Thai Inspired Buddha Bowl made with coconut brown rice, carrots, bean sprouts, snow peas, bok choy, flowering kale, and a peanut sauce. Healthy, delicious and ohhhhhh so filling!

Recipe Swap Club is trying out something new this month. We are teaming up to each make a great Buddha Bowl and share what the other participants have come up with! Make sure you scroll to the bottom of the page to see the other amazing recipes once you see what Simply Made Recipes created, the Thai inspired Buddha Bowl. Don’t get intimidated by the amount of ingredients and instructions for this recipe. This is a simple recipe and uses basic ingredients. The only ingredient that your grocery may night have is the flowering kale but you can easily substitute with red cabbage or your regular kale.

To start, let us talk about what a Buddha Bowl is. To keep it basic, you have 5 elements to a good Buddha Bowl.

1/4 Protein.
1/4 Green.
1/4 Vegetables. Your green is probably a vegetable so half your bowl will be made of vegetables. For this portion, think of using various colored vegetables to ensure nutrient balance in your diet.
1/4 Grain.
Sauce to drizzle on top. May also pick a healthy fat.

These Thai inspired Buddha Bowls are so healthy, nutrient rich and filling! Fresh, crisp carrots, bok choy, kale and snow peas paired with a delicious garlic ginger marinated chicken. A coconut brown rice keeps you full for hours and the peanut sauce brings the whole dish together. I used chicken today in this bowl but you can easily swap with tofu. Directions for both chicken and tofu preparation are included in the instructions.

Thai Inspired Buddha Bowl {+ Round Up}

Coconut Brown Rice
1.5 cups brown rice
I 13 ounce can coconut milk
1 teaspoon salt
1.5 cups water
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon butter (optional)
Ginger Garlic Chicken or Tofu
2 large chicken breast or Tofu package (extra firm)
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon minced ginger (fresh)
1 tablespoon minced garlic (fresh)
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon olive oil
Peanut Sauce
2 minced garlic cloves
2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
.5 tablespoon peanut oil
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
3/4 cup coconut milk
.5 tablespoon soy sauce
.5 tablespoon lemon juice
.5 teaspoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon sriracha
Thai inspired Buddha Bowl
3 cups brown coconut rice
Ginger Garlic Chicken or Tofu
Peanut Sauce
Bunch Baby Bok Choy
Bunch Flowering Kale (also known as oriental kale)
6 carrots
14 ounce can bean sprouts (may also use fresh)
2 cups snow peas
peanuts to garnish

Gather ingredients, wash vegetables well, grab measuring cups, large ziplock bag, knife, cutting board, rice cooker, pan or wok, whisk and utensils.
Marinate the chicken: Cube the chicken. In a large Ziploc bag, add 1/4 cup soy sauce, 1 tablespoon ginger, 1 tablespoon garlic, 1 tablespoon honey, 1 tablespoon olive oil and the cubed chicken. Place in fridge for minimal of 20 minutes.
If swapping the chicken for tofu: Drain the water from the tofu package. Cube. Towel press the tofu to dry out. Place the tofu cubes in a large Ziploc bag, add 1/4 cup soy, 1 tablespoon ginger, 1 tablespoon garlic, and 1 tablespoon honey. Notice we are not using the olive oil yet with tofu, that will come when cooking.
Brown rice takes almost an hour to cook. make sure to read the instructions on your label for exact cook time. We placed the 1.5 cups brown rice in rice cooker, added 1 can coconut milk, 1.5 cups water, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon honey and 1 tablespoon butter. Let cook until liquid is absorbed.
While the rice cooks, chop the kale and bok choy, julienne the carrots, and remove the string that runs along the snow peas. Finely dice your onion for the peanut sauce.
On the stove top, place your pan on a medium heat and add the 2 tablespoons finely diced onion to sautee with .5 tablespoon peanut oil for 5 minutes, or until softened. Add 2 minced garlic cloves and cook one more minute. Remove from heat and place mixture in a bowl. Add 3/4 cup peanut butter, 3/4 cup coconut milk, .5 tablespoon soy sauce, .5 tablespoon lemon juice, .5 teaspoon brown sugar and 1 teaspoon sriracha. Whisk well.
Put your pan back on the stove top on a medium heat still. Add the marinated chicken and cook for 7 minutes while tossing every couple minutes.
If swapping chicken for tofu: Place the tablespoon of olive oil into pan and add tofu, let cook 5 minutes. Flip, and cook another 5 minutes.
Once the rice has finished cooking, whisk the peanut sauce once more and assemble your bowls.
We are going to assemble these bowls as follows : 1/4 bowl for the brown rice, 1/4 bowl for the chicken or tofu, 1/4 bowl for the greens (bok choy and snow peas), 1/4 bowl of colorful veggies ( kale, carrots, sprouts). Drizzle with peanut sauce and garnish with peanuts.
Enjoy!