Robin Asbell's healthy cookbooks are witty, stylish and immensely useful. She has a knack for making unfamiliar, trendy ingredients and techniques attainable to every cook. Her "Big Vegan Cookbook" reversed my cynicism toward strict plant-based eating. Dog-eared and spattered, that tome is a go-to on my kitchen shelf.
She turns to bowls in her new book, "Great Bowls of Food: Grain Bowls, Buddha Bowls, Broth Bowls, and More" (The Countryman Press, 178 pages, $21.95).
Asbell describes these recipes as multilayered meals of grain or vegetable base, topped with a variety of components and finished with a sauce. These are different from stews or soups where everything is cooked together. Her definition of a bowl meal and her instructions for basic bowl-building are poetic and inspiring. Suffice it to say that once I embraced the concept, I have been "bowling" with friends and alone.
The book provides all you need to know for creating healthful bowl meals — breakfast, lunch and dinner. Most helpful are the first two chapters that cover grains, grain alternatives and condiments. I find the graphs, ratios and cooking times essential in any cooking scenario. Along with the recipes for individual bowl meals, Asbell's Big Party Platter chapter is full of dinner-party-worthy ideas, and she provides recipes for dessert bowls, too.
While I'm not one for breakfast, the make-ahead Orange-Oat Tabbouleh with Parsley, Pistachios and Carrots got me going one slow rainy morning. I assembled it in a Mason jar the night before, as instructed. Enjoyed over the course of a hectic morning, it helped keep the post-coffee craving at bay.
The Big Buddha Bowl lives up to its name. A riot of color and texture, it layers kale, avocado, red cabbage, yellow beets and edamame on brown rice, and laces it all together with a golden dressing of turmeric, ginger and dates. It's vibrant, power-packed with nutrients and simply fun to eat.
"Great Bowls" isn't just for vegetarians and vegans. There are winning recipes for meat, fish and fowl, such as the Fish Taco Bowl With Soft Grits or the Barbecued Chicken Bowl with blue corn chips, both of which are hits with my 25-year-old son. Lighter, "brothy" bowls make a simple fix on a busy weeknight.
Cure a Cold Brothy Bowl offers what Mom might make if Mom were hip. The dessert bowls seem just right for brunch. With such combinations as Oats With Strawberries and Lemony Cheesecake Sauce, or Buttermilk Quinoa With Praline Pecans, who needs an egg bake?
