Last updated on June 26th, 2019 at 11:13 am
The first time I saw a recipe for a Mediterranean Bowl my initial thought was “WTF is a Mediterranean Bowl?”.
Not much has changed since then.
But here it is, my version of a delicious Mediterranean Bowl.
So, so good.
Seriously, WTF is it?
Well, it’s a bowl with all my favorite things.
This healthy vegan bowl has got some salad in there, some hummus in there, some chickpeas, some paleo & vegan tzatziki and then some quinoa, which we all agree is very Mediterranean, alright?
One thing I know about this recipe: It’s freakin amazin and it’s the perfect vegan meal prep recipe.
It’s super healthy and can be made in 5 minutes.
Well, if you have the hummus, the tzatziki, + the quinoa ready of course.
via giphy
Other than that – the salad takes a second, but not too long.
Now, this is the kind of recipe that I would meal prep all the different parts for (except the salad).
I make the hummus, the tzatziki, the quinoa – and keep them in separate containers in the fridge.
Usually not longer than 3 days, because after that
Hello, food poisoning. Okay, not food poisoning, but a little gross.
As you might know – I’m not great at arranging anything, so the hummus and tzatziki look like they’ve just been slapped on top of everything else. Probably because that’s what I did.
So, there – you have my permission to not arrange everything perfectly.
The Process.
Here’s the overly complicated process I went through:
First I chopped a cucumber, some tomatoes, some spring onions, some parsley, mixed those in a bowl with some salt and added olive oil, no vinegar (but if you like vinegar – feel free like a bird to add some). Here’s the recipe for a similar salad with feta cheese from a while ago.
Then I grabbed a bowl and started arranging as if I know what I’m doing. I put in the salad I just made, then added some olives, opened a can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained them – added like a 1/3 cup, then 2-3 tbsp of cooked quinoa, and then slapped around 2 very generous tbsp hummus and a little bit, about a tsp, tzatziki (I had made a paleo version with sunflower sauce like this one but you can also use regular tzatziki).
At last I ground some black pepper and that was it.
Mmmmm garlic’s in the air.
Sometimes I really wonder why I eat anything else. I felt awesome while & after eating this.
Health And Beauty Benefits
Obviously this vegan bowl is healthy, but let’s take a look at some of the ingredients:
tomatoes. the most famous source of lycopene – a powerful antioxidant that prevents cancer and cardiovascular disease. Tomatoes are also one of the 8 best foods for healthy skin.
cucumber. cucumber might seem like nothing, but it’s highly alkaline which is important to prevent muscle and bone loss.
parsley. rich in vitamin C and carotenoids, fights diabetes and boosts your immune system. Parsley is also one of the 15 vegan foods that are high-protein, but low-carb.
chickpeas. great source of fiber for a healthy gut + plant protein, help control blood sugar and are good for weight loss.
quinoa. great source of plant protein, magnesium and contains anti-cancer phytochemicals. Quinoa also can support weight loss.
This delicious Mediterranean bowl is vegan, gluten-free, full of fiber and antioxidants.
Ingredients
- 1 small cucumber, cubed
- 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- small bunch of parsley, chopped
- 1-2 spring onions, thinly chopped
- olive oil
- 7-8 olives
- 1/3 cup chickpeas, canned, rinsed & drained
- 2 tbsp hummus
- 1 tbsp tzatziki
- 2-3 tbsp quinoa, cooked
- black pepper, freshly ground
Instructions
- Salad: Wash the vegetables, chop them, place in a mixing bowl. Add olive oil, vinegar, and salt to taste.
- Assemble your bowl: Salad, rinsed and drained chickpeas, the olives, quinoa. In the middle/on top: 2 tbsp hummus and 1 tbsp tzatziki + freshly ground black pepper. Ready.
Notes
Instead of tzatziki, here I used this recipe.
This similar salad would also go well in this bowl (not vegan).
Meal Prep option: Keep all parts of this Mediterranean Bowl in separate containers in the fridge and assemble just before serving. Instead of the fresh salad you can also pre-cut a cucumber and use whole cherry tomatoes.
*****Please note, these are estimates – it all depends on the ingredients you use. % depend on weight, gender and age*****
More recipes like this:
- Healthy throw together lunch bowl – meal prep or not, this vegan lunch recipe is ready in no time.
- Vegan quinoa sushi bowl – you need some quinoa, avocado and cucumbers for this one.
- Healthy summer salad with avocado and millet – easy and quick salad recipe you can make with millet or quinoa. Super fresh and delicious.
- Tomatoes, basil and chickpea salad – one of my most popular recipes here, it’s super refreshing and delicious!
Great post. Can’t wait to make this bowl, and love the name of your blog! Looking forward to checking out your other posts!
Looks good – but what is the nutrition info?
Looks amazing…im making this tonight for dinner (and then lunch tomorrow!!)
One question….how much olive oil?
thanks Esther! I didn’t measure, but around 1 tsp
Thank you!
This really was delicious!! Looking forward to checking out some of your other recipes.
Why does your ingredients call for deli salad and then you make one? Confused! Looks and sounds so good I could live on it.
I see what you mean…the ingredients you see on Pinterest are different – somehow it says Deli: Salad, but this here is the original recipe and ingredients. It’s a very quick and easy salad. You can also just slice a cucumber and add some cherry tomatoes!
This looks great and I’m going to make it this week. But I’m calling shenannigans on your 5 minute claim, especially if you make your own hummus and tzatziki sauce
As I mentioned – if you want to make everything (esp. cook quinoa) it would take longer, but it’s just the one time. Then you only need to make the salad
Do you happen to have nutrition information for this bowl?
I don’t have it, but you can calculate it using something like myfitnesspal
This was great! I bought hummus—my fave! and tzatziki which I’ve been eyeing but didn’t really have a reason to buy since I didn’t know what it tasted like. So glad I found your recipe. Delicious 😋 thank you so much for sharing your website—it’s exactly what I need!
Glad you liked it Jenn, thank you so much! And I hope you liked the tzatziki, it’s one of my favorite sides.
Hi there!
Wondering if you had any suggestions other than quinoa? Unfortunately, I can’t eat it 🙁 looks delicious!
Hey Jaclyn, thank you! You can just leave it out and add more chickpeas, or brown rice, avocado would also be good here, maybe also roasted vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, sweet potato) – I think it might even make it better! Hope that helps 🙂
You don’t get food poisoning after 3 days! Try 6, 7 or 8 days. You can keep sides like hummus and tzaziki much longer than 3 days if you add preservatives like lemon and oil. Also, the only thing that’s going to give you actual food poisoning is old meat or dairy – things that actually carry things like salmonella. And even then, dry-aged meat, etc. has been lying around for weeks aging. Quinoa would never cause you to have food poison – it would just get gross with time and not taste good.
This was delicious. I made your Tazatziki Sauce and it was wonderful, better than the real thing. Also added a touch of vinegar to salad which was so refreshing. I will definitely be making this again. Oh I also got lazy and used a Whole Foods barley and lentils in 90 seconds. But it seemed to fit in nicely. Thanks for posting.
Glad you liked it, Diane! Thanks for coming back to leave me a comment 🙂