This Green Power Bowl is full of plant-based goodness! Whole grains, tasty veggies, avocado and a creamy cilantro lime sauce is all you need for a healthy and quick weeknight dinner.
Bowls like this Green Power Bowl and my Mediterranean Bowl are some of my go-to meals for dinner because it’s easy to make and filled with plant-based goodness.
With bowls, you can throw in any grain, protein, veggie, etc to make a well-rounded dish.
And let me tell you, they’re so satisfying. They will fill you up and you won’t be looking around for a snack an hour after eating a big ol’ plate of pasta (like I usually am).
Green Power Bowl
For this Green Power Bowl, I chose chickpeas for protein and fiber (and bonuses of potassium, magnesium, iron and B6) and brown rice for a healthy dose of whole grain carbohydrates. Kale gives us vitamins A while Vitamin C is found in both the kale and Brussels sprouts.
I added avocado (a monounsaturated fat) because it has been shown to reduce LDL cholesterol levels in your blood which can lower your risk of heart disease and stroke*.
Meal Prep
If you cook the rice and roast the Brussels sprouts beforehand this meal can come together in about 10-15 minutes. I usually make a big pot of rice while roasting some veggies on the weekends as a part of my Meal Prep.
It is so helpful having some parts of a meal ready when trying to get dinner on the table after a long day of work. If you do pre-cook the rice, you can just heat that and sprouts up and only have to make the sauce and kale.
Green Power Bowl
This Green Power Bowl is full of plant-based goodness! Whole grains, tasty veggies, avocado and a creamy cilantro lime sauce is all you need for a healthy and quick weeknight dinner.
Ingredients
- 1 cup cooked brown rice
- 1 cup kale cooked with lemon and garlic
- 1 cup canned chickpeas , drained and rinsed
- 1 cup roasted Brussels sprouts
- 1 avocado sliced
CREAMY CILANTRO LIME SAUCE
- 1/2 c raw cashews
- 1/3-1/2 c water
- juice of half of a lime
- 1/2 tsp lime zest
- 1 TB chopped cilantro
- 1/4 tsp each of salt and pepper (or to taste)
- In a high speed blender , blend all sauce ingredients until smooth. If you do not own a high speed blender, you can soak the cashews in hot water for 10 mins before blending. Sauce will last in fridge for about 3 days.
Instructions
-
To cook the kale, saute in some veggie broth with some fresh garlic. Once cooked, drizzle with a little lemon juice.
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To roast Brussels sprouts, halve them, coat with a little olive oil and salt & pepper and roast on 425 degrees for about 20-25 minutes.
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Arrange ingredients in a bowl to your liking and top with Creamy Cilantro Lime Sauce.
Recipe Notes
* Nutritional info does not include cilantro lime sauce.
* Peou S, Milliard-Hasting B, Shah SA. Impact of avocado-enriched diets on plasma lipoproteins: A meta-analysis. J Clin Lipidol. 2016 Jan-Feb;10(1):161-71. doi: 10.1016/j.jacl.2015.10.011.
You may also enjoy…
Southwest Quinoa
10-Minute Mushroom Risotto
Buffalo Chicken Rice
Like my recipe? It would be so wonderful if you could give it some love by sharing it!
Mary Ellen Valverde MS, CNS, LDN is a Licensed Nutritionist and Certified Nutrition Specialist helping clients regain their energy, confidence and health through a plant-based diet. When she’s not reading up on the latest nutrition research, you can find Mary Ellen doting on her two rescue shih tzus, creating the perfect vegan mac & cheese, or exploring the world with her husband.
Mary Ellen, I want to take that bowl into work with me for lunch tomorrow. I promise I won’t even snug my nose at the sprouts. Happy New Year to you.
Haha you’re too funny, Shaheen! I actually used to hate Brussels sprouts (esp when they were boiled yuck) but now that I roast them, I totally will eat them like all the time!
Happy New Year! 🙂
Yum! I love simple and quick meals like this!
Thanks Dianne!
This looks so good!
Thanks so much Vicki! 🙂
Holy crap this sounds awesome! I can’t wait to try it. You are combining so many of my favourite things into one bowl. And it’s definitely the kind of meal to eat after the junk I’ve been eating over the holidays 😉
And I have a feeling the creamy lime cilantro sauce will become a favourite with many bowls!
Thanks Kimmy! For my first real bowl on the blog I figured I’d throw in all of my favorites. 🙂 I’ve been using the lime sauce a lot lately!
Looks great, so full of vibrant colors and nutrients. Can’t wait to try – thanks!
Thanks Christine! I love colorful meals!
I’m getting more and more addicted to bowls! And I love chickpeas. This looks delicious!
Thank you so much Joan! I’m obsessed with bowls especially in the winter, I find them so comforting.
Bowls are the best. Totally customizable! That sauce sounds divine!
They totally are Jenn! Thank you!
This looks so yum! love a little bowl like this for lunch 🙂
Thank you so much Zoe! I always make extra for lunch too! 🙂
I love this kind of dinner, especially when there’s avocado!
Yes, I’ll basically eat anything (vegan) that contains avocado – it’s the best!
This is my favorite kind of dinner! I try to roast a bunch of veggies and have them around for use during the week. Thanks for linking up today
Yes, isn’t that a great way to have veggies on hand when you need them? So easy for the rest of the week. 🙂
This looks amazing, and that sauce sounds incredible! It’s hard to beat a good power bowl! 🙂
Thank you Courtney! Power bowls are my favorites! 🙂
Aw, thanks so much Annmarie!
Power bowls are awesome. And I love the dressing you used. Yum!
Thanks so much Rachel! Power bowls are my fav!
That bowl. Wow, you totally debunked any possibility that plant based could not be good. That dressing and all that delicious goodness looks AMAZING.
Thank you so much for your sweet comment Emily! 🙂
Another fabulous dish Mary Ellen! Thanks for submitting this to Meat Free Mondays the roundup is now live and you’ve been featured. Now to do a bit of social promotion for you.
Thanks so much Jac! I love linking up with your Meatfree Mondays! I’ll share too!
Looks wonderful!!! I have to keep track of calories and fat, do you have nutrition info for this. Thanks
Hi Michelle! Thank you so much! I’m sorry, I don’t do nutritional info on my recipes. I know some people have to keep track of these things so usually recommend My Fitness Pal for that. If you put a food in, it gives you all the nutritional info for it and it’s a great way to keep track of everything you eat for the day. I’ve used it in the past and have found it very useful.
This is on my list to make this week!! The cilantro lime sauce sounds amazing. How long do you think it would last in the fridge?
Hi Jenny, I would say it would last about 4-5 days in the fridge. You may just have to stir it up a bit but I’ve kept any extra in there for almost a week and it was fine.