GRAIN BOWL GLORY
Joya Kitchen chef breaks down components of this trending dish with a global history and a world of options
WHERE IN THE WORLD did grain bowls come from? We see them everywhere now, but a meal in a bowl, sometimes called a “Buddha Bowl,” has a lofty history. The Buddha part, according to Epicurious, goes back to stories that the Buddha carried his bowl as he traveled, with locals placing food in it as a donation.
■ Today, these can refer to vegetarian and vegan bowls, but grain bowls are a global tradition. There’s Korean bibimbap, bowls of warm white rice topped with assorted fresh, marinated and sauteed vegetables with meat. There’s congee in China, arroz de marisco in Portugal, and grains like fonio are the foundation of bowls in West African countries.
■ In the U.S., you know grain bowls have slid into mainstream culture when the big restaurant chains have them on their menus. Once a staple of health food restaurants, then trendy chef-driven restaurants in the last decade, eateries from Olive Garden and Taco Bell to Chipotle and Panera serve them. And why not? They’re inventive, they’re casual, they’re adaptable and
they’re easy to eat.
Which is precisely why you should really customize your own, at home. A delicious, filling and healthy bowl can be as simple or as sophisticated as you like — filled with random leftovers or crafted with your own blend of whole grains topped by greens, proteins and a delightful sauce. They’re a way to incorporate global flavors. And they’re a painless way to provide choices to finicky eaters.
Even breakfast is bowl-worthy. A breakfast bowl can be savory, with hearty bulgur simmered in milk with your favorite cheese grated and stirred in, then topped with wilted spinach, a poached egg and salsa. It can be on the sweet side, featuring quinoa mixed with maple syrup or brown sugar and cinnamon, and topped with fresh berries, toasted nuts and a dollop of creamy yogurt. Really, if you’re making oatmeal, you already have the foundation for a bowl.
For lunch or dinner, the options are nearly endless. We got input on how to create sumptuous whole grain bowls from Ryan Bullock, chef de cuisine of the new Joya Kitchen in La Jolla, a 4,000-square-foot indoor/outdoor dining space with a menu focused on organic, farm-fresh items.
Bullock explained his theory on the popularity of bowls and why Joya serves them.
“For us, a bowl is an easy choice because it’s quick and it’s easy. There’s not a lot of moving pieces, so you can have a really complex dish that’s also easy to deliver and easy to eat, especially while you’re working. We focus a lot on sandwiches and other handhelds, but a bowl is good because you don’t need to use a knife and fork.”
Joya Kitchen focuses a lot on brown rice and grains, trying to get complete proteins by using beans, especially in vegetarian dishes. Bullock pointed out that one benefit of making bowls for a family meal is that you can easily batch the ingredients, so the amount of time that it takes to make a meal for one night can actually take just a bit more time to make enough for two or three nights. Yep, time management and efficiency — that’s the beauty of bowls.
Bowl basics are pretty straightforward. You pick a grain — it could be brown rice, but it could also be proteinrich grains like quinoa, couscous, barley, wheat berries and freekeh. Use them individually or mix them up. Cook the grains in water or broth. Add fresh seasonal vegetables, from greens to sturdier stuff like broccoli, asparagus or cucumbers that can be served raw, steamed, sauteed, roasted or stir-fried. Add beans, nuts, tofu or animal protein — or not — then top with a sauce or dressing.
As for how to balance the quantity of each component for an individual bowl, Bullock advises 1 cup of the grains, 1 cup of the vegetables, 6 to 8 ounces of protein, and 2 to 3 ounces of the sauce or dressing. Typically, he creates a composed bowl, with the grains mounded at the bottom of the bowl and each component along the edge, encircling them.
For example, Bullock makes his Green Goddess vegetarian bowl and his Mediterranean Chicken Bowl using a mix of braised ancient grains, such as farro, barley, black barley and sorghum, as the foundation, and roasted vegetables and confit tomatoes as two of the components. For a family, you could make large batches of the grains, the roasted veggies and the tomato confit. Use some for one night for one type of bowl and use the rest later in the week for another. Or use any of them for a totally different type of dish. With the Green Goddess bowl, you’ll use those three components, along with a quartered and grilled avocado, dipped in white and black sesame seeds, then topped with a rich Green Goddess dressing bursting with fresh herbs.
The Mediterranean Salad Bowl employs the same braised ancient grains and confit tomatoes, along with garbanzo beans, sliced cucumbers and luscious marinated feta. For protein, add tender slices of chicken thigh that had been marinated in a spicy harissa sauce (a North African red pepper sauce) and then grilled. He tops the bowl with a romesco sauce made with tomatoes, red bell pepper, garlic, almonds and bread. Have leftovers of any of the components? You’ll have readymade ingredients for yet another dish.
Remember those roasted veggies from the Green Goddess Bowl? Use the rest in Bullock’s Shrimp Curry Bowl. This time, make a batch of brown rice, following the directions on the package. You’ll grill fresh jumbo shrimp and make a luxurious yellow curry sauce. Then top it all off with toasted, chopped cashews and cilantro leaves. Each bite will be a different flavor and texture.
Bullock uses a blend of canola oil and olive oil in a 3:1 ratio to saute vegetables, marinate the shrimp, add to the confit tomatoes and marinated feta, and add to the yellow curry and romesco sauces. Make a batch of 2 cups — 11⁄2 cups of the canola and a ⁄ cup of
1
2 the olive oil — and store it in a squeeze bottle to make it easier to measure out while cooking. The blended oil takes advantage of vegetable oil’s high smoke point (and lower cost) and olive oil’s flavor and nutrition.
And remember, while bowls can be delicious with random ingredients, including leftovers, the best ones combine the right balance of flavors and textures and the right variety of grains, vegetables, proteins and sauces. Don’t overpower a delicate fish with a brash sauce and heavy grains. Rice, greens and a light dressing of sesame oil, soy sauce and ginger would help that fish pop. Give your mouth the heft and chew of wheat berries to complement spicy slices of pork or beef and crunchy vegetables.