meals in a bowl

I've very seldom used an actual recipe; my lunch bowl is very much along the buddhist lines of eat whatever I can find (whereas the monks eat whatever is put in their bowl by kind householders which is how they end up with their mix of flavours).

I tend to have a dig through my fridge and get out whatever salad veg or ordinary veg is in there that I like raw (most veg). Take a suitable amount of a selection that I like the idea of that day, either chop or slice (depending on what I want it to look like). Then I might add some hummus (any flavour - I like them all), or vegan cheese, or edamame beans - or if I'm really hungry I'll thin slice some seitan. Often though I don't bother - if I have a big selection of veggies there's no need for other things. Next I choose whichever seeds and chopped nuts I'd like on it.

Then drizzle the lot with plain or infused olive oil, or if I've got walnuts in my bowl I'll add walnut oil. Throw in some loose leaves to decorate and then go and eat.

Great for eating up the leftovers

Also it has the virtue of taking a long time to eat so I get plenty of time to think and reflect on the morning and I like that very much.

Also I have two bowls - one bigger than the other - so that if I am not that hungry I only take what I'll be able to eat, and don't waste the food.

I'm afraid I weigh the foods but after that I do it the really quick way - I use Nutracheck (it's a diet app) and I put in the foods I'm having - however many grams of carrot, courgette, cauliflower etc and it tells me the carbs in each, and the total for the meal.

(For home made recipes there's a section where I can add those, so that I can include a portion with a meal).

It is a paid for app but thyee may be free versions of a similar thing available.

Today I had my usual bowl but I added a spoonful of chickpeas in smoky sauce, which really added a flavour burst to the whole thing. The rest of the chickpea/sauce will go with a dinner and will be yummy.

Chickpeas, (tin, drained and rinsed well).

Then, from https://itdoesnttastelikechicken.com/12-seitan-or-tofu-marinades/

Her sweet & smoky (which she meant for a seitan marinade but which, with a tweak in the amount of liquid smoke & using paprika instead of chili - cos I'm allergic, did absolutely beautifully for chickpeas).

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup or agave
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 teaspoon liquid smoke (at least!)
• heaped teaspoon garlic powder (you could use chili instead) (very heaped)
• heaped teaspoon smoked paprika (very heaped)

If you didn't want it sweet (understandable) you could just go for spicy/smokey and it'd be good.