Asian Bowl recipe

Use convenience foods to build healthy fast food! Peanut Asian Rice Bowl is ready in less than 10 minutes. 

Convenience foods are the poster child for “bad food.” They get blamed for a lot of health woes. To be sure, there are many that deserve the label. But there are also some great healthy food options.

A convenient bowl

A bowl usually has a grain and vegetables. There may be broth, meat, chicken, eggs, fish, nuts or seeds. Here’s a Mexican Burrito Power Bowl recipe. A breakfast bowl could be cool yogurt or hot oatmeal with fruit, nuts and seeds.

Just because it’s served in a single vessel doesn’t mean it’s simple. Many recipes require lots of cooking before filling the bowl. I decided to experiment with healthier convenience foods. I wanted a recipe I could make quickly with foods that I could keep on hand. Isn’t that what convenience is all about?

How to make a fast, easy Peanut Asian Rice bowl

1. Heat frozen vegetables
2. Heat precooked brown rice in 90 seconds
3. Twist the cap on spicy peanut sauce.

An easy recipe with healthier fast food

Start with a whole-grain

Precooked brown rice is ready in 1 minute

The Asian-food section has precooked rice with interesting flavor combos but I wanted brown rice. I found what I was looking for in the rice section. The precooked brown rice was on sale but still more than twice the price per serving of a bag of uncooked rice.

Can you freeze rice?

Yes! cooked rice freezes. Cool before freezing and store it airtight then you’re halfway there for the next rice bowl.

Frozen vegetables are super convenient

Quick saute of frozen vegetables

Quick fixin’s means little prep. Frozen vegetables are ready when you are and no chopping required! Asian-style frozen veggies include broccoli, cauliflower, sugar snap peas, water chestnuts, and carrots. The one-pound bag was $1.79, less than a head of cauliflower. The bag said it serves five, but I used the entire bag for two servings…an easy way to get more veggies.

Spicy peanut sauce that added the pizzazz I wanted. At $5.19 a bottle, premade sauces come at a premium price. Peanut sauce is easy to make, but I liked this store-bought find.

Spicy peanut sauce can also be stirred in with:

• broccoli slaw. Top with cooked chicken or pork.
• cooked pasta. Add cooked vegetable and meat, such as broccoli and chicken or beef. I tossed it with rice noodles in a chicken stir-fry.

Beat the clock, at a price, convenience foods cost more

Cost wise, this was less than $3.00 per serving. I could have saved money by cooking the rice and making homemade peanut sauce but time wise, there is no way I could have beat the clock. Ready in less than 10 minutes, I would have still been waiting for the rice water to boil. Instead, I was loading dishes in the dishwasher.

This healthy recipe is a dinner winner. You’ll be ringing the dinner bell in less than 10 minutes!

Healthy convenience foods = Healthy fast food = Easy dinner ideas

• canned tuna
• canned salmon
• jarred pasta sauce
• bagged greens
• pasta
• rotisserie chicken
• canned tomatoes
• canned beans
• hummus
• nut butters
• frozen fruit
• frozen fish filets

Easy dinner ideas

Looking at this list, I’m all in with the convenience of dried, canned and frozen foods because these kitchen staples make easy dinners quick.

1. One pot Spinach and Tomato Linguini
2. One-pot Baked Greek Chicken Stew
3. Tuna Piccata Toast
4. Black Bean Quinoa Salad
5. One Pan Blueberry Porkchops
6. Salmon Zucchini Linguini

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Peanut Asian Rice Bowl

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Use convenience foods to build a delish and nutrish Peanut Asian Rice Bowl! You’ll ring the dinner bell in less than 10 minutes with healthy foods, conveniently.

• Author: Judy Barbe
• Prep Time: 2 minutes
• Cook Time: 7 minutes
• Total Time: 9 minutes
• Yield: 2 1x
• Category: Dinner
• Method: stove
• Cuisine: Asian

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 1 8.8-ounce packaged ready-to-serve brown rice
• 1 teaspoon canola oil
• 1 16-ounce package frozen Asian-style vegetables
• 4 tablespoons prepared peanut dipping sauce
• 2 tablespoons peanuts
• Siracha sauce

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Instructions

1. Heat oil in a large skillet over high heat for 1 minute. Add frozen vegetables; stir regularly for 5 to 7 minutes.
2. Heat rice according to package directions.
3. To make two bowls, layer rice, top with vegetables, peanut sauce, peanuts. Drizzle with Siracha.

Notes

Microwave, boil, or steam the vegetables, if you want. I like the caramelization from the quick saute.

Nutrition

• Serving Size: half the recipe
• Calories: 520