A little bit of prep goes a long way. For me, preparing a few components ahead of time that will go into my meals throughout the week makes the whole process of cooking or preparing a meal so much easier. Here are some of my personal prep tricks:

  • I designate a weekly “prep day” for myself, so that I can set aside a little time for this purpose (generally not more than a couple hours). Weekend days work for me, but that doesn’t mean that they work for you. Select a day and a time that helps you to feel pressure-free.
  • On my weekend prep day, I usually make multiple servings of a grain (mostly quinoa or rice) that I can prepare and store in the fridge in a sealed glass container for use as the week progresses. It certainly takes away all that waiting time during the busy weekdays.
  • Also on the weekend, I will wash and chop whatever produce I plan to use that week, and store it in my fridge.
  • I frequently roast a sheet pan of chopped vegetables and sometimes even add a few potatoes to bake in the oven at the same time for efficiency. And like all my prep-ahead produce, these items get stored in the fridge for use later in the week.
  • I also love to make at least one dressing that can be made ahead, stored and used as needed through the week to instantaneously liven up a healthy lunch or dinner. 

This prep work I have described here generally takes me about 1 to 2 hours total and saves me countless hours during the week when I am attending to other needs and interests. And by having so much of the work already done when I want to compose a meal, I get the benefit of making extremely healthy and delicious choices that really fit my time budget.

If you’d like to try meal prep for yourself, this next recipe will be a great place to start…you will see what I mean when you dive into my delicious 

I Can’t Wait for Spring Buddha Bowl

I Can't Wait for Spring Buddha Bowl

Servings: 1 bowl

Equipment

  • Food processor or blender

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup leafy greens
  • 1 small baked sweet potato or 1/2 regular size sweet potato (about 1 cup), cut in rounds, skin on optional
  • 1/2 cup shredded purple cabbage
  • 3/4 cup cooked quinoa (or other grainof choice)
  • 1/4 red pepper, chopped
  • 4-5 thin sliced radish rounds (watermelon or daikon if available)
  • 1/4 cup edamame, shelled

And here is some salad dressing wisdom:

  • The power of a salad dressing is in a drizzle or a dash, not a dollop.
  • In addition to adding unnecessary calories to your intake, overdoing the dressing, no matter how tasty, really hides the deliciousness of the food that you are eating.
  • A drizzle or a dash of a tasty salad dressing enhances your food, it doesn’t bury it.

And speaking of tasty dressings, either of these dressings below work exceptionally well with this salad…

    Lemon Tahini Dressing 

    • 1/4 cup tahini (sesame paste)
    • 1 clove garlic chopped
    • 1 lemon juiced
    • 4 tbsp olive oil
    • 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
    • 1 pinch sea salt
    • 4 tbsp water (more if you like it thinner)

    OR try my new:

      Nutty Miso Dressing

      • 1" ginger root chopped
      • 4 tbsp almond butter
      • 1 tbsp white miso paste
      • 1 lime juiced
      • 1 tbsp nama shoyu OR soy sauce
      • 2 tbsp maple syrup
      • 1 tbsp rice vinegar
      • 4 tbsp water

      Instructions

      • Add all of the above ingredients to a bowl and top with dressing of your choice (see above for optional make yourself dressings!)

      To make the dressing:

      • Place the ingredients for the dressing of your choice in a food processor (or blender) and process (or blend) until uniformly smooth and creamy. 
      • Top the bowl with the dressing.

      Notes

      This salad is for one bowl, feel free to multiply the quantities for additional servings.

      Posted On

      March 13, 2023

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      1. This looks delicious and it is such a great way to prep for the week. I could probably use up leftovers with different bowls during the week too!

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