Bowls, bowls, all types of bowls
- Clare
- May 17
- 2 min read
This post is a tribute to Leslie Jones' verse of SNL's "Back Home Ballers." It is also in honor of my friend Carl who loves a grain bowl.
"Farro is a great grain to use in your grain bowl. Love a bowl meal." -Carl
But actually, it's about how to assemble a delicious bowl for an easy, nutritious, and delicious meal. To assemble a good bowl, you can't just throw things together. Well, you can, but you'll have a much more enjoyable and satisfying meal if you put some thought into it. Here are my tips.
Fig. 1 - The Anatomy of a Bowl

At the most basic level, a bowl consists of some sort of carb-y base topped with various other filling and nutritious components and garnished with delicious things that provide flavor and texture contrast. From there, the possibilities are endless! When I'm creating a bowl, I tend to consider a cuisine or flavor genre to give it some focus. When thinking about flavor and ingredient combinations, I love to refer to Julia Turshen's meal charts for inspiration.
Bowl Ingredients
A Non-Exhaustive List of Possibilities
Core Components

Carbs
Rice of any type
Quinoa, farro, or other grains
Couscous
Pasta
Mashed potatoes
Yogurt or hummus (not really carbs, but they can be a nice base for a bowl)

Vegetables
Any vegetable works, so I'm not just going to list every single vegetable in the world. The variety here comes from how you prepare the veggies:
Cook: Sautéed, roasted, steamed, blanched, stir-fried, grilled, or raw
Cut: Sliced, diced, whole, or julienned
Seasoning: make sure to season your veggies well, taking into account the other flavors you plan to incorporate into your bowl!

Proteins
Meat
Beans
Tofu
Yogurt or hummus
Eggs - hard boiled, soft boiled, or fried
Cottage cheese if you want to gross yourself out
Flavor

Sauce
Hot sauce (e.g., Marie Sharp's, harissa, Calabrian chili)
Herby sauce (e.g., pesto or chimichurri)
Mayo or aioli
Chutney
Relish
Chili crisp
Common condiments - ketchup (but please be more creative), honey mustard, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, barbecue sauce, etc.

Pickly things
Pickled vegetables, like onions or jalapeños
Plain old pickled cucumbers
Kimchi
Sauerkraut
Olives
Relish
Giardiniera

Herbs
Cilantro
Parsley
Dill
Tarragon
Scallions
Chives
Basil
Mint
Textural Contrast

Something crunchy
Bread crumbs (toss them in olive oil and toast them in a pan)
Croutons
Fried onions or shallots
Nuts
Bacon bits
Tortilla chip or potato chip crumbles
Pepitas
Crunchy vegetables, like radish

Something creamy
Cheese
Mexican Crema or Creme Fraiche
Sour cream
Mayo
Yogurt or yogurt-based sauces, like tzatziki
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