One of the best ways to nurture your body's natural microbiome is to eat a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. That's a mission easily accomplished with these delicious raw bowls, featuring marinated mushrooms, lentils, spinach, beets, carrots and a host of other nutrient-rich ingredients.
*Sprouted Lentils: Rinse ½ cup dry lentils well. Place lentils in a bowl or large jar, and add water until there is at least 1 inch water on top of lentils. Soak lentils for 12 hours. Drain lentils and rinse again. Place rinsed lentils back in bowl or jar. Set lentils in a warm area for 3–4 days, rinsing twice a day. Keep lentils damp but not submerged in water. An option to twice-daily rinsing is to cover lentils with a wet paper towel to keep them damp. Small sprouts should start to show by the third day.
- ½ cup dry lentils*
- FOR THE MARINATED MUSHROOMS:
- Juice of 1 lemon
- ¼ cup cold-pressed olive oil
- 3 tablespoons raw cider vinegar
- 1 small shallot, minced
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
- 1 tablespoon minced, fresh ginger
- 1 tablespoon raw honey
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 6-8 ounces small mushrooms, sliced
- FOR THE DRESSING:
- ¼ cup tahini
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 3 tablespoons cold-pressed olive oil
- 1 teaspoon raw honey
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 3-4 tablespoons purified water
- FOR THE BOWLS:
- 8 cups baby spinach leaves
- 1 large red beet, scrubbed and grated
- 1 cup julienned or coarsely grated carrot
- 2 small yellow squash, peeled or spiralized into veggie noodles
- 1 cucumber, peeled or spiralized into veggie noodles
- 1 cup shredded purple cabbage
- ⅓ cup dehydrated dragon fruit, mulberries or goji berries
- 2 small avocados, halved, seeded and peeled
- ½ cup chopped fresh parsley
- Pinch each salt and ground pepper
- Sprout lentils 3–5 days before making salad.*
- Marinate mushrooms: In a large bowl, whisk lemon juice, oil, vinegar, shallot, garlic, ginger, honey, red pepper flakes and salt. Add mushrooms and stir to coat. Cover, and refrigerate mushrooms at least 1 hour and up to overnight.
- Make dressing: In a small bowl, whisk tahini, lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, honey and salt. Slowly drizzle in water, whisking to desired consistency. Dressing should be thin enough to toss with vegetables, like a salad dressing. Note: The dressing will thicken if refrigerated but can be loosened by stirring in 1 tablespoon water.
- Assemble bowls: Divide spinach among four serving bowls. Top with piles of grated beet, carrot, squash noodles, cucumber noodles, purple cabbage, dehydrated fruit, mushrooms and sprouted lentils. Top each with an avocado half, parsley, drizzle of dressing, salt and pepper.
PER SERVING (ABOUT 3 CUPS): 461 cal, 16g fat (10g mono, 4g poly, 2g sat), 0mg chol, 338mg sodium, 59g carb (24g fiber, 17g sugars), 21g protein
