Wholefoods Bowl.

I am always talking to clients about how to best prepare easy, nutritious meals that tick all of the boxes. People often find themselves frustrated, feeling like they are constantly following complicated recipes and cooking time-consuming meals that are different every night and keep everyone happy. Time and time again - I come back to the faithful wholefoods bowl - where ingredients can be prepped in advance and stored in the fridge and you can use whatever you have left that needs to be cooked up. There is always leftovers!

A little secret: I rely on these myself - all. of. the. time. Just because I work in the field of Nutrition, doesn’t always mean I have ample spare time to be cooking myself fresh meals every day. It’s vital for me to prepare in advance because I understand the importance of fuelling myself with beneficial foods to keep myself full of energy and thriving.

Wholefood bowls provide you with a balanced meal (I still believe in complex carbohydrates, good quality fats and protein; a balance of macronutrients). They are full of nutrients, polyphenols, the all-important (and completely underrated) fibre PLUS flavour, can be prepared earlier, taken with you for a big day on the go, as well as allowing you to be creative about what you want to have in them. Being that diversity of food intake leads to a diversity of microbiome and diversity of microbiome is associated with better health outcomes - this is a great way to begin to diversify your meals with the least amount of effort. That’s also a big win.

Here is an easy formula to get you started. You can pre-prepare a few different options for the week ahead, for example by pre-cooking complex carbs, vegetables and proteins.

All of the greens.

2 cups make the ideal base: Spinach, kale, rocket, mixed salad leaves, sprouts and microgreens, silverbeet.

Add the rainbow.

1-2 cups. The more colours the better, for a variety of polyphenols and fibres: Carrots, cabbage, tomatoes, cucumber, zucchini, broccoli/broccolini, cauliflower, mushrooms, beans, capsicum, corn, pumpkin, snow peas, beets, celery, asparagus, fennel, brussels sprouts. WHATEVER.

Complex carbohydrates.

1/2 a cup cooked. They are higher in fibre and digest more slowly. Sweet potato/potato, brown/wild rice, quinoa, legumes, beans, pearl barley, freekeh, couscous, a slice of wholegrain sourdough, wholemeal pasta.

Choose a protein source.

Around a palm size - Can be prepared in SO many different ways. Chicken, turkey, beef, grilled fish, good quality canned sardines/mackerel/tuna, salmon, eggs, tofu/tempeh, lentils and legumes for plant sources.

Don’t skimp on the healthy fats.

Avocado, olive oil, olives, flaxseed oil, tahini, nuts, seeds, nut butter, hard cheese, feta/goats cheese, cashew cheese.

Nourishing add-ons and extra flavours. OH SO GOOD.

Fermented veggies like kimchi, sauerkraut, nori seaweed, nutritional yeast, hummus, garlic, pickles, capers, chilli, lime, all the herbs and spices (I love coriander but absolutely get me away from dill), sea salt, lemon juice.

Homemade dressings are the best.

Seriously simple I find is always best so the flavour of all your yummy and quality ingredients shine through and you can avoid all of those unnecessary extra ingredients in store bought sauce and dressings. You can make them with olive oil, lemon, apple cider vinegar, yoghurt, tamari or use some hummus or Gevity mayo (I pre-warned you about this addiction).

I can’t wait to see all of your creative wholefood bowl variations!!

Sarah Kate.