Beans and rice buddha bowls | meal prep

Fine, we don’t know what they have to do with Buddha, but these beans and rice bowls are definitely satisfying and great for meal prep. In fact, we pretty much ate them 4 days for lunch last week. We think this is the first time in our life that meal prepping actually worked and we didn’t throw everything out while feeling like a loser for not eating all our leftovers. We humans are funny creatures.

Whenever we felt a bit hungry, we'd put the rice and beans part in the radioactive incubator called “the microwave” (we guess radioactive wave was taken when they were naming it), heat it up and then serve with some salad, an notable cashew dressing similar to the tzatziki but with a bit more water and no cucumber and some pickled jalapenos and olives. SO so good. Especially after our attempt to eat only raw plants for 7 days.

It was an attempt because we only made it to 3 days after we realized there’s only so much you can do with cabbage, which was the only vegetable available this season aka deep winter.

However, cabbage goes well in these wonderful plant-based bowls with beans, rice and whatever toppings your heart desires!

Beans And Rice Meal Prep Buddha Bowls Ingredients

The list is long, but needed and it will hold you over for several days.

• Cooked beans of choice – you can use canned too
• Cooked rice – we were craving white rice, so we used basmati, but quinoa or whatever grain you want will work.
• Fresh produce – carrots, garlic, onion, cabbage, avocado, cucumber, lettuce are the main stars in the scenario. For the beans we will need carrot, garlic and onion and the rest of the vegetables are for the salad and toppings.
• Spices – paprika, cumin, oregano, crushed red pepper all make it into the bean mixture.
• Tomato paste – also for the beans.
• For the dressing – soaked cashews, garlic, lemon juice, dill and some water.
• With the toppings you can have whatever you want, but here’s what we decided to put on top of the beans and rice – cucumber (we know it’s not in season, but we WANTED it), red onion, pickled jalapenos, avocado and olives.

And that’s it!

How To Meal Prep The Beans And Rice Buddha Bowls

Depending on how many people you’re making these ahead for, you might need to adjust the measurements. The recipe will make 4 servings and since we were the only one eating meatless that week – it lasted us for 4 days! Which was solid!

So here’s how you make these ahead:

Make The Parts That Will Be Reheated

We like to reheat the rice and the beans, so we make them ahead and keep them separately from the other components of the Buddha bowl. So,

First, cook some rice.

Then cook the beans.

• Rinse and drain the beans.
• Saute the onion and carrot with some olive oil, paprika, cumin, crushed red pepper and oregano, stirring for about 2 minutes until fragrant.
• Then add in some water, the tomato paste and the beans. Add salt and pepper, stir in the garlic and cover the skillet to bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat to low and simmer with lid on for about 10 minutes. Add in fresh herbs and enjoy!

Once a bit cooled off, place the beans and rice into airtight containers that you can reheat in the microwave and store in the fridge.

Meal Prep the Cold Components

Next/or while you’re making the rice and beans – make the cashew dressing.

You will need soaked cashews for this, but if you’ve forgotten to soak them, you can still make the dressing. Just boil some water (with a kettle or however you want), and soak the cashews in there for 20 minutes. Once soaked, drain the cashews add to a blender with salt, pepper, fresh dill, fresh lemon juice and garlic. Add water and blend until smooth. We'd start with half of the water and then add a tbsp at a time until the desired consistency. Have a taste and adjust to taste with lemon, salt and pepper.

That’s actually all we meal prep, but if you want you can also chop the cabbage and grate the carrots for the salad too. They will stay good for 2-3 days in the fridge in an airtight container.

How To Assemble The Beans And Rice Buddha Bowls

To assemble the rice and beans Buddha bowls, we like to make a salad as opposed to just adding vegetables without the dressing.

So, chop up the cabbage, and lettuce and grate carrots. We like to massage the cabbage with some lemon juice prior to adding the other ingredients. But if you don’t want to – just add the vegetables, olive or flax oil as well as lemon juice and salt and pepper and toss until combined.

Reheat the beans and the rice and start assembling the bowls. Add the salad, then top everything with the jalapenos, cucumber, avocado and olives and add or drizzle the cashew dressing on top. So so good!

Maybe it was just our hungry mind, but try them and let us know what you think!