Brown Rice, Sweet Potato & Lentil Power Bowl

Last year I read the book The China Study and was forever changed. It really had me thinking about the types of foods we eat, and in fact after reading it I started to incorporate three plant based days per week into our weekly menu roundup. This summer, after doing more reading and after thinking about how much better I feel by just adding those three plant based days, we made the decision to go ninety percent vegetarian. My husband and I both have no problem giving up meat and poultry, but we both really love seafood so we will be more “pescatarian”, or vegetarians who enjoy the occasional seafood meal. I am not sure if this will be a forever change, but at this point we are both enjoying our new vegetarian lifestyle and I doubt we will go back to meat.

Looking through the many vegetarian recipes online and in my cookbooks I keep seeing dishes that are often called rice bowls or indulgence bowls that contain a number of ingredients, often seasonal, that are artfully arranged in a bowl and served as a vegetarian main course. Many of the options I saw contain brown rice, some type of bean, and a selection of seasonal vegetables.

I decided to create my own bowl, one that I call our power bowl because it really is packed full of everything you could want nutritionally in a meal, and tastes great too. The trick to assembling your power bowl is to season each of the ingredients well when they are prepared so the bowl has a lot of flavor. Some folks may drizzle their bowls with a dressing, but I wanted each of my ingredients to stand on their own. In my power bowl, I included brown rice flavored with lime juice and cilantro, roasted sweet potatoes flavored with spices, black Beluga lentils tossed with cumin, sautéed greens, fresh avocado, and diced tomatoes. I am sure you can come up with your own personal power bowl, just be sure to include a combination of brown rice and beans for protein, and a couple of seasonal vegetables that you prefer. I used chicory as my sauteed green, but spinach, kale or Swiss chard are also great options.

• Brown rice brown rice as an excellent source of manganese, fiber, and a good source of the minerals selenium and magnesium.
• Lentils and beans are high in fiber and a good source of low fat protein.
• Spinach can claim a special place among vegetables in terms of its phytonutrient content. Most of the flavonoid and carotenoid nutrients found in spinach that provide anti-inflammatory benefits provide antioxidant benefits as well. Spinach is also an excellent source of other antioxidant nutrients including vitamin C, vitamin E, beta-carotene, and manganese, as well as a very good source of the antioxidant zinc and a good source of the antioxidant selenium.
• Sweet potatoes are true superstars. They’re loaded with carotenoids, vitamin C, potassium, and fiber.