Nourishing bowls are the best way to get your nutrients in wintertime. We tend to eat in a hurry, often the same kind of food every day, without fresh ingredients, and we don’t provide our body the nutrients it needs to function correctly and to naturally detox day by day. These nourishing bowls do not come with special recipes, but a balance of the main nutrients (carbohydrates, proteins, and fats) and also raw and cooked ingredients that really nourish your body and make you feel energized. You can combine any of your favorite ingredients, as long as you make sure the bowl has a little bit of everything your body needs.
The pleasure of creating a nourishing bowl comes from the fact that you can work with what you already have in your pantry or fridge. You don’t need to prepare all the ingredients at once – maybe you have brown/black rice left from a salad you made yesterday, maybe you have some greens you just didn’t know what to do with, or maybe you roasted too many root vegetables for your soup the other day. Never throw away your food, as you can always put together a delicious, nourishing bowl like this one. This bowl made with simple ingredients from your pantry is also a great choice if you’re planning an easy detox day. Exclude the egg for a lean, liver cleansing day and get the benefit from the rest of nourishing ingredients.
I love to make my bowls as colorful as possible, because color means nutrients. The pleasure of seeing the abundance of colors on my plate gives me joy and make me feel energized, because I know I’m doing a good thing for my body. Here are some of my favorite ingredients:
Black or brown rice – This one should never be missing from your pantry because is packed with fiber and essential minerals like magnesium, manganese, and selenium, and it can be the base for a lot of healthy recipes.
Avocado – Contain healthy fats (monounsaturated), vitamins (B6, C, E, K) and minerals (potassium and magnesium) and gives a gorgeous creaminess to every dish you add it to.
Sweet potatoes – Their gorgeous orange flesh is a great source of antioxidants like beta-carotene, but also of minerals (potassium, manganese, and copper), vitamins (A, C, B complex), and fiber.
Beet root – Supports the natural detox function of our bodies and contains a wide array of nutrients – vitamins (especially folate) and minerals (magnesium and potassium), iron, and powerful antioxidants.
Greens – Be it spinach, broccoli, kale, parsley, beet greens, or chard, greens are loaded with fiber, vitamins, calcium, and proteins, and should always be present in your fridge.
Nuts and seeds – Loaded with minerals and healthy fats. Almonds are high in magnesium, sunflower seeds have loads of iron, brazil nuts contain selenium and chia seeds are packed with calcium
Eggs – Always choose organic eggs from pasture-fed hens! Eggs are one of the most complete foods, loaded with vitamins (especially E, D, and B complex, including B12), minerals (especially selenium), and high quality proteins.
The Complete Nourishing Winter Bowl
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup cooked lentils
- 1/4 cup cooked brown rice
- 1 organic egg boiled, cut in half
- 1 ripe avocado
- 1 cup steamed broccoli florets
- 6-10 brazil nuts
- 1 tsp chia seeds
- 1/2 tsp sesame seeds
- 1/2 cup cooked beet root cut in slices
- 1/2 cup roasted sweet potato cut in cubes
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 lemon juice only
- freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Arrange all ingredients in a large bowl.
- Add olive oil and lemon juice and stir to combine.
- Season with salt and pepper and serve.
Notes
I love making nourishing bowls! So easy to adapt to the season and always perfectly nourishing for your body. I haven’t cooked up a big batch of brown rice in a while (been on a quinoa kick lately) but I think I’m going to have to make some so I can make nourishing bowls this week for dinner and lunch!
Hi Amy, I love brown rice because it’s very satisfying and I can cook it in batches and use it for different recipes throughout the week – in nourishing bowls, side dish for curries or even as a base for veggie burgers. Can’t wait to see your version of a nourishing bowl 🙂
I love your bowls!! Do you have a selection with lower calories?
Thank you, Luanne! The bowls are customisable, so just exclude any high-calorie ingredient, add more greens in and it will be just fine!
I love me a good meal bowl, and this one looks just perfect! I love the combo of beets and avocado, and that egg on top is beautiful! Have pinned and will definitely be making this for lunch one day soon. Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Katie, thank you for sharing! This combination was really good, but anyone can make one according to their food preferences and availability. It’s a very versatile recipe!
I have to confess here i am in love with your bowls!
Oh, I love them too, it took me quite a while to find them 🙂
This is a beautiful nourishing bowl – what a lovely combination of fantastic foods with the treat of an egg on top!
Mary
Thank you Mary! It’s a delicious and versatile meal, you can adapt it according to your own food preferences.
Love this!!! You are such a good photographer <3
https://aspoonfulofnature.wordpress.com/
Thank you so much, Anna! <3
are all of the ingredients served cold?
Tonya, it’s all up to you. I like to have this with warm rice and freshly roasted sweet potatoes, but if I’d use ingredients that have been cooked a day before and kept in the fridge, I would avoid reheating as it diminishes the nutritional value.
I’m making this tonight. Thanks for the recipe Ana!
You’re very welcome, I hope you will like it!
This looks super yummy! I am always looking for new vegetarian meals. Thanks for sharing!
Jem
Thank you Janelle, this one is really nourishing because it contains all the macronutrients! I really hope you liked it! 🙂
This looks lovely but it is very misleading.. 635 calories and 48 grams of fat???!!
And a super high sodium count as well. No thank you.
Counting calories and fats is not my priority, but having a varied array of nutrients to support the natural functions of my body. Indeed, this bowl contains fats, but good ones coming from avocado, coconut oil and half of a soft-boiled egg, which your body needs for a balanced hormone production, for its natural detoxifying functions, for absorbing the nutrients. This blog isn’t about dieting, but about nourishing ourselves healthily.
Thank you! Those are much better priorities!! I’m glad you are about health and not statistics…
I thought this looked good, but I was completely unprepared for HOW MAGNIFICENTLY DELISH THIS IS! ! !
I used black (forbidden) rice. Followed the rest to a T. The ingredients complemented & enhanced each other- sweet, crunchy,acid,creamy, bursts of
intense flavor … I’m HOOKED!
And the prep invited me to consider a new way to have ingredients on hand to throw things like this together easily for lunches. My fridge is now stocked with large Tupperware containers of lentils, garbanzos, roasted sweet potatoes, steamed broccoli, black rice, quinoa, roasted beets, boiled eggs, nuts, seeds, lemons, avocados. Always had these things on hand, but never pre-made, ready to be thrown together.
This sounds obvious, I simply had then to make specific recipes, which makes the distance from fridge to mouth laborious and time-consuming.
A whole new world of ease has opened up to to me to support consistently eating healthier instead off grabbing the frozen burrito or making scrambled eggs bc I’m starving.
I am so happy you found this idea useful! It was definitely a time saviour for me, and a really easy way to stay away from frozen food. Making nourushing bowls like this one is a small step towards a healthier diet, but every small thing is essential for the whole. Thanks for sharing your feed-back!
Hmmmmm gorgious!
I used romanesco cabbage (kind of like cauliflower) instead of broccoli, carrots for the orange touch, and what seeds I had on hand.
I had never thought of mixing all those ingredients together, but I think you’ve changed my life 😉 I usually hate anything cabbage-related, but here it harmonizes with the avocado and nuts, it’s wonderful.
I do prefer a beetroot-free version though, I think it’s too acid and stands out in all that creaminess and sweetness 🙂
Romanesco sounds like a very good idea for replacing broccoli, they are actually part of the same magic healing Cruciferous family and have similar health benefits! I’m really happy you found this idea inspiring – it’s just a starting point and you can play with the ingredients any way you prefer, as long as you stick with whole ingredients. Thanks for your feed-back 🙂
I’m confused about the organic “pasture feed” egg. Hens won’t lay without laying mash and they like to eat bugs as well. Although it’s a cute sight of happy hens feeding off pastures, it’s not reality.
This sounds simple and delicious! Thank you for sharing.
Thank you Tina 🙂
5 minutes prep time and 5 minutes to cook… what a load of bollocks
As all the ingredients are already cooked, you just need 5 mins to boil the egg and 5 mins to assemble.