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.
A salad fit and mighty as a main dish protein salad bowl featuring shredded chicken, quinoa, red cabbage, Brussel sprouts, snow peas.
Quinoa is nutritious whole grain that can be easily added to vegetable salads and make salads a meal. Make Smoked Salmon Turmeric Quinoa Bowl, Broccoli Cauliflower Celery Quinoa Bowl, Biryani-Inspired Quinoa Pilaf, Asparagus Quinoa Bowl.
Braised pork trotters is one of the Chinese New Year dishes enjoyed during this festive season as pigs are auspicious animals in Chinese culture and symbolize strength and good fortune.
This dish is prepared using store-bought boneless pork trotters, tossed with noodles symbolizing longevity equivalent to being in good health and paired with "lucky" vegetables combo.
Swap out multi-grains in this One-Pot Shrimp Rice for quinoa; and make Duck & Shrimp Quinoa, Veggie Bowl similar to this Duck Protein Bowl, just better.
A warm and comforting soupy grain bowl is one of those grain bowls or protein bowls sought after during cool weather season, which is right now.
If Leftover Chicken Breast Salad can be prepared in 20 minutes, why not this Chicken Veggies Rice Soup?
A nutritious protein bowl easily prepared and put together with store-bought smoked salmon (found this good quality Cambridge House smoked honey-roasted salmon from Costco), sliced cucumber, turmeric quinoa, and leftover chimichurri tofu.
Originated in Argentina, this sauce is versatile as marinade, sauce, dressing and/or condiment usually alongside grilled steak. Today, we see chimichurri used as marinade in this Chimichurri Tofu.
Use Chimichurri Tofu to up the protein in Scallop with Quinoa or they are also mighty enough to stand alone as meatless protein entree in plant-based protein bowls e.g. Five-Spice Tofu Protein Bowl and Yuba Veggies Bowl.
Dry? Lack of flavor? That's often associated with ground turkey of lower fat content; but these turkey burgers made from lean ground turkey are not. Instead, they are moist, juicy and so delicious because they are made to be - using onions, zucchini and roasted mushrooms, and a secret ingredient (not-so-secret following this post) - Feta Cheese!
Swap out regular chicken for these healthy and delicious Homemade Zucchini, Feta Cheese Turkey Burgers/ Patties in protein bowls.
They make great burgers and sandwiches as well.
Most of the times, there are no leftovers when it comes to cooked fish. Unlike leftover chicken, leftover cooked fish is trickier to deal with. But especially during inflationary times when bulk-buying groceries/produce/food items gets more bang for the buck - that's when you do buy more then usual, cook more than usual and THERE WILL BE leftovers.
Nothing comes to waste when it comes to frugal-living cooking, even for a tricky leftover cooked fish. There is always my beloved egg frittatas to turn to e.g. Onion Egg Frittata, Chive Egg Frittata, Gouda Cheese Egg Frittata and Frozen Veggies Egg Frittata.
So, the leftover snapper fillets from last night dinner were transformed to this Leftover Fish Egg Frittata upgraded with veggies and rolled oats.
Leftover cooked fish tend to be "dry", adding vegetables such as shredded carrots, or roasted zucchini helps re-introduce a little more moisture into the frittata. I also added (or sprinkled) some oats on top before oven-cooking the frittata, to make it texturally more exciting (plus it's added fiber too!).
Oh did I say? Though made into a protein bowl lunch here, these leftover fish egg frittata can be a great idea for a nutritious breakfast as well (yeah, that's rolled oats in there! right?)
You can create your own homemade BBQ sauce instead of depending on store-bought BBQ sauce as marinade to make this Pork Tenderloin Protein Bowl. Another alternative to easy homemade "marinade" is a dry-rub seasoning to flavor up oven-roasted pork tenderloin.
This dry-rub is made from bottled spices available in the pantry e.g. garlic powder, ginger powder, ground black pepper, dried oregano. Feel free to use your favorite spices and create your own dry-rub and flavors.
The Pan-Fried Capelin Fish (part of Smelt fish family) were a real tasty treat but this Oven-Grilled/ Roasted Capelin/ Smelt Fish are even better, as they are equally delicious yet easier to execute.
This quick-cook blend of seven grains (farro, barley, wheat berries, buckwheat, red rice, black rice, oats) cooks in about 10 minutes. Shrimps, typically, take approximately the same time to cook, why not put shrimps (protein) and multigrain rice (carbs) together as one-pot/rice-cooker Shrimps Rice/Multi-grains? Isn't it more wonderful when the rice is infused with savory shrimp flavors while the shrimps cooks in (and with) the rice.
Other one-pot possibilities include One-Pot Tomato Rice, One-Pot Turmeric-Spiced Rice, Cabbage Rice.
This fiber-rich multigrain blend of organic farro, barley, wheat berries, buckwheat, red rice, black rice, oats cooks quick and easy. In about ten minutes, the nutty aroma of fabulous grains fills the kitchen, and lingers to flavorsome grain goodness at the meal table.
Substitute multigrain blend with quinoa: make Chicken Broccoli Quinoa Bowl, Chicken Asparagus Quinoa Bowl.
Today, this multigrain blend pairs with freshly steamed broccoli, cauliflower and entree of the day (leftover chicken breast steamed/quick-braised with shiitake mushrooms; vegetarians can choose Tofu Mushrooms Stew).
Meal preparation is definitely the game changer, when it comes to putting together quick, healthy, nutritious lunches and dinners on busy weekdays. During hectic workweeks, you come close to decent salad-bowl meals moments, without the hassle and bustle of preparing the meals from scratch. That said, nothing comes easy. Deliberate thoughts and actions do come with meal preparation; just so you do not have to start from zero when preparing meal(s) on the actual day.
Canned sardines is a must-stocked item in our pantry. A good source of protein, omega-3, calcium - not only canned sardines is emergency food, it is also pantry-to-table (you can eat them straight out of the can!) meaning your meal is just ten minutes away.
Our family favorite brands include Crown Prince and Wild Planet. The Wild Planet brand of sardines also comes with No Salt version.
I only knew what milkfish was a few years ago while travelling in Tainan, Southern Taiwan where milkfish rice-porridge and pan-fried milkfish belly are traditional breakfast items in this city.
Milkfish has good nutritional value - high in niacin and Vitamin B12, phosphorus, selenium. Similar to other oily fish e.g. sardines and salmon; milkfish is also rich in omega-3 fatty acids, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) - "nutrients" for the brain.
This 3C Rice Porridge/Congee cannot be bought with Cash or Credit Card. It is homecooked and worth many carats...or rather, carrots.
A fuss-free 3C - Carrots, Celery, Cod Fish Porridge/Congee recipe that you can easily make at home, this porridge/congee stands alone as one-dish meal consisting of vegetables (carrots, celery), proteins (fish) and carbs (rice/ grains).
The carrots add subtle sweetness and celery, a tender crunch to the savory cod fish porridge/congee.
One of my favorite ways to cook salmon (or other variety of fish) is using en-papillote/ parchment-cooking. This fuss-free and healthy parchment cooking method never fails. The salmon turns out moist and tender even when the oven time goes over by a few more minutes.
In addition to these chicken-themed grain bowls, you can switch up the protein in your grain bowls or veggie bowls by using seafood such as shrimps or fish. A quick and easy method to prepare fish using en-papillote/ parchment-cooking also means that your grain bowl is fast to complete and a meal ready in less than 30 minutes.
Forget about slicing through those hard-shelled pumpkins, have Delicata Squash on-board and breeze through pumpkin season. As it is a relatively smaller squash, you do not have to think hard about storing unused portions. Buy it fresh, use it up, then buy it again.
Though Kabocha Squash remains my favorite squash in terms of versatility and flavor (check these recipes: Kabocha Squash Pumpkin Rice, Kabocha Squash, Okra, Green Beans Stew, Kabocha Squash Millet Congee), Delicata Squash is a convenient choice when preparing one or two servings meals.
With vegetables and roasted pumpkin squash (Pumpkin Squash Veggie Salad Bowl) as the base, I have prepared similar veggie bowls to pair with chicken Pumpkin Squash Veggie Bowl with Chicken and roasted salmon (below) - choice of Pesto Salmon or Dijon Mustard Salmon.
Delicata Squash Veggie Bowl with Roasted Salmon
Meatballs are worth making a batch because they are so versatile. Use them in soups e.g. Chives and Meatballs Soup, stews e.g. Lion's Head Meatballs Braise with Napa Cabbage, and of course, perfect add-ons to grain bowls and veggie bowls!
Steamed assortment of vegetables, roasted sweet potatoes, with quinoa and homemade meatballs
Remember these homemade meatballs? It is going to be an easier recipe today, keeping it homemade and simplified from the last time.
The fuss-free preparation tips and tricks from the previous recipe, such as oven-roasting the (batch of) meatballs and making uniform bite-size meatballs to manage cooking time, carry over to this recipe.
