The Game Changing Buddha Bowls

Whenever we talk to people about eating plant-based food, we usually hear these concerns: 

• But preparing the food takes so much effort! 

• I never feel satiated enough! 

• I’m not as good a cook as you! 

• I don’t really like vegetables that much! 

Trust me, I hear you. I’ve been there. However, after spending the last 10 years learning the craft of eating this way, I’d like to address your concerns. 

This is why I would like to tell you about my favourite dish that dispels a lot of these apprehensions. Drum roll!  

Let me introduce you to what we have for lunch everyday: a Buddha Bowl. Learning how to make this enables you to not just survive on a plant-based lifestyle but thrive. 

A lot of people think that eating plant-based / vegan food means buying lots of Linda McCartney sausages, Beyond Meat burgers, non-dairy cheese etc. Sure – those products are ok once in a while if you’re trying to move off consuming animal products and really miss the taste of a cheeseburger but by going down that route you miss out on eating in a way that will really allow you to reap the benefits of eating plant-based. 

You might have heard of the concept of eating a rainbow: this is the Buddha Bowl if you do it right. Eating a little bit of something of each colour means that you get lots of different kinds of vitamins and minerals without really having to remember which veg gives what benefit. 

We’re talking: 

• Reds: tomatoes, peppers 

• Purples (which is supposed to be the best colour to consume of all): red cabbage, beetroot, purple sweet potatoes, purple cauliflower, aubergine 

• Greens: lettuce, kale, broccoli, green beans, pumpkin seeds, seaweed, avocado, cucumber 

• Orange: carrots, sweet potatoes 

• Yellow: turmeric, cabbage, artichokes 

• Browns: lentils, nuts, seeds, beans 

• Beige: potatoes, quinoa, kamut, buckwheat, hummus 

• White: radishes, cauliflower 

• Black: olives 

OK so you’re probably now balking and thinking that you could never prepare all that for lunch each day but we do! We take advantage of the fact that plant-based food keeps a lot longer in the fridge than animal products. Most things last a week. So we generally prepare just one or two dishes every other day – and everything else comes out of Tupperware! 

I should point out: we don’t eat each of the products listed there each day – but those are some examples of the kinds of things that you should be thinking about. The NHS recommends we eat 5 portions of fruit & veg a day; better health advice is to aim to eat 30 different plants a week; we think we probably get 15 each lunchtime! 

We also make a big point of addressing the other criticism of plant-based food: it’s not satiating enough. Karolina and I are both very active so we have decent appetites – and we crave protein. Karolina makes a big play of pointing out that women going through perimenopause need more protein, so this is a good illustration of how to do it. Yes, protein is in most of the things listed above but not in super large quantities so you would be hungry again a couple of hours later. Therefore, we always look to include 2-3 portions from the below list: 

• Tofu 

• Seitan 

• Tempeh 

• Lentils 

• Beans 

• Nuts & Seeds 

Right, you’re probably now rapidly googling what on earth seitan and tempeh are; let alone how to prepare them! I’m going to explain – it gives me a good opportunity to introduce the new recipes page on the website! 😊 

Unlike the plant-based meats you find in supermarkets, these are not ultra processed foods (UPFs). Yes, tofu, seitan and tempeh are minimally processed but are not UPFs. Just like, a home-made soup is minimally processed when you make it! Moreover, these products – unlike meat and dairy – give you protein without also giving you lots of saturated fat. Why is this important? Karolina goes into it in more detail in her upcoming course on insulin resistance and how to lose weight without dieting… but the quick answer is that fat is metabolised into the body first, ahead of carbohydrates. When your liver & muscles first absorb fat from your blood following a fat-rich meal, they accept fatty acids as their primary energy source. This keeps glucose trapped in the blood because of these fatty acids gaining access to the tissues first and blocking insulin from working – remember insulin is the gatekeeper that allows glucose in – creating a perfect scenario for insulin resistance and in the long-term potential Type 2 diabetes and a multitude of other illnesses.  

So in summary, it’s best to minimise fat where it's not needed whilst prioritising other nutrient-dense foods.

Forget skinless chicken breasts cooked on a George Foreman grill: tofu, seitan and tempeh are the leanest high-protein foods you can eat! 

It’s also the kind of food you should eat if you’re inspired by The Game Changers.  

And the Buddha Bowl principle dovetails very nicely with the recommendations of Dr Michael Greger “How not to die” . He shows us what we should be striving for by putting together a list of a Daily Dozen things to eat / practice. And guess what? This Buddha Bowl ticks 6-8 of those boxes.  

Despite there being recipes for some of these dishes in our Buddha Bowl, a lot of what we put on the plate comes straight out the fridge. EG: 

• Lettuce 

• Tomatoes 

• Radishes 

• Avocado 

• Olives 

• Shelled hemp seed to sprinkle on top 

• Hummus (homemade or store-bought) 

• Beetroot in vinegar (yes, we often use store-bought!) 

Or we cook the ingredients in the simplest way possible. When combined with other products, they’re not bland or boring. We simmer quinoa or lentils on the stove and then go back to whatever we were doing. Or if we wanted, we might get more elaborate: Sun Dried Tomato Quinoa; Lentils, The Proper Way. If we have some broccoli left over from last night’s dinner, that gets thrown in, too. 

So what of the recipes? Well, we would typically have a few of these dishes on the go. And, as I said, each one will last 4-6 days in the fridge so it’s not too time consuming. 

• Caramelised Baked Tofu 

• “Smoked Ham” Seitan 

• Sauteed Tempeh with Kale 

• Carrot Ginger & Mustard Salad 

• Miso Tahini Purple Salad 

• Braised Cabbage 

However, any of the dishes in the “Bits & Bobs” or “Salad” sections of the Recipes page can be added to the bowl. Karolina often makes a tray of roast potatoes in olive oil, which are fantastic. 

Oh and did I mention bread? We would have a slice or two of the Seeds, Nuts & Cranberry Yeast-less Bread (which is just as good toasted on day 4 as freshly made) topped with cashew nut cheese! 

But we do have those days, too, when life gets in the way, and we find that nothing is prepared. So this is when the Buddha Bowl mainly consists of things preserved in jars: lacto-fermented cucumbers (brine), beetroot, sauerkraut, mushrooms, artichokes etc plus some salad bits, beans from a tin. We’ve even used baked beans! Throw in some walnuts and pumpkin seeds and you’re done! The point is that this dish is not prescribed as to how you make it – the key is in the variation of the nutrients. Most carnivores are used to their “meat and two veg” in their meal; when first going plant-based, the temptation is to have fake meat and two veg and there is a time and place for it but what you should be aiming to do instead is to eat a rainbow! 

We have had people visit us for lunch who are not just carnivores but claim not to even like vegetables very much, and they have fallen in love with the look and taste of this bowl. They then leave feeling alive and energised… and inspired!  

So give it a go – once you get over the initial learning curve it should only take 15-20 minutes of preparation per day. It’s way cheaper than ready-made food plus you can't put a price tag on health anyway.