"Lunch is Ready!" in Less Than Ten Minutes

Grain bowl ready for lunch.

A recent article* in the Dining Section of the NY Times featured grain bowls as a one-dish adventure.  Melissa Clark promoted a number of ideas for grain bowls from different restaurants, but the one thing all grain bowls seem to have in common are the three layers: the grain, the vegetable layer, and the protein topped with some kind of sauce.  Left-overs are great for building a grain bowl for a quick breakfast or lunch.  With this in mind I checked out the left-overs in our fridge and made bowls for our lunch today.

Frozen quinoa and kale from Costco.

Since I discovered the frozen quinoa and kale at Costco, I almost always have some of that in the freezer.  The little individual bag that is a perfect serving for two or three cooks in 4 minutes.  I used this as the base for the first layer, about a third of a bowl. (Yes I know quinoa isn't a grain, it's a seed but it's a good substitute.)

Pop this bag of frozen quinoa and kale in microwave for 4 minutes.

First third in bowl, a layer of quinoa and kale.

In the fridge I had a package of Trader Joe's peeled and cooked baby beets.  Dan and I both love beets, so these became the vegetable layer---the next third of the bowl on top of the quinoa and kale.

Trader Joe's baby beets ready to eat.

These go in the microwave for 1 minutes.

Layer sliced beets over the quinoa.

I didn't seem to have any sauce on hand that would work, and I didn't want to make one, so I topped the bowl with a spoonful of three-bean salad (another left-over)  This added a little more protein and a lot of flavor.  I spread a bit of the pickling juice over the top.

Trader Joe's to the rescue again.  There was part of a roll of goat cheese from TJ's---that became the protein layer.

Trader Joe's goat cheese. 

Protein layer of chevre on top and ready to eat in less than 10 minutes.

This was so easy and so quickly made and nutritious.  This can be eaten warm or cold.  We will eat it cold so I have it ready now for lunch.   I'll keep grain bowls in mind when I need to use left-overs or when I just want something a bit different and something that can be whipped up in short order.

*Check out Melissa Clark's link in the NY Times for more ideas about preparing grain bowls.

p.s. If Rachel Ray can have a TV show called "30 Minute Meals", perhaps I could have one called "Meals in Less Than 10 Minutes".  Are you listening Food Network?