Chimichurri Bowls

How to make

These bowls take a little planning to them, and that’s where the meal prep idea comes in. I’ve seen them called simple grain bowl recipes, nourish bowls, or buddha bowls as well. But they are totally worth the planning because they’re:

• Healthy, loaded with veggies, fiber, protein, and vitamins
• hearty meal that will keep you full and satisfied for a long time
• The recipe is versatile with lots of changes that we’ll talk about
• Great to use up herbs from the garden
• naturally gluten free

Roast the sweet potatoes

Cut a large sweet potato into bite sized pieces, about ½ to 1-inch in size. You want your sweet potato chunks to be roughly uniform in size so they all cook at about the same rate. Place the cubed sweet potatoes in a large cast iron skillet or on a baking sheet, and drizzle with oil, sprinkle with cumin, salt, and pepper, and toss to coat. Roast in 400° F oven, turning occasionally, for 25-30 minutes, or until crisp and browned outside and just tender inside. Store roasted sweet potatoes in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Make the bulgur

Combine 1 cup bulgur and 2 cups water in a pot. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to a simmer, and cook until tender, about 12 minutes. Drain off any excess liquid and fluff bulgur with a fork. Store cooked bulgur in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Make the Chimichurri

Chimichurri is an uncooked sauce used as a condiment. It was originally from Argentinian, Uruguayan, Paraguayan, and Brazilian cuisines, but has become widely adopted in many Latin America cuisines.

Place all chimichurri ingredients in the bowl of a food processor, and pulse, scraping down sides occasionally. Transfer to small serving bowl. Cover and let stand at room temperature. The chimichurri really benefits from resting for a little bit, even if it is only for 10-15 minutes. Store chimichurri in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.

 

Prep the veggies and assemble the bowls

Load up your bowls!

Clean leafy green with ease in a salad spinner.

Toss the fresh cleaned spinach leaves and cleaned arugula together. Layer on remaining goodies: cucumber slices, edamame, avocado slices, roasted sweet potatoes (can be warm or cold from the fridge), cooked bulgur (can be warm or cold from the fridge), smoked salmon broken into pieces, crumbled queso fresco, and top with dollops of chimichurri. 

A couple of shopping tips

Edamame: I like to buy shelled edamame. It’s really easy to use. You can find it in the produce section or the frozen vegetables section. I always keep a bag of the frozen edamame in the kitchen to help build a balanced meal.

Smoked salmon

I really like the thick cuts of hot smoked salmon in these bowls. Thinner cuts of cold smoked salmon, or even lox, can be used in these bowls as well, but isn’t quite as toothsome.

Storage and meal prep

There are a couple of options for how to best store this.

I like to make the sweet potatoes, grains, and chimichurri and store them separately. Then assemble the bowls as I’m ready to eat.

You can also assemble the bowls completely, cover them tightly, and store in the fridge. I recommend adding the chimichurri right before serving so it doesn’t get soggy or wilted.

These large blue storage bowls with lids are great, both for eating the salads, and also for storing them. I have bought several sets of these from Walmart. I couldn’t find these exact ones on their website (but can always find them in the store). These ones on their website are very close, as are these from Amazon.

more bowl recipes for dinner

I’m a big fan of bowls. So nutrient rich. So good for you. If you love them as much as I do, be sure to check out my Winter Grain Bowl, Asian Fusion Bowl, Sushi Bowl, and Shrimp & Mexican Street Corn Bowl. And my newest obsession, Cottage Cheese Sweet Potato Bowls.

Changes to the recipe

These types of bowls are great because they’re so flexible. Add more of what you love, leave out what you don’t like. Use up leftovers. Or, customize them so they’re different ever day of the week. When I worked at my corporate job, I use to put out 5 bowls and fill each one slightly differently – three got spinach, two got arugula, 4 got sweet potatoes, two got shredded carrots, and so on. These are infinitely changeable, and a great way to survive a busy week!

Grains: swap up your favorite grains. Use brown rice, barley, quinoa, farro, white rice, or sushi rice.

Protein: switch up the protein with shrimp (here’s the recipe for the Spicy Grilled Shrimp in the bowl above), tofu, any fish, shredded chicken, steak, or pulled pork.

Leafy greens: kale, romaine lettuce, spring mix, or even iceberg will all work.

Veggies: Add roasted or sautéed veggies like zucchini, broccoli, bell peppers, Brussels sprouts, or cauliflower.

Cheese: swap the queso fresco for feta, cotija, goat cheese, or your favorite.

Dressing or sauce: heck, even mix up your bowl up by using different dressings or sauces like pesto, Cilantro Lime Dressing, Italian Dressing, Ginger Dressing, or Cottage Cheese Ranch.

Toppings: add some nuts for crunch, like almonds or walnuts, top with tortilla strips,

Vegan: make the bowl vegan by leaving off the smoked salmon and cheese.