Dragon Bowls with Easy Vegan Option

*Please note: I recently updated Dragon Bowl post to include some new photos. You may notice some of the vegetable ingredients are different from the recipe. Also, the original images did not include an egg. If you are looking to make a vegan version, simply omit the egg! I’ve included the original photos at the bottom of the post incase you are attached to them for some strange reason. 

If you’ve been following this blog for awhile, you might be wondering if I eat anything but dessert and smoothies. If I could get away with it, I’d be eating brownies 24/7, but alas, the body needs nutrients. I’m a much better baker/sweet maker than I am savoury chef. Although, I have a strange and inexplicable gift for South East Asian cooking. Go figure.

One common evening meal in The Blenderist household is Dragon Bowls. Why are they called Dragon Bowls? I have no idea, that is what they call them at a famous vegetarian restaurant in Vancouver called The Naam. My bowls don’t follow any rules, but they usually look something like this…

Brown  Rice + Roasted Vegetables + Steamed Leafy Greens + Raw Crunchy Vegetables + Nutty Dressing or Sauce

It’s a pretty simple formula and it’s hard to go wrong. The most challenging part is making the dressing, and that really just takes some minute in Vitamix!

I just roast up whatever vegetables I have on hand. This time I used sweet potato, broccoli, cauliflower and chickpeas. Honestly, the chickpeas were a bit weird in this combo but they did add a nice crunchy texture. Sometimes I use squash or beets, whatever is kicking around. I am trying to get in the habit of roasting a bunch of veggies over the weekend, so I can use them in mid-week meals. Quick and easy!

Once the vegetables are roasted, I just pile them on top of some brown rice. You could also use quinoa or buckwheat soba noodles. Again, this dish is super versatile and not fussy. You can even skip the grains all together and serve it on a bed of cauliflower rice.

I top it with a mix of raw, crispy vegetables for texture and a bit of steamed greens for extra nutrients. Then, I drizzle it with a delicious, nutty sauce that adds protein and fat. This version has a coconut/peanut sauce* but if you have a favourite nutty, Asian style sauce you could use that. If you want some additional protein you can toss on some nuts, tofu, tempeh or beans. No rules!

*sometimes I add a bit of red curry paste to the sauce instead of sambal or sriracha. 

Dragon Bowls

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• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 45 minutes
• Total Time: 1 hour
• Yield: 4-6 servings

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Ingredients

• DRAGON BOWLS
• 4-6 cups mixed vegetables (cauliflower, sweet potato, broccoli, turnips)
• 1.5- 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 cups cooked brown rice
• 1 cup shredded carrots
• 1 cup cucumber thinly sliced
• 1 red pepper sliced
• 5 cups raw spinach
• SAUCE
• 1/2 cup canned coconut milk
• 1/2 cup natural peanut butter
• 1 thumb sized piece of ginger
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• 1.5 tsp of sesame oil
• 1..5 tsp soy sauce or coconut aminos
• 1.5 tsp sriracha or sambal

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Instructions

1. Pre-heat oven to 425F
2. Chop up your vegetables for roasting. Toss them in the olive oil and salt and spread out on a cookie sheet.
3. Bake for 40 minutes in total, but make sure to toss them over with a spatula around the 20 minute mark.
4. While they are baking, make the sauce. Put all the sauce ingredients in to a blender and mix on high until smooth.
5. Boil 2 cups of water and toss the spinach in until it wilts. Drain it and run it under cool water. Squeeze out the moisture and set aside.
6. Portion out 3/4 to 1 cup of rice, 1 cup of roast vegetables and a 1/4 of the spinach in to a bowl. Top with carrots, cucumber and red peppers.
7. Drizzle with a liberal amount of sauce.

Here are the old Dragon Bowl photos from when I originally posted this recipe back in 2014.