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Bowls!: Recipes and Inspirations for Healthful One-Dish Meals
Learn to make an endless array of fun, healthy, and delicious meals with this illustrated book of bowl food recipes and techniques.Bowls are the new plates, featuring flavorsome combinations of nutritious grains, proteins, vegetables, a sauce, and something crunchy. It’s a casual, comforting, satisfying way to eat lunch or dinner, and a delicious way to serve up healthy superfoods and probiotics. In Bowls!, Molly Watson offers a comprehensive guide to this fun new way to eat, including twenty-six complete bowl recipes and ninety recipes for mix-and-match components. And with its inspiring photographs, combo tips, and pantry advice, this handy volume is the ideal go-to for weeknight cooks and healthy eaters.
283 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 1, 2017
334 people are currently reading
203 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
July 4, 2020
The recipes look really good, and include solid chronological instructions. As always, I like seeing photos in cookbooks.
February 25, 2019
BOWLS! They're both a new phenomenon and one of the oldest ways to eat food. My younger brother recently suggested eating at one of those food-court style places that are really trendy right now and nearly all ten of the restaurants there had at lest one dish that was a bowl-based dish. The first 2/3s of this book are great for the cooks like my wife and mom who just need a suggestion and can use that to come up with wonderful food. The last third was for me, who needs recipes of an entire dish which I can then make small modifications to.
What I liked most about this book was the opportunity to create some new dishes unlike anything we normally prepare at home.
What I liked most about this book was the opportunity to create some new dishes unlike anything we normally prepare at home.
November 7, 2018
What really makes this book a worthy addition to any kitchen isn't so much the bowl recipes (of which I've tried two and loved both), but all the fantastic information on how to cook the individual components. Everything from grains, to sauces to veggies gets a thorough explanation and cooking procedure that will work when cooking for things other than bowls. Just the chapter introducing, explaining, and telling you how to deal with all kinds of grains is worth the purchase.
January 28, 2018
I got some good info out of this book. I wish my library had a print copy, but alas I just tortured myself by reading it on Hoopla.
May 9, 2020
When non-vegan cookbooks fall into my lap, I always try to take them for what they are and look through them anyways for creative ideas, because you never know when someone's food philosophy is going to click with your own, even if you follow different diets.
I too like to eat primarily out of bowls and think it's best when a group can customize their plates to suit their own needs. When I cook I like to try to please everyone, and the bigger a group is, the more impossible that task becomes. I like the idea presented here of everyone sharing a base and a protein and then sort of just taking as much or as little as they want of the rest of the bits and pieces.
I found a lot in here I could use, including a lot of the actual recipes. I wouldn't recommend this one to a vegan specifically unless they had it fall into their lap much the way it fell into mine, but for everyone else, I think if the idea of healthy eating with a lot of components appeals to you then definitely pick this up, just know that sort of because of the nature of the dishes, each "bowl" requires you to essentially cook 4 recipes.
I too like to eat primarily out of bowls and think it's best when a group can customize their plates to suit their own needs. When I cook I like to try to please everyone, and the bigger a group is, the more impossible that task becomes. I like the idea presented here of everyone sharing a base and a protein and then sort of just taking as much or as little as they want of the rest of the bits and pieces.
I found a lot in here I could use, including a lot of the actual recipes. I wouldn't recommend this one to a vegan specifically unless they had it fall into their lap much the way it fell into mine, but for everyone else, I think if the idea of healthy eating with a lot of components appeals to you then definitely pick this up, just know that sort of because of the nature of the dishes, each "bowl" requires you to essentially cook 4 recipes.
September 25, 2017
I recently got my hands on an innovative concept cookbook which is all about building delicious meals in a bowl. It opens with a lot of cooking tips for creating different components of a bowl meal including vegetables, a protein source, a base, a sauce and toppings, but the real magic comes when you begin to try some of sample recipes each filled with delectable components. The “Saffron Quinoa Bowl” was a vegetarian delight with Moroccan-spiced root vegetables and spiced roasted chickpeas.The “Black Pepper Tofu Bowl” had an amazing base of gingered coconut brown rice. The “Sweet and Crunchy Salmon” bowl included a wonderful fennel and green apple salad layer. In short the combos are brilliant and the opportunities to experiment are endless.
October 10, 2017
This selection traveled with me on vacation for review and possible preparation. At first I was not too impressed until I actually thought about making one of the delicious recipes. The book begins with advice on bowl basics followed by different grain preparation recipes. These are followed by recipes for beans and lentils, proteins, vegetables, sauces and finally toppings. Now you are ready to make individual or full bowls. Follow the recipes given or design your own! Just select your favorites in each section and begin making your own combinations for nutritious, beautiful and delicious meals. Great for quick meals or encouraging help in the kitchen.
August 11, 2018
A lot of the recipes looked fantastic. There were some pretty photographs as well (although that seems to be a must any more when one is looking at cookbooks!) It's hard to rate a book when I haven't cooked through it, but I love bowl foods so I'm going to have to try one or two.
My only gripe was the recipe layout--I wish she'd had all the ingredients listed at the beginning of the recipe when she came to the bowl examples at the end of the book. I understand why the author chose to write it the way she did, but I like knowing exactly what I'll need before I start planning how to cook the recipe. :)
Anyway, I see more bowl foods in my future.
My only gripe was the recipe layout--I wish she'd had all the ingredients listed at the beginning of the recipe when she came to the bowl examples at the end of the book. I understand why the author chose to write it the way she did, but I like knowing exactly what I'll need before I start planning how to cook the recipe. :)
Anyway, I see more bowl foods in my future.
May 11, 2018
A bit of something for anyone
Healthy food is typically bland and/or complicated. Molly Watson's effort disproves this on multiple levels.
First and foremost, this is a plant-centered cookbook, but not a vegetarian one. Recipes use meat and dairy as part of the complexity of the bowls, but no prep is terribly difficult.
Secondly, the grains and vegetables work in conjunction to solve the dinner challenge
Highly recommended
Healthy food is typically bland and/or complicated. Molly Watson's effort disproves this on multiple levels.
First and foremost, this is a plant-centered cookbook, but not a vegetarian one. Recipes use meat and dairy as part of the complexity of the bowls, but no prep is terribly difficult.
Secondly, the grains and vegetables work in conjunction to solve the dinner challenge
Highly recommended
February 3, 2019
I saw this at my local library and picked it up. As a plant-based eater most of my meals are either in Smoothie form or in a bowl with ancient grains, lots of veggies and beans.
If you are a meat eater you can just follow the recipe. If you are not a meat eater, just skip the meat and add some other protein or more veggies.
All in all there are some really good flavor combinations here.
Give it a look and maybe discover something new.
If you are a meat eater you can just follow the recipe. If you are not a meat eater, just skip the meat and add some other protein or more veggies.
All in all there are some really good flavor combinations here.
Give it a look and maybe discover something new.
March 23, 2017
A beautiful cookbook! I really like that the recipes are very approachable. Molly Watson opens with a brief introduction to bowls and then dives right in. She has short sections introducing the elements of bowl meal creation and giving recipes. She then gives a number of quick examples and then steps up to more complicated recipes. She suggests how to create your own recipes and how to alter the ones she offers. She has offerings from all over the world without requiring a lot of unfamiliar ingredients. Beautifully illustrated and very inviting! I am so inspired.
I looked also at Bowls of Plenty by Carolynn Carreno. I found it to be much more daunting. Also a lovely cookbook, but the recipes all seem much more complicated and involved.
I looked also at Bowls of Plenty by Carolynn Carreno. I found it to be much more daunting. Also a lovely cookbook, but the recipes all seem much more complicated and involved.
May 13, 2018
This is a recipe book, but it I also more of a guide so you can create your own one dish dinner. Really, it was worth reading to get the idea of how to layer a bowl. The first thing I tried was a recipe for baked tofu which I will continue to use because it is great. I will be using this as a reference book.
August 19, 2018
Interesting book. I don't know if I'd call this a "recipe" book, although there are instructions on how to prepare many of the basic elements of a solid bowl. It's more a book of suggestions! I am unlikely to ever follow any of the recipes from start to finish, but it is a good place to get inspiration for new combinations.
September 28, 2017
I have been eating this kind of bowls lately. It is hard to find a nice healthy bowls. I like this book. The book describes the combination of a bowl, such as bulk, grain and dressing. I learn more about bowls. The recipe is nice and east to follow.
March 2, 2018
Brilliant!
A really well considered cookbook. Plenty of info and help for novice cooks, but inspiring to seasoned cooks as well. Make a bowl as simple or as complex as you want.
A really well considered cookbook. Plenty of info and help for novice cooks, but inspiring to seasoned cooks as well. Make a bowl as simple or as complex as you want.
March 19, 2019
This book has some decent recipes. But the format makes it difficult to find and utilize them.
March 25, 2019
found several bowl recipes that I could easily convert to keto.
May 27, 2021
This has some really good looking bowls I cannot wait to try!
January 9, 2022
Most of the recipes were too time consuming. I like bowls recipes because they’re somewhat quicker. None of the recipes looked appealing enough to try either.
January 10, 2023
There are interesting recipes in this cookbook...however, I found some to just have too many ingredients for my taste, but still gives the reader good ideas!
June 23, 2024
Decent ideas. I would have preferred fewer meat ideas myself, and some of the combinations suggested seem...interesting. However, it gave me a lot of ideas.
March 31, 2017
Very interesting, would like to play around with the sushi-ish-bowl.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews