It's Bowl Season, Too

Plus the cooling breeze of my minty green yogurt sauce

In the spirit of summer food that’s more about assembly than standing-over-the-stovetop cooking, I think it’s time for some “bowl food.” In my mind, bowl food isn’t such a stretch from snacks for dinner, or even the seasonal staple of a sliced and salted juicy tomato, crusty bread, and a wedge of cheese. It’s all just delicious components, arranged. And like anything in life or food, a bit of advance planning pays off greatly.

Grains and beans that you’ve already cooked are terrific to have on hand. I try to take care of that kind of heat-application stuff early in the day or late at night and by doing it in bulk. Then there are the good vegetables for seasonal character and fresh texture, which can often just be sourced — requiring little manipulation and in many cases no actual cooking. Lastly but importantly, there’s some exciting sauce to bring it all together, and while you can make that in advance, a blender typically does the job in less than a minute. So you don’t really need to worry about that.

With those items on hand, you’re left only left to do the artwork of composing it all on your plate — er, bowl. But quickly, let me just break down the key components:

• Heartiness & protein: Lentils

• Starchiness & extra body: Quinoa

• Fresh texture & seasonal character: Crunchy summer cucumbers, creamy avocado

• Accents: Thinly sliced scallion

• A unique & unifying sauce: Minty green yogurt sauce

Thinking of bowl meals this way helps to illustrate how completely modular they are. A can of beans or one of those pouches of pre-cooked grains can be plugged in for the lentils or quinoa. You might have other vegetables on hand, like summer squash that you could salt and drain, or leftover grilled or roasted eggplant or peppers, or some nice radishes or hakerui turnips. Maybe some tender herbs or frizzled shallots to use in place of the scallion as an accent.

But make the sauce kind of special. Today it’s a brilliantly sea-foam green one that is breathy with the cooling flavor of fresh mint. I hope you’ll give this a try if you’re a mint person, as I am. I love the fresh flavor in tea all year long, and I love its cooling effect in the summer, which is when I’ve always known it to be abundant. For some reason mint seems to be a bit divisive among people in my world. Perhaps that’s because its savory side isn’t appreciated enough.

Here it’s blended with yogurt (also cooling), a bit of tahini, and lime juice to zing things up. It comes together so quickly, you can’t not give it a try — I’ve even included weights in the recipes so that if you have a scale, you can just set your blender pitcher on it and measure everything directly in it, forgoing the measuring cups and spoons. Use the sauce as a salad dressing or as a dip, or here as a vibrant canvas for whatever no-cooking-required food you happen to have on hand.

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Summer Bowl with Minty Green Yogurt Sauce

• A variety of cucumbers is excellent here — Armenian cukes, lemon cukes, Persian cukes, Kirbies… whatever is ripe, crunchy, and in season. And if you don’t like the seeds, just scoop them out. 

• If you have a scale, just set your blender pitcher on it and weigh the ingredients directly in it.

Yield Serves 4 | Prep & cook time 15 to 30 minutes

Minty Green Yogurt Sauce
1 cup (25g) packed fresh mint leaves
½ cup (130g) plain yogurt
2 tablespoons (25g) well-stirred tahini
Juice from 1 lime
1 tablespoon (12g) olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
¾ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon honey 

12 ounces crisp, ripe cucumbers, or 1 large English cucumber, sliced into half moons or any other bite-sized shape 
2 cups cooked lentils, warm or at room temperature, preferably black or green ones
2 cups cooked quinoa, rice, or other grain, warm or at room temperature
1 or 2 scallions, green and white parts, thinly sliced
1 ripe avocado, cubed
Flaky salt and freshly ground pepper, for finishing

1. To make the yogurt sauce: Combine the mint, yogurt, tahini, half of the lime juice, olive oil, salt, and honey in a blender and process until very smooth. If needed, add water a teaspoon or two at a time to get the mixture moving in your blender. Add additional lime juice and salt to taste. The sauce can be made up to a day in advance, but it will oxidize slightly and its seafoam green color will dull a bit; it will also thicken.

2. To serve, you can either toss the yogurt sauce with the other ingredients in a mixing bowl, or arrange the components for more of a “bowl style” presentation: Smear the yogurt sauce over the base of 1 large shallow serving bowl or among 4 individual ones, then make piles of the cucumbers, lentils, quinoa, avocado, and scallions on top of the sauce; at the table, it’ll become dressed as it’s served or eaten. Drizzle with a bit of extra olive oil and sprinkle flaky salt and pepper over everything, too. 

To cook quinoa: In a small saucepan, bring 1 cup quinoa (rinsed, if necessary) and 1 ½ cups water to a boil. Cover and cook on very low heat for 16 to 18 minutes, until the liquid is absorbed and the grains are tender.

To cook lentils: In a saucepan, bring 1 cup rinsed lentils and about 3 cups water to a boil. Season with 2 teaspoons salt, partially cover the pan, and reduce the heat to a gentle simmer. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes, until the lentils are just tender. 

Recipe: Summer Bowl with Minty Yogurt Sauce

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