These days at home, I’m in the need of quick and nutritious lunches so I’m not leaning into the kid’s mac and cheese. Grain bowls are my favorite way to to do this! Here’s how we put ours together in partnership with O Organics from Safeway…
Lunch at Home: Easy Grain Bowl
The best part about grain bowls is you can use any veggies, grains, protein you have on hand. Leftover chicken and roasted veggies? Great, grain bowls will take them!! The last wilting pepper in the fridge? Absolutely! O Organics are my go-to brand for fresh veggies at Safeway because the quality and price is always reliably good. Any type of veggies work here, so use what looks good. I like to start with good greens like kale.
Then I add something filling like these portobello mushrooms (especially if you don’t have or eat meat), and fresh like these grape tomatoes. On a side note, I’ve been really impressed with how Safeway has handled these pandemic times. An employee sits out front cleaning off carts for customers, and they’re very careful about spacing out the checkout line. So appreciated. You can also schedule delivery or curbside pickup.
Things I love in my grain bowl (you don’t need all of these, but just some ideas for you): brown rice (or any grain), sautéed greens like O Organics Kale, sautéed mushrooms like these O Organics Portabello Mushrooms, any leftover veggies roasted, grape tomatoes like these O Organics variety, scallions, edamame, slivered almonds or other nuts, sesame seeds, sliced avocados if you’re lucky enough to have some fresh, slivered almonds toasted, sautéed tofu wi, cilantro, fresh dill, and some homemade bread on the side (we’ve been making lots of bread lately).
A warm, fried egg on top if always a good idea too.
And of course my favorite carrot ginger dressing. Although a sprinkle of any dressing or soy sauce works great too.
I like to prep all the ingredients in big batches and keep them stashed in the fridge so I can pull them out quickly for a lightning lunch in-between zoom calls and kid’s board games. I roast veggies, sautée mushrooms and kale. Cook the quinoa or whatever grain I’m using (those freezer rice packets work great too).
If we’re having grain bowls for dinner, like to serve different ingredients in separate bowls and let each member of the family create their own. The key is to make every ingredient nutritious, so you don’t have to be picky about what they choose. Even if it’s just brown rice and edamame, that’s a pretty good dinner!
What’s your go-to quick lunch at home these days?
Thanks to Safeway and O Organics for sponsoring this post