Overview If you're like us, the search for a quick-and-easy but still healthy dinner idea is never ending. Enter the Buddha Bowl. Also called "Glory Bowls," these grain-, protein- and vegetable-rich dishes can be assembled in minutes and customized to your taste. The bonus? Many of these recipes feature healthy, savory sauces you'll want to make again and again. 1. Roasted Vegetables With Creamy Sage Cashew Sauce Danielle Omar, the registered dietitian behind FoodConfidence.com, says Buddha Bowls are a staple in her home. That's because "they never look or taste the same twice, and they are craveably good." This choose-your-own-adventure recipe features a handful of vegetables and greens along with some grains, seeds and proteins added to the mix. The key to bringing it all together is a savory cashew cream sauce. 2. Sweet Potato Buddha Bowl With Curry Pecan Dressing This hearty bowl from Allison Day of YummyBeet.com pairs sweet potatoes with grains, so if that's a bit too starchy for you, use quinoa or millet. The sweet potatoes, asparagus, edamame and tempeh get topped with a rich curry sauce made with miso, honey, garlic and pecan halves. Tempeh is a fermented soy product that is actually made with whole beans instead of processed ones, like tofu. It's generally higher in calories than tofu, but has three times the fiber and more protein as well. 3. Crunchy Quinoa Buddha Bowl With Ginger-Almond Dressing Wait, no kale? Indeed, this bowl looks to the old-school cruciferous green -- cabbage -- for fortification. We love the variety of textures in this bowl, especially the almonds for crunch. The addition of sweet potatoes keeps the bowl filling while cilantro and the lime juice-infused dressing add some serious zing. Sarah Cook, the blogger behind MakingThymeForHealth.com, says the dressing is so addictive, "you will have to resist licking it out of the bowl." Challenge accepted. 4. Rainbow Quinoa Buddha Bowl With a Kick One of the easiest Buddha Bowl recipes we've seen, this is also kind of a one-pot meal because you cook the quinoa and carrots, broccoli, purple cabbage and frozen peas together like a pilaf. A creamy avocado garnish rounds out this recipe. The kicker? No need to labor over a homemade sauce. That's because CookingQuinoa.net's Wendy Polisi relies on a simple blend of adobo seasoning, garlic and Sriracha to give it some heat. 5. Glorious Tofu Buddha Bowl With Savory Dressing Jeannette Ordas of EverybodyLikesSandwiches.com was inspired by bright colors when creating this meal, pairing green dill and red quinoa with fresh veggies like red peppers, purple cabbage and cucumbers. Her advice? "Make this part of a summer gathering with tons of different topping ingredients where everyone can customize their own bowl," she says. "And if you still have dressing leftover, it's great to use on green salads or as a vegetable dip." 6. Beet and Carrot Buddha Bowl With Savory Dressing Strapped for time? This bowl from Elisabeth Poirier of HomemadeHearts.ca may become your new go-to meal. "This salad is so quick to prepare," she says. "You can cook your rice, grate all your veggies and mix your dressing ahead of time. You just keep all the ingredients in separate containers in the fridge. When you are in need of a quick lunch, you will have everything on hand to assemble a large bowl in just a minute or two." Way easier than pie! 7. Bean and Farro Buddha Bowl With Cilantro-Apple Dressing This bowl gets blessed with two types of beans and is thoughtfully paired with crunchy radishes and just the right grain. "Mixing grains to a bean salad -- or any salad, for that matter -- does great things for texture and overall satiability too," says HonestFare.com's Gabrielle Arnold. "But it has to be the right grain, or else we're talking mush. I used farro here because it's somewhat dense -- similar to barley -- and doesn't fall apart or get lost in the mix.
