throw together a quick and easy bowl of brown rice, various steamed veggies, and a drizzle of lemon juice and cashew cream, but I can’t wait to try this recipe. It’s long past time for some new bowl inspiration.
chinese without a doubt!
I love rice bowls. I can be very easily satisfied with a whole bunch of brown rice and broccoli with gingery teriyaki sauce. But I also like to get a little more creative, so this book will be helpful for that.
I love eating noodles and rice with vegetables in a bowl.
My favorite type of food to eat in a bowl is home made coconut milk ice cream. I am a sucker for it!
We love bowls!! Any combo of grains, veggies an sauce, so good!
I love hearty soups that feature beans and tomatoes, and the spicier the better!
I love grain salads with loads of beans, veggies and yummy tahini dressing.
oatmeal!
I eat pretty much everything in a bowl or huge soup mug (or straight from the pot or pan!) and have to force myself to use plates. Which rarely happens anyway!
I LOVE making vegan sushi bowls, or Thai bowls!
I have a Buddha bowl that I make regularly. Farro, greens (cooked or raw), roasted sweet potatoes, glazed tempeh and tahini sauce.
Salads and stir-fry bowls.
i love pho! its the best!!!
I eat bowl meals every week and my go-to is brown rice, beans, steamed greens, roasted corn, green onions, and a drizzle of chipotle cream dressing.
I’ve never tried hearts of palm as a fishy substitute. Thanks for the recipe and giveaway opportunity!
Oatmeal!
Is there something missing here? I can’t figure out how much vegan mayo goes into the cabbage slaw.