If you are avoiding bread in your quest to lose weight, choose to put your sandwich in a bowl. First, I thought about everything I love wrapped inside my favorite gyro wrap. Then, I simply pre-made my lentils and brown rice, chopped my veggies and made some vegan Tzatzikii Gyro Bowl.
In order to make dinner preparations easier, after a hard day of work, meal prepping helps tremendously.
Although everything else was prepared beforehand, I chose to roast my chickpeas right before servings, so they were crunchy and delicious. Now all I had to do what warm the rice, lentils, and throw the rest in the bowl.
For the tzatziki sauce, it is best to make it ahead of time, so the flavors enhance in the refrigerator.
Also, I chose to serve it on the side for my family to choose how much or how little they wanted.
When making my lentils, I use a small piece of kombu, a seaweed type dried vegetable that aids in issues of blasting and gas. In a former post, The cure for beans, beans, beans, the musical fruit…the more you eat, the more you …." No more tooting! I discuss the benefits of using kombu.
Of course, having extra sauce is never a bad thing. In fact, if you end up with extra sauce, you can serve it with vegetables, Oil-Free Vegan Garlic Cilantro Naan, or with your crackers of choice.
As a matter of fact, if you are planning ahead, you might want to double the sauce recipe for the Gyro Bowl Recipe.
Skinny Lentil Gyro Bowl with Vegan Taziki
- Make a skinny gyro by serving it in a bowl. Half raw, and half cooked, you get all your vegan food groups in one delicious bowl.
Ingredients
LENTILS
- 2 cups prepared brown lentils you may use green, or red lentils
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 small piece kombu
BROWN RICE
- 4 cups prepared brown rice
VEEGATBLES
- 1 English Cucumber Sliced
- 2 Vine Ripe Tomatoes sliced into wedges
- ½ large white onions cut in half and sliced thin
- 1 head romaine lettuce cut into bite sized pieces
ROASTED CHICKPEAS
- 1 can organic chickpeas drained
- 2 teaspoons garlic salt
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh dill
- 1 teaspoon pepper
TAZIKI SAUCE
- 10 ounces Kite Hill Plain Almond Milk Yogurt yield 1 ¼ cups
- ½ cup diced red onion
- 1 cup diced cucumber drained on paper towels
- 1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- ¼ cup fresh dill chopped
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
Instructions
LENTILS
- 1 cup uncooked lentils
- 4 cups water
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 small piece kombu (approx 3-4 inches)
- Rinse the lentils in a fine mesh sieve under the faucet. Inspect the lentils and remove any bad lentils or small stones.
- Add the lentils, water, bay leaf and kombu to a pot. Bring the pot to a boil, reduce heat to a very low simmer, cover the pot with a lid and cook for 20-30 minutes or until tender but not mushy.
- Drain the lentils, remove the bay leaf and kombu and set aside.
BROWN RICE
- Prepare rice in a rice cooker, instant pot, or stovetop (whatever you prefer)
ROASTED CHICKPEAS
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Drain chickpeas, but DO NOT RINSE (you want the sticky aquafaba on the chickpeas)
- On a cookie sheet, line with silicone baking mats, or parchment paper
- Make as inline layer of chickpeas on the baking mat
- Sprinkle with garlic salt, fresh dill, and pepper
- Bake for 30 minutes
- Remove from oven and let cool slightly
PREPARE THE BOWLS (FOR EACH BOWL)
- Add ¼ cup cooked brown rice
- Ad lentils to the top of the brown rice
- Add roasted chickpeas to the top of the lentils
- On the other side of the bowl, arrange the cold ingredients: bed of chopped lettuce, sliced onions, and sliced tomatoes.
- Serve Taziki on the side
TAZIKI SAUCE
- Dice cucumber first. I used the small chopper on my vegetable chopper.
- Place chopped cucumber in a colander lined with paper towels and place in the sink.
- Toss cucumbers every couple of minutes, so the paper towel absorbs the extra moisture
- Chop onion using the same small chop, so the cucumber and onion are the same size.
- Place all ingredients in a bowl
- Stir
- Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes before serving.
SERVE
- Dip for vegetables
- Sandwich spread
- Sauce for a gyro bowl
Notes
Nutrition
Hi! My name is Kathy, I am a retired high school English teacher & vegan enthusiast and blogger. My entire blog is fully plant-based vegan. I truly believe what we eat & how we live determines our health & the preservation of our planet! 🙂
Leave a Reply