Vegan gratitude bowl recipe
This fresh and tasty vegan recipe was created by Marie Kacouchia, author of the cookbook Vegan Africa: Plant-Based Recipes from Ethiopia to Senegal.
Bursting with flavour and texture, the gratitude bowl will leave you feeling wonderfully healthy and perhaps a little smug. Best of all, you can adapt the recipe depending on what you have in, and even use up leftovers like roasted veg.
"The rule with bowls is that there are no rules," says Marie. "Add your favourite ingredients, or whatever makes you feel good. You can sub out white rice for brown rice or another grain of your choice.
"For this dish, I always say that the presentation is as important as the ingredients. I often serve this dish in a calabash bowl, a container made from the hard shell of a gourd, which can also be used in spiritual practice."
For US ingredients and measurements, use the drop-down menu and select 'Cups'.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 6 okra, trimmed and halved lengthways
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pinch black pepper
- 1 ripe plantain, peeled and thinly sliced
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 50 g white rice, drained and rinsed
- 1 avocado, peeled and sliced
- 1 beetroot, cooked and diced
- 1 small sweet pepper, seeded and chopped (optional)
- 75 g roasted peanuts
- 15 g chopped coriander
- 15 g chopped mint
- 1 lime, juiced
- 2 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp agave nectar
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 1 tsp grated ginger
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pinch black pepper
Details
- Cuisine: African
- Recipe Type: Vegan
- Difficulty: Easy
- Preparation Time: 25 mins
- Cooking Time: 30 mins
- Serves: 2
Step-by-step
- Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over a medium heat, then add the okra, cumin, salt and pepper. Lightly brown the okra on each side for about 5 minutes.
- Season the plantain slices with paprika and salt. Heat the coconut oil in a frying pan and cook the plantain until caramelised (about 2 minutes on each side).
- Place the rice in a small pot with 120 ml (½ cup) water. Bring to the boil and season with salt, then reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook until the rice is tender and the water is completely absorbed (about 10 minutes).
- Arrange the rice, okra, plantain and other ingredients in a bowl.
- To make the dressing, mix the lime juice, sesame oil, agave, soy sauce, garlic and ginger. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle over the salad before serving.
Recipe extracted from Vegan Africa: Plant-Based Recipes from Ethiopia to Senegal by Marie Kacouchia (Éditions La Plage 2021, Translation by The Experiment, LLC, 2022).
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