Bowls, bowls, all types of bowls

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