Grain Bowl

Introducing a delicious and nutritious Grain Bowl that will soon become a favorite. This dish is a quick and easy way to enjoy a balanced meal that is both satisfying and delicious. This bowl combines tender farro, crisp cucumber, juicy tomato, creamy avocado, crunchy chickpeas, and tangy feta. But the real star of the show is the amazing lemon-tahini dressing, which can be made ahead of time and used throughout the week. Assembling these grain bowls is a cinch, and you can enjoy a delicious and healthy meal in no time!

My Current Go-To Lunch

This Grain Bowl has become my favorite for a quick and delicious lunch these days. It’s the ultimate trifecta – delicious, quick to make, and packed with nutritious ingredients.

I love using farro as the base grain, but you can use any grain you like such as brown rice, quinoa, bulgur, or barley. The combination of crunchy veggies, creamy avocado, and tangy feta makes this dish so satisfying, but the real secret to this dish’s success is the amazing dressing.

This quick-and-easy dressing is also dairy-free! We achieve the creamy texture with tahini. With the added lemon zest, garlic powder, oregano, olive oil, and red wine vinegar, it’s bursting with flavor and is the perfect complement to the grain and veggies.

By making everything ahead of time, you can easily assemble this Grain Bowl throughout the week for a quick and healthy meal. It’s a great way to brighten up your cold winter days with its fresh and vibrant flavors.

Grain Bowl: The Dressing

Introducing the star of this Grain Bowl: the dressing! This dressing is not only creamy and luscious but it’s also dairy-free and vegan! A few more details:

• Tahini paste. If you’re unfamiliar with tahini, it’s a paste made from sesame seeds that has a rich, nutty flavor (kind of like peanut butter, but with sesame seeds!). Not all tahini pastes are equal, so be sure to get a high-quality one. My personal favorite is Soom Foods® Sesame Tahini Paste. It’s smooth and creamy and provides the perfect base for this dressing. 
• Olive oil. We recommend extra virgin olive oil for this recipe.
• Pure maple syrup. This dressing uses a natural sweetener–maple syrup is made by boiling down sap from maple trees. Unlike corn syrup or pancake syrup, it contains only one ingredient and is more expensive due to the intensive process of making it.
• Fresh lemons. Avoid using bottled lemon juice– it doesn’t compare to the taste of freshly squeezed lemons.  Since we’re also using the zest to add an extra layer of flavor, using fresh lemons is essential. We love zesting the lemon with a microplane and then juicing with this citrus juicer. 

How To Make This Grain Bowl (Tips)

Here are some tips for making the Grain Bowl recipe:

1. Cook the farro ahead of time: Fixing the farro ahead of time makes assembly much quicker and easier at mealtime. You can store it in the refrigerator for up to a week.
2. Make the dressing in advance: The dressing can also be made ahead of time and refrigerated for 5-7 days. Just make sure to give it a good shake or stir before using it again.
3. Adjust seasoning to taste: Taste the dressing and add salt, pepper, or additional lemon juice to taste. The same goes for all of the Grain Bowl ingredients. Adjust the seasoning to your liking.
4. Use English/Persian/Salad cucumbers in this recipe: These types of cucumbers are smaller and have a thin skin, making them ideal for adding to salads and grain bowls. They are also less watery, more crunchy, and seedless. They have a sweeter, milder flavor compared to regular cucumbers. 
5. Use a ripe avocado: To test for ripeness, gently press the skin around the stem end. If it yields to gentle pressure, it’s ripe. Ripe avocados provide such a great creaminess and flavor in these bowls.

More Nutritious Bowls

• Nourish Bowls with a hot honey sauce
• Buddha Bowl with chickpeas, sweet potato, and avocado
• Sweet Potato Buddha Bowl with an herby cilantro sauce
• Big Mac In A Bowl with the best burger sauce
• Harvest Bowl with butternut squash and chicken

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5 from 3 votes

Grain Bowl

By Chelsea Lords

Introducing a delicious and nutritious Grain Bowl that will soon become a favorite. This dish is a quick and easy way to enjoy a balanced meal that is both satisfying and delicious. This bowl combines tender farro, crisp cucumber, juicy tomato, creamy avocado, crunchy chickpeas, and tangy feta. But the real star of the show is the amazing lemon-tahini dressing, which can be made ahead of time and used throughout the week. This means that assembling these Grain Bowls is a cinch, and you can enjoy a delicious and healthy meal in no time!

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes minutes

Servings: 1 bowl (enough dressing for 4-6 bowls)

Ingredients 

USMetric

 

1x2x3x

Per 1 Bowl (Easily scales up!)

• ▢ ½ cup cooked farro (or another grain you like! Note 1)
• ▢ ⅓ cup each: diced cucumber, halved cherry tomatoes, and chickpeas
• ▢ ¼ of 1 large ripe avocado, diced
• ▢ 2 tablespoons finely diced red onion
• ▢ 1 tablespoon feta, optional
• ▢ Optional, for serving: fresh parsley, lemon, salt & pepper

Dressing (See Note 2)

• ▢ 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, plus 1 tsp zest
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
• ▢ 3 tablespoons tahini (Note 3)
• ▢ 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup 
• ▢ 2 tablespoons olive oil
• ▢ 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• ▢ 3/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• ▢ Fine sea salt and pepper

Instructions 

• DRESSING: Combine all of the ingredients in a wide-mouth glass jar. Season to taste (I add 1/2 tsp fine sea salt & 1/4 tsp pepper). Add lid and shake vigorously until well combined. Taste and adjust to personal preference. Store in the fridge until ready to use, shaking to re-combine before using.
  
• GRAIN BOWL: Add cooked farro, diced cucumber, diced or halved tomatoes, drained and rinsed chickpeas, diced avocado and red onion, along with feta to a large bowl or plate. Drizzle on the dressing (to taste). Serve with lemon wedges and fresh parsley. Sprinkle on additional salt/pepper as needed. Enjoy!
  
• STORAGE: When storing this grain bowl, it's best to keep the components separate and then combine them right before eating. This way, the farro and dressing remain fresh and the veggies stay crisp.

Video

Recipe Notes

Note 1: Farro: Use whatever grain you like best -- brown rice, quinoa, bulgur, barley, etc. I like to cook up a big batch of farro at the beginning of the week, using my favorite way to cook farro (so easy!). If you make the farro and dressing at the beginning of the week, daily Grain Bowl assembly goes SO fast!

Note 2: Dressing: If you want a change from tahini, try our tahini-free Greek Salad Dressing instead. This Lemon Vinaigrette is also a great option! The dressing included in this recipe makes enough for 4-6 Grain Bowls, depending on how much dressing you like. It stores well in the fridge for 5-7 days; give a good shake/stir before using.

Note 3: Tahini paste: If you're unfamiliar with tahini, it's a paste made from sesame seeds that has a rich, nutty flavor and delivers a lovely creaminess to the dressing. Not all tahini pastes are equal, so be sure to get a high-quality one. My personal favorite is Soom Foods® Sesame Tahini Paste. SO good!

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 1140kcal | Carbohydrates: 115g | Protein: 28g | Fat: 68g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 17g | Monounsaturated Fat: 36g | Cholesterol: 15mg | Sodium: 234mg | Potassium: 1211mg | Fiber: 22g | Sugar: 34g | Vitamin A: 254IU | Vitamin C: 28mg | Calcium: 319mg | Iron: 9mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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