Stir Fry Zen Crunch Bowl (Vegan, Gluten Free)
For this meatless Monday, I bring you an amazingly flavorful super crunchy stir-fry Zen Bowl! I am so proud of this recipe- it's so healthy, vegan, gluten free and SOOOOO good!
For this meatless Monday, I bring you an amazingly flavorful super crunchy stir-fry Zen Bowl! I am so proud of this recipe- it's so healthy, vegan, gluten free and SOOOOO good!
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1/2 cup vegetable stock
- 1 1/2 cups shredded carrots
- 2 cups cooked millet quinoa or brown rice
- crispy asian roasted chickpeas (15-ounces)- see r optional but recommended
- 1 crown broccoli broken into florets (about 2 cups)
- 1 cup snow peas
- 2 cups asian greens (or kale and spinach)
- 1 1/2 cups red cabbage chopped (about 1/4 of a cabbage head)
- 1/3 cup roasted cashews
- 1 tablespoons miso paste (yellow)
- 2 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce
- 1/8 teaspoon ground sea salt
- 2 teaspoons agave syrup (or honey)
- Carbohydrate 15.038880211744 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 8.88077500684734 g
- Fiber 2.92499992634464 g
- Protein 4.25702291668716 g
- Saturated Fat 1.55850541763899 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (305g)
- Sodium 1266.71212329457 mg
- Sugar 12.1138802853994 g
- Trans Fat 0.442996250301281 g
- Calories 149 calories
Step-by-step
- Cook millet, quinoa or brown rice and set aside. You'll need about 2 cups cooked for this recipe (which was equal to 1 cup dried millet).
- Make the roasted chickpeas. See the recipe here.
- Add sesame oil to a large pan or wok over medium high heat. Add broccoli and cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add carrots, snow peas and vegetable stock. Stir and cook for 5 minutes. Add greens and cook another 2 minutes or until greens are wilted. Remove from heat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- To make the dressing, combine miso, lemon juice, fresh ginger, tamari, sea salt, rice vinegar, and agave syrup. Stir with a small whisk.
- In a bowl, scoop into different sections: millet, quinoa or brown rice, broccoli/snow pea mixture, red cabbage, roasted chickpeas, and cashews. Drizzle with sauce and serve.
Replacing the recommended millet, quinoa, or brown rice with short-grain white rice shifts the textural foundation from a distinct, separate grain structure to a cohesive, slightly sticky base that absorbs the miso dressing differently. Maintaining structural integrity across dense brassicas and delicate leaves requires managing moisture through targeted cooking durations. Broccoli florets need three minutes in a pan heated to medium-high with sesame oil before any liquid is introduced; this brief sear develops Maillard compounds on the surface cells. Introducing a half cup of vegetable stock immediately after the initial sear creates steam to soften the snow peas and shredded carrots within five minutes without boiling away their cell walls. Adding tender Asian greens like spinach or kale in the final two minutes prevents them from releasing excessive water and turning into a purée. Miso paste provides glutamates that interact with the sodium in tamari to amplify savory perception, while rice vinegar and lemon juice supply acetic and citric acids to balance the concentrated starches and lipids from roasted cashews. Whisking the dressing components thoroughly ensures the yellow miso disperses evenly rather than clumping in isolated pockets. Arranging the cooked grains, steamed brassicas, raw red cabbage, roasted chickpeas, and toasted cashews in distinct structural zones allows each element to retain its specific moisture level until combined on the palate. Raw red cabbage contributes a crunchy texture through its rigid cellular walls, which remain unaltered by heat because the vegetable is applied fresh during assembly.
