Grounding Greens Bowl

If you haven’t been eating your vegetables lately and need to get yourself back down to earth with an infusion of greens, try this bowl.

This looks simple, and it is, but what you can’t see in the pictures is the lemon garlic glaze that gives a subtle and delicious flavour to everything. This may look like a pretty plain bowl of greens, but it doesn’t taste like it!

Twelve cups of greens for two people might seem like a lot, but don’t worry, it cooks down to a reasonable portion.

Ingredients

3 cloves garlic
1 bowl ice water
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup vegetable stock
2 tbsp Earth Balance or other vegan butter
2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp tamari
to taste sea salt
to taste freshly ground black pepper
12 cups chopped mixed leafy greens (e.g.kale, bok choy, Swiss chard, dandelion greens)
2 cups cooked brown basmati rice
1 avocado, chopped
2 tbsp Protein Boost (see below)
2 tbsp walnut halves
6 grilled tofu steaks (see below)

Directions

  1. Make the glaze: Bring 1 cup of water to a boil in a small saucepan.
  2. Add whole cloves of garlic. After 30 seconds, transfer garlic to a small bowl of ice water to cool. (This step will mellow the flavour of the garlic.) Once cool, slice thinly.
  3. Combine oil and garlic in small saucepan and cook over medium heat until garlic begins to brown, about 2 minutes.
  4. Add stock, bring to a boil, and cook until reduced by half, 5 to 10 minutes.
  5. Reduce heat to low. Whisk in Earth Balance, a little at a time, until fully incorporated into the glaze.
  6. Add lemon juice, tamari, and sea salt and pepper to taste. Remove pot from heat and set aside.
  7. Steam the greens: Put some water in a large frying pan or wok over high heat. (If greens are still damp, you will only need about ¼ cup. If they are dry, use ½ cup.)
  8. Add greens and cover. Let steam, stirring often, for a few minutes or until greens are tender. Ideally, when the greens are perfectly tender, the water will all have boiled away. If the water is gone and your greens aren’t done, add more water. If the greens are done and you still have water, drain it off.
  9. Remove pan from heat, add garlic glaze to the greens, and toss to mix well.
  10. Assemble: Scoop 1 cup of rice into each of 2 bowls, top each with half of the greens, half of the avocado, and 1 tbsp each of Protein Boost and walnuts.

 

Protein Boost
This mix of nuts and seeds is my favourite combo, but just go with whatever you have on hand.  You don’t need to go out of your way to get these exact ingredients – just use it as a general guideline for creating your own mix.

2 tbsp each:
raw pumpkin seeds
raw sunflower seeds
flax seed meal
sesame seeds
hemp hearts
chia seeds
finely chopped brazil nuts
finely chopped hazelnuts nuts
finely chopped cashew pieces
finely chopped pistachios

Directions

  1. Mix everything together.

 

Grilled Tofu Steaks
These tofu steaks go well on everything: salads, bowls, tacos, wraps, sandwiches… At the restaurants we grill them, but at home you can either cook them under the broiler, on a panini grill, on a barbecue, or in a frying pan with some oil.
Yield: 12-16 steaks, depending on the size of your block of tofu.

1 block firm tofu (350-450g)
1/2 cup tamari
2 cups water
2 tbsp ground coriander
4 tsp garlic powder

Directions

  1. Cut the tofu into slices, and then cut those slices on the diagonal to form triangular steaks.
  2. Mix remaining ingredients in a bowl and pour over tofu.
  3. Let marinate at least an hour, or up to overnight.
  4. To cook, either grill or pan fry with a little bit of canola oil over medium high heat until browned on both sides.