Brown Rice + Charred Broccoli Grain Bowl with Cucumber, White Beans, Egg and Miso Dressing

A grain bowl is my ideal lunch these days. It is filling, comforting, can be served hot or cold and it provides an opportunity to pack in a variety of flavors and textures (read: the contents of my fridge). I also love how a grain bowl really soaks in a dressing, in a way that a grain-less salad simply cannot.

We seem to have a lot of grain bowls in our house lately, largely because I typically have the individual components already prepped. Really, a “grain bowl” is simply a fancy way of describing the result of throwing together said components with minimal effort involved. Unless we have a weekend filled with social events — the type of weekend I try to avoid at all costs — I will usually prep meal components over the weekend with weekday grain bowls in mind. I follow a rough equation to change things up weekly.

Grain bowl equation:

1 whole grain + 1 protein + 1 roasted veggie + 1 fresh veggie + 1 flavorful dressing + 1-2 wildcard ingredients

= a delicious grain bowl

The sum is certainly greater than its parts!

The bowl at hand is a roughly Japanese spin on a grain bowl, with an absolutely delicious miso dressing that I could eat straight from the jar (I did). I prepped the brown rice and white beans over the weekend using my Instant Pot and I also made a large triple batch of the miso dressing to use throughout the week. You could easily substitute already-cooked brown rice from the grocery store and canned white beans. With those components already prepped, all I had to do was roast some broccoli and slice some cucumbers, both of which I had already washed over the weekend to further cut down on time.

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Brown Rice + Charred Broccoli Grain Bowl with Cucumber, White Beans, Egg and Miso Dressing

• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 20 minutes
• Total Time: 30 minutes
• Yield: 2-4 bowls, depending on level of hunger

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Ingredients

For the bowl:

• 1 head of broccoli, washed and cut into small florets
• 3 tbsp avocado or olive oil
• 2 tbsp coconut aminos or soy/tamari sauce 
• 2-4 eggs, preferably pasture-raised
• 2 cups cooked brown rice, prepared according to package directions (I used brown basmati rice, cooked with ghee)
• 1 cup cooked white beans (or 1 can, drained and rinsed)
• 2 handfuls of greens of choice (I used watercress and baby purple kale)
• 1/2 English cucumber, sliced
• Miso dressing (see below)
• Optional garnish: black sesame seeds and pickled onions or ginger

 For the dressing:

• 1 tbsp white miso
• 1 tsp freshly grated ginger (from about a 1 inch knob)
• 1 tsp raw honey
• 1 tsp mustard
• 2 tsp coconut aminos or soy/tamari sauce
• 2 tsp toasted sesame oil
• 2 tbsp tahini
• 1 tbsp brown rice vinegar (ACV works, too)
• 2 tbsp water

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425° and line two large baking sheets with parchment. 
2. Roast the broccoli: place florets in a large mound on one of the baking sheets. Drizzle with olive oil and 1/2 tsp of sea salt and a pinch of freshly ground pepper. Toss until evenly coated. Divide broccoli between two baking sheets, leaving ample space among the florets to facilitate browning. Roast for 20-25 minutes, giving it a quick toss 15 min in. It should be nicely browned with crispy edges. After removing from oven, sprinkle with coconut aminos or soy/tamari sauce. Feel free to prep in advance. 
3. Meanwhile, make the eggs: fill a medium sized pot halfway with water and set over high heat. Bring to a boil. Once water is boiling, lower in eggs using a slotted spoon. Set a timer for 6 minutes for runny or 7 minutes for jammy. The timing will also depend on the size of your eggs and their temperature, so keep that in mind. While the eggs cook, fill a bowl with ice water to have at the ready. When the timer is up, transfer the eggs to the ice bath to cool. Eggs can be prepped up to 3 days in advance. 
4. Make the dressing: whisk together all ingredients until smooth and creamy, adding more water if necessary to reach desired consistency.
5. Assemble the salad: Fill each bowl with some of the brown rice, beans, roasted broccoli and greens. Drizzle with miso dressing, top with a peeled egg and garnish with black sesame seeds and pickled ginger. Enjoy!