The Simplest Little Lunch Bowl

May 26, 2012

My youngest is down to one nap per day. It happens every morning from about 10:30-noon. During that time, I rush to do everything a mama’s got to do that’s made easier with the full use of two hands and no toddler on the hip. But it never fails; once I’m finished with the laundry, the dishes, vacuuming, sweeping the yard, checking email, making all those customer service or billing phone calls, updating my blog and updating my six FB pages, the baby awakes. He’s hungry. I realize I’m hungry. And I haven’t even thought about lunch.

This is where my Simplest Little Lunch Bowl comes in. If you can keep brown rice and a can of black beans in the pantry, as well as ALWAYS have fresh produce in your kitchen, then you can make this lunch bowl anytime. Personally, I eat this 2-3 times a week. Now the having fresh produce on hand thing can be hard for many people — I get it. But it’s an easy habit to get yourself into it. Find a local market or farmer’s market (or two, or three) that make sense with your schedule and driving routes each day. Make it a point to stop in and grab whatever looks good, tastes good (gotta love free samples at the Farmer’s Market!), or just plain tickles your fancy. I have a wonderful market down the street from my daughter’s preschool and I hit it up 2-3 times a week to stock up on more fresh produce. The key is to only get a couple of things so everything gets eaten and you don’t find that milky cucumber rotting away in the back of your fridge two months later. Buy a few things often. If you always have a sampling of fresh items on hand, then you can always make a deliciously simple vegan meal!

So for this lunch bowl, I cook a cup of brown rice in the rice cooker as soon as my son goes down for his nap. Then I know it’ll be ready in time for lunch. Throw some rinsed black beans on top, cubed avocado, and sliced grape tomatoes. Sprinkle with sea salt to taste and garnish with a lime wedge if you want. You’ll love the way the textures and flavors work together… the crunchiness of the rice, the firm bite of the beans, the creaminess of the avocado, the tang of the tomatoes, the pop of the sea salt and the zing of the lime. Yum! Off to dive into mine now.

Happy eating!