5-minute Mediterranean bowl – healthy meal prep lunch

The first time we saw a recipe for a Mediterranean Bowl our initial thought was “WTF is a Mediterranean Bowl?”.

Not much has changed since then.

But here it is, our version of a satisfying Mediterranean Bowl.

So, so good.

Seriously, WTF is it?

Well, it’s a bowl with all our favorite things.

This healthy vegan recipe has got some salad in there, some hummus in there, some chickpeas, some paleo & vegan tzatziki and then some quinoa, which we all agree is Mediterranean, alright?

One thing we know about this recipe: It’s freakin amazin and it’s the solid vegan meal prep recipe.

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It’s healthy and can be made in 5 minutes.

Well, if you have the hummus, the tzatziki, + the quinoa ready of course.

Other than that – the salad takes a second, but not too long.

Now, this is the kind of recipe that we would meal prep all the different parts for (except the salad).

We make the hummus, the tzatziki, the quinoa – and keep them in separate containers in the fridge.

Usually not longer than 3 days, because after that

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Hello, food poisoning. Okay, not food poisoning, but a little gross.

As you might know – we're not great at arranging anything, so the hummus and tzatziki look like they’ve just been slapped on top of everything else. Probably because that’s what we did.

So, there – you have our permission to not arrange everything perfectly.

How it comes together

Here’s the overly complicated process we went through:

First We chopped a cucumber, some tomatoes, some spring onions, some parsley, mixed those in a bowl with some salt and added olive oil, no vinegar (but if you like vinegar – feel free like a bird to add some). Here’s the recipe for a similar salad with feta cheese from a while ago.

Then We grabbed a bowl and started arranging as if we know what we're doing.

here with tricolor quinoa, green olives and some capers in the salad

We put in the salad we just made, then added some olives, opened a can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained them – added like 1/3 cup, then 2-3 tbsp of cooked quinoa, and then slapped around 2 generous tbsp hummus and a little bit, about a tsp, tzatziki (we had made a paleo version with sunflower sauce like this one but you can also use regular tzatziki).

At last, we ground some black pepper and that was it.

Mmmmm garlic’s in the air.

Sometimes we wonder why we eat anything else. We felt awesome while & after eating this.

Health Benefits

Obviously this vegan bowl is healthy, but let’s take a look at some of the ingredients:

tomatoes. the most famous source of lycopene – a powerful antioxidant that prevents cancer and cardiovascular disease. Tomatoes are also one of the 8 best foods for healthy skin.

cucumber. cucumber might seem like nothing, but it’s highly alkaline which is important to prevent muscle and bone loss.

parsley. rich in vitamin C and carotenoids, fights diabetes and boosts your immune system. Parsley is also one of the 15 vegan foods that are high-protein, but low-carb.

chickpeas. great source of fiber for a healthy gut + plant protein, help control blood sugar and are good for weight loss.

quinoa. great source of plant protein, magnesium and contains anti-cancer phytochemicals. Quinoa also can support weight loss.

Meal Prep For The Week

If you don’t have much time to cook on weekdays, it’s a good idea to make this recipe ahead. And if you need more ideas – we have an entire list of meal prep-friendly Mediterranean recipes like this one right here, if you want to check it out.

Now, for these bowls: prepare the hummus, tzatziki, quinoa and chickpeas – these will be good for 3-4 days. Make sure to use airtight meal prep containers. Add the salad ingredients separately, because they do spoil pretty quickly, so don’t make the salad ahead.

This satisfying Mediterranean bowl is vegan, gluten-free, full of fiber and antioxidants.

• Yield: 1
• Prep: 5 minutes
• Total: 10 minutes

Ingredients

Salad

• 1 small cucumber, cubed
• 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
• small bunch of parsley, chopped
• 1-2 spring onions, thinly chopped
• olive oil

For the bowl

• 7-8 olives
• 1/3 cup chickpeas, canned, rinsed & drained
• 1 tbsp tzatziki
• 2 tbsp hummus
• 2-3 tbsp quinoa, cooked
• black pepper, freshly ground

Method

1. Salad: Wash the vegetables, chop them, place in a mixing bowl. Add olive oil, vinegar, and salt to taste.
2. Assemble your bowl: Salad, rinsed and drained chickpeas, the olives, quinoa. In the middle/on top: 2 tbsp hummus and 1 tbsp tzatziki + freshly ground black pepper. Ready.

Notes

Instead of tzatziki, here we used this recipe.

This similar salad would also go well in this bowl (not vegan).

Meal Prep option: Keep all parts of this Mediterranean Bowl in separate containers in the fridge and assemble just before serving. Instead of the fresh salad you can also pre-cut a cucumber and use whole cherry tomatoes.