This vegetarian plant-based protein bowl is made with store-bought black beans patty, paired with vegetables - broccoli, Brussel sprouts, spinach, carrots and cooked barley.
With more time on hand, you can always make your own bean patty/cake e.g. Black Bean Potato Patty/Cake.
Happy 2026 and we hope your 2026 has been off to a great start!
The new year starts off with this healthy nutritious vegetarian/meatless bowl meal nicely balanced with a variety of cooked vegetables, roasted chickpeas/garbanzo beans, and black rice.
These bowl-meals are usually built in a few steps which include preparing the vegetables as the base and portioning the protein.
Protein feature in today's bowl is tempeh, and hard-boiled eggs (discover this Rapid Egg Cooker) paired with vegetable base that includes steamed broccolini, red cabbage, mushrooms (check this multipurpose Stainless Steel Steamer)
Recently, there came an opportunity* to try out Meatless Farms mince/ grounds made essentially from pea/soy proteins which is similar to plant-based meat made by market leaders Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods.
It has been a long time since I made Mapo Tofu; yet today, seeking unfamiliar "grounds" (pun intended) with this new ingredient: meatless mince/grounds and roping in a long forgotten dish Mapo Tofu, making Meatless Vegetarian Mapo Tofu, essentially plant-based yet high in protein.
Start by frying/pre-cooking the mince with garlic and onions - this "fried" mince serves as "blank canvas" for other stir-fries too, not just Mapo Tofu.
If you have a little more time to spare, try making your own vegetarian meatless mince (Vegetarian Simmered "Meat" Sauce) from scratch with diced mushrooms and tofu. It is definitely healthier and taste more naturally delicious than store-bought plant-based mince which is still partially processed but wins on convenience.
Autumn/fall's cooler temperatures calls for roasting and that means more sheet-pan cooking. With easy and delicious recipes such as Sheet-Pan Turkey Egg Cup Asparagus and Sheet-Pan Meal Mahi Mahi Asparagus Bell Peppers already put into practice, this Sheet-Pan Beans, Veggies, Sausages can only be better.
Pillars of the dry pantry, beans is a great source of plant-protein, fiber, essential vitamins and minerals. Raw and bought in bulk, they are super budget-friendly. Canned and cooked, they can be used straight out of the can, particularly time-saving when building healthy and nutritious vegetarian veggie bowls.
Pinto Beans Veggie (Broccoli, Cabbage, Carrot) Bowl
My pantry stocks a variety of canned beans or lentils including chickpea/garbanzo beans, black beans, navy beans, pinto beans, red kidney beans, even black soybeans.
Good morning!
My go-to pre-packaged salad is Trader Joes Cruciferous Crunch. Occasionally, I would also change it up with Trader Joes packaged Kohlrabi Salad* - blend of shredded kohlrabi, red cabbage kale,and golden beets. This salad can be consumed raw, like any other salad blends; but usually, I will have it lightly steamed, then easily upgrade with healthy proteins such as sardines and beans.
This assorted vegetables pasta/noodle salad bowl is a great summer option when you want something light yet able to fill in protein, the meatless way. When I use protein-based pasta/noodles (e.g. Explore Cuisine Bean Pasta), I prefer to make the entire dish vegetarian - allowing the plant-based protein to take center-stage.
Today, this Greens and Bean-Pasta Noodle Salad Bowl, is made with greens variety- broccoli, green beans and leafy kale. The vegetables are totally interchangeable, depending on what you have, so feel free to get creative.
Vegetarian option
Other vegetarian meatless recipes made with Explore Cuisine Bean Pasta:
Edamame and Mung Bean Fettuccine Veggie Salad Bowl
Gluten-Free Bean Pasta with (more) Beans and Veggies
Bean Pasta with Vegetarian Tofu Curry
Besides spelt, buckwheat and quinoa flour, this higher-in-protein garbanzo bean/chickpea flour (1/4 cup is about 7g protein) is also one of the alternative "flour-bases" I have recently used in these healthy muffins and bakes.
I actually prefer baking muffins to cookies, because one or two muffins can fill me up as post workout-snacks (two cookies can't! ).
Muffins another day, let us make Chickpea Cookies today.
With more antioxidants and protein than other beans, black soybean (the black variety of soybeans) is powerhouse plant-based protein, great for making nutritionally balanced vegetarian veggie bowl-meals or grain bowl-meals.
Besides incorporating this vegetarian plant-based protein into veggie bowls and salad bowls, I was just as excited to add tempeh into a bean stew (winter food!) which is quite similar to this one-pot bean stew.
Very importantly, this is a fuss-free way to prepare and cook a protein-loaded dish, which also means an absolutely easy way to a healthy and nutritious meal.
This whole package of organic tempeh packs about 40g of protein. With the addition of organic red kidney beans, it will be at least 60g of plant-based protein in this pot of spice goodness. If split into two meals or two servings, it is still a decent amount of protein per serving or meal.
Not forgetting that the last months of the year is sweet potato season, today we have some leftover chickpea and sweet potato pureed soup made the day before, reheated the next day and served with boiled/steamed chicken dumplings*, making this a light yet comforting one-dish meal.
It is one of those hot-hotter-hottest days in summer when "one-dish-has-everything" salad comes to mind. Vegetables and beans (legumes) all in one. Protein, fiber and carbs well-taken care of.
Moreover, no one wants to spend long hours behind the stove (heat!) in the hot summer days, so this minimal-cooking salad-as-a-meal (e.g. Falafel Salad Bowl, Tempeh Salad Bowl, Tandoori Chicken Salad) is a savior. You can also try this Vegetable and Tofu Platter with Cheese Dip.
The more salad-as-a-meal I make, the more motivated I am, to develop this healthy habit of preparing salad that stands alone as a meal (grain bowls!), more importantly a nutritionally balanced meal. Salad does not simply mean vegetables plus a dressing anymore. Besides the essential "vegetable" component, there should also be lean protein and fiber-boosting grains.
Other than eggs, chicken, shrimps as easy add-on proteins to a salad grain bowl, beans is another high-fiber plant-based protein option e.g. Chickpea Tuna Veggie Quinoa Bowl.
Today's add-on protein is not beans on its own, but something delicious made from beans - Falafel made from chickpeas/ garbanzo beans served on a bed of salad greens, avocado, red onions and apples.
With the quick-cook mung bean cooking tip I came across online, cooking this heat-alleviating dessert has become so much easier, especially at the spur of the moment.
Remember this Chickpea-Tuna Lettuce Endive Wrap ? Besides chicken, eggs, vegetarian tempeh and tofu, Chickpea-Tuna Mix has become one of the latest protein add-ons to my salad bowl meals (a.k.a grain bowls or workout meals). Certainly, this grain bowl can be made vegetarian by omitting the tuna - simply use chickpeas or other legumes as meatless protein mix-in.
This Chickpea-Tuna Mix is quick and easy to make - less than 30 minutes, no stove required; it is also a superb make-ahead dish that you can prepare on Sunday, and good for powering up healthy lunches for the week ahead.
To prepare a healthy wholesome grain bowl, always start with a base of colorful vegetables and greens, for example a spring mix of green and red leaf lettuces, radicchio and arugula.
To boost the nutrition and to have a forkful of textures and flavors, add more vegetables and fruits such as cucumbers, tomatoes, red cabbage, steamed asparagus, like this:
Explore Cuisine bean-powered pasta is not only great in taste and texture; it also provides a good amount of protein and fiber per serving. Their Organic Edamame Spaghetti and Organic Black Bean Spaghetti contain 24 g of protein per 2 oz serving - almost three times more than regular pasta and twice that of chickpea or lentil.
To enjoy the best of both worlds, I used two different spaghetti - Edamame Spaghetti and Black Bean Spaghetti, to create this dish - Edamame and Black Bean Spaghetti with Steamed Vegetables in Vegetarian Tofu Green Curry
Welcome, Spring! When the days get longer, I always look forward to visiting our favorite Saratoga farmers market for fresh local produce then make healthy and delicious dishes out of it.
This dish today is similar to Snap and Snow Peas Stir-Fry. The snap peas and snow peas are still the "star" here while the broccoli and shiitake mushrooms have been switched to Chinese broccoli and oyster mushrooms.
Beans on beans, pulses or more pulses. What do you say? Plant-protein power! Made from organic edamame and mung bean, Explore Cuisine's gluten-free fettuccine* carries the leftover bean "sauce" very well and makes a nice warm veggie pasta lunch on a cool breezy day. Alternatively, make a quick chickpea salad, toss it with pasta and save this pasta salad or Edamame and Mung Bean Fettuccine Veggie Salad Bowl for the hot summer days.
This bean fettuccine* on its own tastes very flavorful, warm or at room temperature (cooked and allowed to cool a few minutes). Personally, I enjoy the natural bean flavor of this pasta as it shines through without any sauce, just like this Edamame and Mung Bean Fettuccine Veggie Salad Bowl.
