Nourish Bowls for a Happy, Healthy New Year
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If you're like me, then you totally overindulged this holiday season. My pants are a bit more snug than they were a month ago, and I'm afraid to even step on the scale. The new year means it's time to get back on track with eating healthy and exercising every day (unfortunately.)
The good news is, my mom got me a great new cook book for Christmas that's loaded with balanced, healthy recipes. It's called "Nourish Bowls: Simple and nutritious balanced meals in a bowl." I've decided to go through this book one recipe at a time, and review those recipes here! I've already made 4 or 5 of them, and it's been an interesting journey.
What is a nourish bowl anyway?
It's basically a combination of every nutritional element you need for a balanced meal, all mixed together in one bowl. Those elements are:
Protein
Vegetables & Fruit
Leafy Greens
Complex Carbohydrates
Healthy Fats
Toppings & Dressings
This cook book begins by outlining how much of each element you should include in your bowl, and lists out different ingredients that you can choose from to fulfill each category.
Poached Egg & Miso Onion Oat Groats Bowl
Today, I'm going to write about a breakfast bowl that I tried this past week. The recipes in this book don't have titles, they just have a list of the main ingredients at the top of every page. There is a color coded circle next to each ingredient listed to indicate what nutritional element the ingredient fulfills. Today's recipe lists the following key ingredients:
Poached Egg (protein)
Miso and Onion Oat Groats (vegetables & complex carbs)
Spinach (leafy greens)
Sesame Seeds (healthy fats)
Mixed Cress Leaves (toppings & dressings)
The Ingredients
One problem I've had with this cook book is they don't actually list out all the ingredients anywhere in the recipe - you actually have to fully read through the recipe (multiple times to be safe) to make sure you have all the ingredients you need.
The second problem I've had with this cook book is actually finding all the ingredients the recipes call for. If you are clueless like me, then you read the recipe above and said "what in the heck are OAT GROATS?" There is an ingredient like that in every recipe.
If you grocery shop at Whole Foods, you probably won't have as hard a time as I do. I refuse to give up my weekly trip to Market Basket because it seriously saves me soooo much money, but it means I can't get all the ingredients the recipe calls for. In some cases, I've substituted certain ingredients in these recipes, but I've made sure to stay true to the nutritional elements in each bowl. I'll be sure to specify my substitutions in the recipe below.
Enter: Thrive Market
I've heard so much about Thrive Market, an online store selling organic and natural foods. I decided to check it out and see if they had some of the ingredients I was struggling to find. Sure enough, they did! I'm officially hooked. If you have any trouble finding ingredients at your local grocery store, give Thrive Market a try. The prices are excellent, and they have almost all the obscure ingredients your local store is probably missing.
Also, if you use my link, you'll get 25% off your first order! (Full disclosure: If you use my link and become a member, I'll get $25)
Ok! That was a long intro. Let's get into this recipe.
Egg & Oats Breakfast Bowl
Serves: 1
Ingredients:
1/3 cup Oat Groats (or Rolled Oats)
1 tsp Olive Oil
1 small onion or shallot, chopped
1 tsp white or brown miso paste mixed with 1 1/4 cups boiled water (or 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth mixed with 1/2 cup water)
2 Large handfuls of Spinach
1 Egg
1 tsp Vinegar
Black or White Sesame Seeds
Mixed Cress Leaves
Directions:
The night before:
If you are using Oat Groats, soak them in water overnight, then rinse and drain them in the morning. I couldn't find Oat Groats, so I used rolled oats instead and found the recipe came out best if I did not soak the rolled oats overnight.
In the morning:
Heat 1 tsp oil in a saucepan, then gently fry the shallot or onion (whichever you prefer to use) until tender (about 2 minutes.)
Once the onion/shallot is done, add the drained oat groats or dry rolled oats to the pan, and pour in the miso paste or chicken broth mixture.
Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer gently for about 15 minutes.
Bring a small pan or saucepan of water to a light boil. Add 1 tsp of vinegar to the water. Stir water so it's spinning, then crack in one egg. Keep spinning the water gently around the egg, then poach for 3-4 minutes. Once the egg is cooked to your liking, remove it with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Once the oats are fully cooked, stir the spinach into the oat mixture and heat until wilted.
Place the oat mixture at the bottom of a bowl, and top with the egg. Sprinkle over some sesame seeds, and top with a few cress leaves.
Enjoy!
This recipe seems to have a lot of steps, but it was honestly pretty easy and quick to put together. It was also delicious. I'd love to try it some day with oat groats and miso paste instead of my substitutions of rolled oats and chicken broth. If I do, I'll add an update below! For now, I'm going to continue making it my way. It's so tasty and filling - I just can't get enough!
