
Asian Balanced-Bowl with Golden Turmeric Dressing & Rye Croutons
I am all about easy nourishing balanced whole bowls that has everything I need to nourish my body and still make my tastebuds go ‘YES’!
This salad tick all the nutrition boxes
- it’s colourful, packed with a rainbow of veggies
- full of fibre,
- lean protein,
- whole-grains and gut loving turmeric and ginger.
If you are not good with raw veggies, the veggies can very easily be thrown in a large pan for a quick stir-fry which would be easier to digest for those sensitive to raw fibre.
The salad serves two or it can easily opt for a good lunch for 1 and plenty of leftovers for the next day.
Easy adaptable recipe
- Please only use the veggies as a canvas, it’s really what I had in the fridge,
- a veggie box delivery would be great – simply chop up any veggies for the salad
- The key to a nutritious balanced-bowl is DIVERSITY so use as many colours and textures that you can.
- I love the addition of coriander but parsley and dill would work well too.
- Use any nut or seed you have at hand and toast or don’t toast the nuts. Toasting adds flavour to the nuts but sometimes I can’t be bothered tbh.
20g Vegan Plant Protein
In this recipe I added cooked shredded chicken, 1 cup per person, to get my 20g protein in per serving. Here is some vegan alternatives.
- Lentils (1 cup cooked per person) – Approximately 18g of protein. Combine with quinoa or another grain to hit 20g.
- Edamame (1 cup 150g cooked per person) – Approximately 18g of protein.
- Firm Tofu – You need quite a lot of tofu to hit the 20g of protein mark, so I would mix 1 block with quinoa and edamame to hit the mark.
- Tempeh (100g per person) – Around 19g of protein.
- Chickpeas (1 cup cooked per person) – Roughly 14g of protein. Combine with nutritional yeast or tahini for an extra protein boost.
Buy a Mandolin!
The beauty of a mandolin (a very sharp cutting tool) is the fact that it finely slices any veggie beautifully, making eating raw veggies easy. I have an expensive Japanese blade one (and a glove!) but I have used the inexpensive versions (here) too and they work wonderfully (still get the glove!).
Make ahead & short cuts
- buy a shop-bought ready shredded rainbow slaw – think variety!
- most Sundays I make my poached chicken recipe, ready to add throughout the week to soups and salads
- the best rye bread is definitely Adri’s from Mount Elsewhere Bakery – it is a pumpernickel style bread full of seeds, I love it.

Asian Balanced-Bowl with Golden Turmeric Dressing
Equipment
- NutriBullet
Ingredients
- 2 cups raw cauliflower shredded or finely sliced
- 2 cups raw red cabbage shredded or finely sliced
- 1 large fennel bulb finely sliced
- 1 large carrot finely sliced
- 1 large pepper finely sliced
- ½ bunch spring onions finely diced
- 1 cup coriander leaves only, freeze stems
- ½ avo diced
- 2 cups cooked chicken shredded (see vegan protein in recipe intro)
- 4 slices sourdough rye bread (optional)
- 1 large garlic clove
- 1 tablespoon black mustard seeds toasted
- ½ cup walnuts roughly chopped (toasted if you have time)
- 1 lime sliced
Turmeric & Ginger Golden Dressing
- fresh turmeric thumb nail sized
- fresh ginger thumb sized
- 1 garlic clove
- 4 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons white or brown miso
- 2 small limes juiced
- 4 tablespoons cold water
Instructions
- To make the dressing, add the ingredients to a high-speed blender and blend until smooth. Taste and adjust the seasoning to your liking, adjusting the salty with the sourness of the limes.
- Toast the rye slices until crispy, remove from the toaster and rub fiercely with the garlic clove, cut into rough ‘croutons’ and set aside.
- Divide the cauliflower, cabbage, fennel, pepper and carrots to two pretty bowls (or mix together in a bowl and only use what you need), top each bowl with the spring onions, coriander leaves and avo followed by the chicken and croutons.
- Drizzle with the dressing and finally top with the walnuts, sesame seeds and spring onions.
- Serve with a limes on the side. Enjoy!