Spelt, edamame, avocado and sauerkraut salad bowl with radish and tomatoes, topped with boiled egg and chilli crisp oil is a protein bomb, fibre booster and a delicious combo ready in minutes.
Lunch of champions
Forget the breakfast of champions: this is genuine power lunch fodder! The best combo of nutrients that is also supremely tasty, the power bowl will keep you going all the way till dinner.
No afternoon slump. No sudden dash to the corner shop for a sneaky packet of Maltesers. The power bowl for lunch will keep you full, energetic and satisfied, both with regards to satiety and smugness.
My power bowl is a no-recipe recipe as it’s ready in a couple of minutes. It’s extremely versatile, with numerous ingredient swaps and options. It is easy to meal-prep, good to tub-up and bring to the office, and it needs no heating up. It’s a winner all round.
Protein? Fibre? It has it all
Why do I call it ‘power bowl’? That’s because it is a nutritional bomb. Seeing all the hoo-ha about high protein, and the rising awareness that fibre is not just necessary to help us go but essential for the gut and overall health, I’ve realised my staple humble lunch ticks all those boxes and more.
A bowl of food as per this recipe delivers about 27 g of protein, 47 g of healthy carbs and 20 g (yes, almost the whole recommended daily amount) of fibre. That’s all in about 550 calories so really sensible even if you’re scrupulous about your calorie intake. And lunch like that will authentically keep you feeling full till dinner. That means really full, not just ‘not hungry’: let’s be honest, we’re never really hungry in the western, affluent world, we only have cravings and fancies. This power bowl though really does the trick of quelling food noises.
How does it do it? High protein content makes you feel sated, and food rich in fibre and with low glycaemic index (both spelt and soybeans) works a few miracles on the body. It slows digestion, it supresses blood sugar swings and makes your gut feel happily occupied.
But I would lie to myself if I didn’t admit that the key feature of the power bowl here is that it’s utterly delicious. And adaptable. More of it to follow.
Cook the spelt or cooked spelt?
Spelt is a variety of wheat, so one snag: it’s not for the gluten intolerant. For those unfortunate folks (because I think spelt is immeasurably tastier) quinoa or buckwheat will be suitable.
Spelt comes most often partly processed, with some bran and husk removed to produce pearled spelt. It is very, very easy to cook: three times the volume of boiling water, and twenty minutes of simmering. It can also be cooked in a rice cooker on a standard programme. It’s more resilient than rice, won’t get mushy (until you keep cooking it for hours) and cooked, keeps in an airtight tub in the fridge for days of happy lunches.
But if you want a speedy albeit far more expensive option, buy a pouch of plain, ready cooked, vacuum packed spelt. The only rationale is the price.
Edamame mon amour
Ever since many years ago I first popped those delightful garlicky beans out of their pods at Wagamama, I’ve been a fan. But also for years I mistakenly thought they would not be available in your kitchen, being some sort of exclusive Japanese import prepared to a secret recipe.
Edamame are quite widely available though, at least these days, most often and best value frozen, in or out of pods. So now, apart from making an obsession-worthy snack from the shell-on ones, I also put them in my stir-fries, casseroles, soups – and power bowls.
What are edamame?
They are nothing else but baby soya beans, so a really common foodstuff, though they are more expensive than dried mature soya beans since they need blanching before they are sold.
And the only thing against them may be their lack of flavour: soya beans and preparations are not renowned for supreme taste. They do however absorb seasoning easily, hence I do recommend adding chilli crisp in oil or another strong-flavoured oil as a dressing to my power bowl.
Options and variations
Arguably, you can take this recipe and produce a very good outcome swapping every single ingredient from the list – that’s how versatile it is. Of course I shall then take no responsibility for the taste or lack thereof!
Joking aside, the options are endless. Spelt can be replaced with cooked barley, quinoa, bulgur or buckwheat. Wholewheat couscous will also be tasty although not quite as nutritious – it really is almost pasta, you know.
Edamame can be swapped for tinned, rinsed and drained cannellini or kidney beans, though they’ll make the overall texture mushier.
Apart from those two main characters, the rest is ad lib though half an avocado will decisively add to the overall fibre content.
Cherry tomatoes or diced heritage ones, cucumber, radish, mooli or daikon, even sweetcorn out of a tin, you can add or not whatever seems right or whatever you find in the fridge.
Boiled egg, hard or semi-hard, can be swapped with a quickly fried basic omelette from one egg, arranged across the top of the bowl. And if you want to use just egg whites for it, I won’t stop though I might not understand you.
I do however lobby for sauerkraut: a dose of fermented food boosts the nutritional value. It also significantly adds to the taste, best homemade obviously, but otherwise go for German or Polish jars with as few ingredients on the label as possible.
More healthy salad bowl recipes
Tabbouleh, a classic Levantine salad, is a mix of herbs, tomatoes, onions, cucumbers and soaked bulgur wheat, dressed with olive oil and seasoned with Baharat. It’s delicious and healthy, and super easy to prepare.
Brown butter lentil and sweet potato salad is a delicious combo of roasted sweet potato chunks, green or puy lentils cooked from scratch and a super flavoursome dressing made with sage leaves and brown butter. With crumbled blue or goats cheese on top, optionally.
Pear and grilled halloumi salad with roasted parsnip and salty pumpkin seeds. Everything is there: the wholesome, the sweet, the salty and the crunch. A perfect salad?
More spelt recipes
Pearled spelt and cannellini bean salad with rose harissa dressing is a delicious lunch option, convenient if you prepare the ingredients, store them in the fridge and mix just before serving. It’s a recipe for a healthy, filling and delicious meal.
Spelt risotto with pearled spelt grain and dried porcini mushrooms is a gorgeous vegetarian dish: wholesome, flavoursome and effortless.
Spelt and marinated courgette salad, with pine nuts and creamy blue cheese dressing. Much easier to cook than rice, more nutritious than pasta, spelt is the future of salads!