Hi friends! I don’t know about you, but this hot 90 degree weather we’ve been having lately in NYC is making me crave lots of raw foods like fruit, salads and juices. Raw foods are cooling to the body in hot weather, so it’s great to eat them to stay balanced, cool and hydrated (many raw fruits & veggies have a high water content).
Today I was inspired by the “Buddha Bowl” salad at one of my favorite raw vegan restaurants in the city – Quintessence. Quintessence has so many delicious menu items, but the Buddha Bowl is my favorite thing to order, so I decided to create my own.
I was also motivated by the fact that my dear friend Courtney gifted me a bunch of heirloom cilantro that she got in her CSA share this week. I know…what a great friend! Heirloom cilantro (upper left corner of below picture) doesn’t look anything like regular cilantro, but once you taste it, it has the distinct citrusy, cilantro-y, heavenly bite to it. So delish. I knew it would be the perfect Buddha Bowl addition.
The coolest thing about the Buddha Bowl is that you can customize it any way you like. It starts with a base:
- mixed greens
- kale
- chopped white onion
- chopped cucumber
- chopped tomato
Base of salad looks like this:
From there, you pick the rest of the add-on toppings. SO FUN. For tonight’s lovely salad, I chose the following add-ons:
- sliced avocado
- 1 clove chopped raw garlic
- kalamata olives
- heirloom cilantro
- sprouted spicy seed mix (my new favorite thing!!! raw pumpkin seeds & sunflower seeds, below)
Add all your toppings. Then add some dressing. I made my dressing from the following (exact amounts not measured…taste test for perfect amounts):
- fresh lemon juice
- olive oil
- cayenne
- pinch of celtic sea salt
And there you have it. This salad is freaking amazing. Seriously. TRY IT!! Happy summer!
john beesmer says
Looks & sounds awesome..will definitely try it,sure it’s very refreshing..YUMMY
Grahambo says
Come back to the dark side and be my food soulmate again!! Just for a night ;)
– Scotty