The oryoki was a set of personal bowls and eating utensils every buddhist monk used to have for eating his food. The biggest bowl of that set was called zuhatsu - the buddha bowl. Buddhist monks practised  a meditative form of eating.  

A well balanced buddha bowl combines many good nutritions for you: Green salad, grains, healthy fat, protein, complex carbs with a low glycemic index, sweet stuff, crunchy stuff, veggies, herbs and more, if you like. There are no rigid rules, but I like to give you some hints of what you might take.

Even if you'll find non-vegan versions of the buddha bowl out there in the restaurants, the buddha bowl is a classic vegan dish.

Buddha bowls are a great way to upgrade your leftovers, too.

For this buddha bowl I took some wholegrain rice. It's got more vitamins, fibres and minerals than white rice and it helps preventing diabetes. All whole grains are great prebiotics and essential for your gut health.

You might as well take some other grains like quinoa, bulgur, corn, oatmeal, etc.    

I cooked the rice first, because it need 35 minutes to get it done. I used half a cup of rice and 1 cup of water for cooking on low heat. 

Some salad is always right in a buddha bowl. You may put a bunch of it right in the middle of the bowl or you cover the bottom of the bowl with some big leaves and put the other ingredients on top. Wash the salad first and let it drain. 

Here I took some chard, baby spinach and rocket salad for my buddha bowl.

Other good examples could be Watercress, Romaine lettuce or other kinds of cabbage. 

Originally it's supposed to be plant protein. Vegetarian alternatives would allow any kind of cheese, too. For this buddha bowl I chose some alfa sprouts for garnish. You may chose soy sprouts, beans, lentils or different types of cheese like feta or yoghurt for your buddha bowl.

For my beloved veggies, I steamed a handful of cut broccoli and diced sweet potatoes in my wok. To your taste you may choose string beans, aspargus, kale, radishes or whatsoever you love for your buddha bowl.

You might eat broccoli raw, but I recommend you to cook your veggies at least shortly of for even 10 minutes like I did with my veggies. Indeed I prefer steaming to regular cooking, because it keeps more nutriants in the vegetables.  

Afterwards I sauteed the sweet potatoes with some arabic spices in a ceramic coated pan. I seasoned the broccoli with some black sesame.

All of my chosen veggies are high in healthy fibres and therefore prebiotics. 

For garnishment, some slices of beetroot came into play. They are rich of iron and good for your blood.

Be careful when cutting the beetroot! Wear some rubber gloved or otherwise your finger will be purple for hours from the colour of the beetroot.

One yellow bell pepper got diced for my buddha bowl, too. Here I get rid of the inside stuff. They are high in vitamin C. 

Kimchi is Korean pickled and hot white cabbage and one of my favourite probiotic foods. All fermented foods are probiotics and the other essential half of health food for your guts. You MUST eat both - prebiotics AND probiotics - on regular basis to have enough good bacteria in your colon.  

Other great and well known probiotics are pickled veggies or sauerkraut.

The only spices I used for my buddha bowl were the black sesame for the broccoli (on the left) and the arabic spice blend for the sweet potatoes. 

My oil for this buddha bowl was supposed to be special: two table spoons of hemp oil...with a delicate nutty taste and rich in essential omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids.  

Any high quality oil would do here. 

Here I count the black sesame as nuts or seeds for this buddha bowl. You may take, peanuts, walnuts, pine kernels pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, cashews, etc.

When I got all my stuff ready, I was set to go. I put my ingredients into the bowl from outside to the inside, starting along the wall. Putting the salad in the middle and filling the blank spaces with the rest I had. Pretty easy!  

The cooked stuff was now just lukewarm.

...but we are not quite finished yet!

The little extra on top can be some cream, some syrup, a chili, some hummus, some finely cut ginger or herbs, some crema di balsamico, some tzaziki...just what your heart desires! 

I went for a slice of lime with one small scoop of guacamole. 

Now my first buddha bowl ever is ready to serve! I can tell you it was so yummy...there surely will be more buddha bowls coming my way from my hands in the very near future. Enjoy!

A full bowl with a diameter of 20 cm are perfect to provide you with a full meal.

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