BOWL-ing

Call me a purist: but so many bloggers out there piling nasty mixtures of food into a bowl and calling it an example of a traditional or even the newly popular “Bowl” is not only disappointing; it’s quite nauseating just looking at most of them.

This Asian-inspired bowl is, like others of Life Recipe Magazine’s similar, uber-fresh BOWLS: It’s got to be a well-planned, perfect balance of color, texture, flavor, acidity, and superfood benefits. We also take great pains to “plate” our bowls beautifully and artfully. But mostly, it is so delicious, healthful, rewarding and abundant that despite the extremely low calories here, you’ll become adept with your chopsticks at once – and you’ll feel full for hours!

8-10 medium-large fresh shrimp, peeled, cleaned

1 rounded cup chopped organic lettuce or cabbage (you can add a little finely shredded onion here)

1 handful finely shredded (not chopped) red/purple cabbage

½ organic carrot, scrubbed and sliced thinly on the diagonal. You can soak carrots awhile in very hot water with a little ginger and rice vinegar, to soften and flavor them. Drain before plating the carrots.

¼ cup of your favorite fresh sprouts

1 handful washed snow peas, edges trimmed away, then sliced into lengthwise strips

¼ cup lotus flower stems (if you can’t get fresh, they also come canned.)

2 Tbsp. fresh sesame seaweed salad (found in grocery stores or any Japanese restaurant)

1 halved lemon slice for a bright splash on top

Optional: rice wine vinegar and fish oil.

method servings 2

1. In a saute’ pan of hot oi (ideally a combination of coconut and fish oil) l, sear the peeled, cleaned & deveined shrimp (for only 1 minute +/- on each side) WHILE tossing in fresh garlic, sea salt, and if you have it – a touch of fresh or puréed ginger. Remove from heat as SOON as both sides are pink and the center is no longer opaque. They wil l continue to cook for a minute, so do not overcook.

2. Set up your (medium-large) bowl :

3. Chop lettuce into small pieces, mix this with red cabbage threads and then evenly pour into the bowl, a little less than ½ way. VERY lightly sprinkle with rice vinegar and salt.

4. Around the outer circle of the bowl, carefully and beautifully arrange on top of the lettuce/cabbage mix the: shrimp, lotus flower root, carrots, snow peas, sprouts… leaving a little room in the center.

5. Fill the center with the stacked sesame salad; then flank with the lemon slices.

6. Serve with a side of olive oil to drizzle on top; then squeeze the lemon juice, add a little salt & pepper if you need. NO dressing beyond this is needed or helpful.

Simple, exotic, and so healthy it’s an Asian-inspired party – in a PROPER bowl. You can improvise almost endlessly. This is not just an OMG meal, it’s just so .…OM .… affiliate partner…

Otafuku Foods – the most popular Okonomiyaki sauce brand.