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These turmeric yellow rice bowls are the best healthy lunch or dinner! This one features colorful vegetables and a tangy lemon tahini sauce.
This post was created in partnership with Simply Organic. All opinions are our own.
Growing up in the heart of Midwest America, dinner was very “in the box” for me and Alex! Most nights featured a round plate with 3 main piles: meat, veggie, starch. Nothing against the 3-pile-plate; it served us very well growing up, everything from chicken to meatloaf. But after starting to eat more plants, the 3-pile-plate got a little more challenging. Since vegetable-based foods are usually more integrated than separate components, Alex and I moved to the bowl meal concept. Most nights, our food is just stuff in bowls. And never would my younger self imagine that healthy stuff in bowls could be so addictingly good, I’d forget all about the 3-pile plate. Keep reading for this yellow rice bowls recipe.
Related: Easy Dinner Recipes for Two
How to make a yellow rice bowl
This bowl was inspired by a meal we had at a little place up in Minneapolis called Modern Times. Much of the food we eat is modeled after meals at restaurants, and I knew right away that I’d have to recreate this one! It was a brown rice bowl with garlic kale, stir-fried vegetables, and a creamy lemon tahini sauce.
When Simply Organic reached out to us looking to collaborate on clean eating recipe ideas for the new year, we decided to make a version of this meal by adding their turmeric to the rice to give it a vibrant, yellow color. It turned out beautifully; the bright yellow rice is lovely against the deep green broccoli and kale. And we added some chickpeas for added protein. To top it off, we used our favorite zesty, creamy, Best Tahini Sauce. For us, stuff in bowls is not complete without a good sauce, and this tahini sauce is exceptional.
Our yellow rice recipe (turmeric rice)
Yellow rice with turmeric is very easy to make! The turmeric takes simple brown rice and makes it into a lovely yellow confetti. To make our turmeric rice, all you’ll need is brown rice, turmeric, and kosher salt. Bring it to a boil in a saucepan, then let it simmer for 45 minutes. Once it’s cooked, let it steam for 10 minutes to allow it to dry and become more fluffy. You could do the same process with white rice, but the yellow rice would cook much quicker: only about 20 minutes or less.
Not only is turmeric known for its nutritional value, it’s an excellent dye! So when you’re making this yellow rice, take care by protecting your counters and keeping your apron handy! One note is that after boiling, the yellow rice can leave a residue on the inside of the saucepan. Simply wash your pan in hot water and rub it with a rag, and the residue will come right off!
Related: 12 Top Turmeric Recipes
Alex and I have been noshing on this yellow rice bowl with various versions of veg since the new year hit. Rice bowls are a big hit in this household, and this one was no exception. It’s colorful and relatively simple to put together. It also fits a variety of diets like vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and dairy-free. How about you? How many of your meals are stuff in bowls?
Looking for more healthy dinner bowls?
Outside of this tropical mango quinoa bowl recipe, here are some of our favorite healthy dinner bowls (several of which are quinoa bowl recipes!):
- Veggie Burrito Bowls
- Chickpea Couscous Bowls with Tahini Sauce
- Tropical Mango Quinoa Bowls
- Raw Falafel Buddha Bowls
- Mediterranean Quinoa Salad Bowl
- Go Green Bowls with Lemon Yogurt Sauce
- Vegetarian Quinoa Bibimbap Bowls
- Chickpea Fattoush Bowls
- Thai Salad with Peanut Sauce Dressing
This recipe is…
This brocolli and yellow rice bowls recipe is vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, plant-based, and dairy-free.
Yellow Rice Bowls with Broccoli & Kale
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 4 1x
Description
These turmeric yellow rice bowls are the best healthy lunch or dinner! This one features colorful vegetables and a tangy with lemon tahini sauce.
Ingredients
- 1 cup short grain brown rice* (try using our Instant Pot method)
- 1 ½ teaspoons Simply Organic turmeric
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- Best Lemon Tahini Sauce
- 3 carrots
- 4 cups broccoli florets
- 4 green onions
- 1/2 bunch kale (3 large leaves)
- 3 garlic cloves
- 15-ounce can chickpeas
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, stir together the short grain brown rice, 2 cups water, turmeric and kosher salt bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to a low simmer; cook for 45 minutes. Remove from heat and keep covered to steam for 10 minutes. (After boiling, the yellow rice can leave a residue on the inside of the saucepan. Simply wash your pan in hot water and rub it with a rag, and the residue will come right off.)
- Make the Best Lemon Tahini Sauce.
- Peel and slice the carrots. Cut broccoli into florets. Thinly slice the green onions; reserve 2 for a garnish. Chop the kale. Peel the garlic. Drain and rinse the chickpeas.
- In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil with the whole cloves garlic. Add the carrots and saute for 3 minutes, stirring often, then add broccoli and 2 green onions and saute for 3 minutes. Add the kale and ¼ cup water and saute for 2 minutes, stirring, until bright green and wilted. Add 1 pinch kosher salt, chickpeas and 2 tablespoons soy sauce and cook for 2 minutes more, stirring frequently. Remove from the heat and remove the garlic cloves.
- To serve, place vegetables and rice in a bowl and top with green onions and lemon tahini sauce.
Notes
*As a time saver, use white rice and make according to the package instructions, adding the turmeric quantity above.
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
I reluctantly made this (even though pizza sounded so much better) because it was on my menu for the week and we are trying to detox after the holidays. Wasn’t expecting much, but holy cow!! We devoured this like we hadn’t eaten in weeks! The tahini sauce is so delicious and I loved the combination of flavors. Thanks for a fantastic, healthy recipe!
Used this recipe as a jumping off point last night! I roasted all my veggies + chickpeas on a sheet pan with olive oil, salt, pepper, lemon zest, lemon juice, and lots of garlic. My one difficulty was the rice– my usually trusty Aroma rice cooker stopped well before the rice was done. I just dumped it in a pot, boiled some water super fast in my electric kettle, and treated it like risotto. Despite these changes, the whole meal turned out great, and I’m going to have to do some experimenting to figure out why my rice cooker didn’t cook the short grain brown rice properly. Happy I made double the amount of tahini sauce– it was so good, I’m going to be putting it on all kinds of things now!
Glad you enjoyed the recipe! That tahini sauce is a handy one to keep around :)
Made this for dinner with friends the other night and it was well received all around :) Took the leftovers for lunch yesterday. Looking forward to making this healthy meal again :)
Oh fantastic! I was hoping that someone would love it as much as we did. Thanks so much for letting us know!
Super delicious and packed full of nutrition! I added like 1/2 a teaspoon of cumin to the yellow rice because I was a little unsure of the turmeric and I love the taste of cumin. I wish I had made more!
I like the idea of a little cumin! Agree, turmeric doesn’t have a strong taste so that’s a fantastic idea to add a little more flavor.
I’m also a huge fan of the stuff-in-bowl approach! I love this bowl of yours – beautiful colour and texture contrasts, and I’ll be trying out that sauce with my lunch today.
Ooo let us know what you think! I literally could put this on everything, and it’s so easy to throw together (in comparison to other sauces that need a blender or food processor!).