What is bowl food? Quite simply: all things delicious that can be enjoyed in a single bowl. Think ramen noodles with soft-boiled eggs, spring onions and miso broth with tender tofu. It’s comforting, simple and perfect for slurping out of the bowl.
Top tips for bowl food
• Leftovers are king. I love giving them a second life in bowl-food form. Meals like leftover risotto (see my favourite way to transform it below) polenta, Bolognese (also see below) and Thai stir-fries.
• Bowl food is all about quick, easy-to-put-together combinations. Keep the ingredients simple but full of flavour.
• Texture is key so add a little bit of crunch where you can. Most of the time my bowl food combos are comfort food: lots of mash, broths and polenta porridges.
• They don’t have to look dull! I love to dress the dishes with bright ingredients such as pickled red onions for Mexican bowls, raw shavings of candy-striped or ordinary beetroot, a handful of microherbs or even grated raw baby marrow.
My top five quick-and-easy bowls
Classic comfort bowl
Perfect for Sundays or rainy days. It’s especially great with cubed panfried kassler chops.
View the recipe here
5-ingredient bowl
This is the best bowl food on a budget, or if you want something quick and easy using pantry staples. Add some toast for dipping.
View the recipe here
Inspirational bowl
This recipe is one of Abi Donnelly’s and I can’t get enough of it. If you can’t find udon noodles, replace with egg noodles.
View the recipe here
The crowd-pleasing bowl
This Mexican-inspired bowl of chilli con carne is always a hit with my friends. Make a big pot of Bolognese (around 1 kg), add 1 T cumin, 1 T coriander and 1 t cinnamon, 2 t chilli flakes, plus a shake of smoked paprika if you like. I also add 1 x 400 g can of red kidney beans right at the end of cooking so they don’t fall apart. Serve in bowls topped with classic salsa, sour cream, grated Cheddar, nacho chips for dipping and coriander. Delicious!
The best leftover bowl
I only make this when I have leftover risotto but plain noodles or pasta rice will do, too. Spoon leftover pea or tomato risotto into shallow bowls, then top with a piece of panfried hake. Simmer Woolworths organic vegetable stock with 1 x 5 cm piece grated fresh ginger, 1 chopped chilli and 1 clove sliced garlic and pour over the bowl.
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