Coconut Bowls Project - Part 6

Hello, loves! Today I'm reviewing recipes 31-36 of my Coconut Bowls Project, and I'm so excited to share with you!

For anyone unfamiliar with this project, I'm basically making every single recipe in the Vegan Bowls cookbook by Coconut Bowls! This has been a really fun challenge so far because as much as I love creating my own recipes, I also love trying recipes by other amazing plant based creators! I always give my honest reviews in these posts and am sure to let you all know if I make any changes to the recipes.

If you'd like to check out my previous installments, here are some quick links to get you there:

If you are inspired by these recipes and want your own copy of the cookbook, you can check it out on the Coconut Bowls website and use the discount code joyfulbalance-10 for 10% off. Without further ado, lets go!

Green Garden Bowl with Alfredo Pesto Pasta

Recipe #31/100
Recipe by @rawandfree
Page 84

This one was basically a buddha bowl creation, but with pasta instead of a more traditional grain such as rice/quinoa/etc. And honestly, I was a fan! This was a great meal if you are a pasta fan but also like to incorporate veggies into your meal. The bowl itself consisted of pasta, a cashew "alfredo", some basil pesto, peas, pea sprouts, and cucumber. It was also relatively quick to throw together and SUPER pretty.

I used whole wheat pasta, almond milk (instead of rice milk), and replaced the oil in the pesto with water. My favorite part was the way the pesto and alfredo tasted together! I never would have thought to combine those two into one meal before, but it worked for me.

Made about 4 bowls for me! My house is just 2 people, so this was enough for dinner one day and lunch the next. I stored the individual components separately in the fridge so that I could reheat the pasta without reheating the sprouts and cucumbers. In the future I might make a half batch of the alfredo because I felt like it didn't have as great of a flavor when I reheated it the next day. But everything else was just as great the second day!

Veggies with Roasted Capsicum Hummus

Recipe #32/100
Recipe by @ellenfisher
Page 96

The idea behind this one was to make a roasted pepper hummus and homemade fries, and then serve them together (and/or with other veggies). This made quite a bit of fries, so I didn't feel the need to serve it with other veggies as well and I just stuck to the fries!

To be completely honest, the hummus was a bit spicy for my taste. It has pickled jalapenos in it, and they were much stronger than I anticipated! However, if you like spice, this might be your thing! I think if I made another version of this in the future with more red peppers and less jalapenos, I'd be in love. The fries themselves came out great and were very easy to make.

I used red potatoes (instead of golden) and added extra lemon juice and salt to my hummus. My husband and I snacked on this together about 3 times. So I'm going to say it made about 6 snack servings for us!

Chia Coconut Bliss Balls

Recipe #33/100
Recipe by @dav_fitness.food
Page 216

I've made a few "bliss ball" variations from the Coconut Bowls book so far, and I think this was the first one that just had you mix the balls in a bowl rather than a blender - which was kind of nice for cleanup! These ones were a general sweet coconut flavor, and the author says to coat them in whatever you'd like.

To be honest, I had a hard time getting the dough to stick to itself when rolling it into balls. I ended up plopping mounds of dough onto a baking sheet, freezing them, and then coating them in cocoa powder and sprinkling them with coconut flakes! This worked pretty well, but it did make them a bit lumpy. The ones pictured in the book were beautifully round, so I'm thinking that maybe my oat flour or coconut flakes were simply not as good quality as the original author's.

Since I am mostly oil-free, I originally tried leaving out the oil in this recipe. Because I had a hard time getting them to roll, I ended up adding about half of the coconut oil that the recipe called for. I recognize that this could be part of why I couldn't get my dough to stick together, but as I started adding oil I didn't feel that it was helping the issue, so I don't feel that this is the case. Either way, my method ended up working in the end and I loved the flavor of them - they just didn't look as pretty as I hoped they would! I bet with some trial and error, I could probably create another method that results in more spherical shapes.

Made 6 large-ish balls!

Ratatouille Bowl

Recipe #34/100
Recipe by @thefrenchcoconut
Page 170

The concept behind this one was to make a stovetop ratatouille, and then serve it on top of grains or pasta with whatever veggies you choose! The only change I made to this one was that I used water to saute my veggies instead of olive oil.

I love the concept of this one, but I personally think I would like it more if it were served with a vinegar-based sauce! I love the flavors of all the veggies in the ratatouille, but I think some extra acidity from some vinegar would make them pop a lot more. Basically I liked the ratatouille as a base, but I might serve it differently next time by adding a sauce!

I served mine over pasta with cherry tomatoes and pea sprouts on top. I halved the recipe and it made about 3-4 bowls worth.

Simple Sushi Bowl

Recipe #35/100
Recipe by @earthyjasmine
Page 130

This was another buddha bowl situation! You basically make sushi and then use that as one element of a sushi-inspired bowl, along with some veggies and soy sauce. Plop it all in one of your Coconut Bowls and you're good to go!

This was my first time making sushi at home, and it was easier than I expected! I actually had to look up the proper way to chop my sushi online though, because I struggled at first. Once I mastered that though, it was actually pretty easy! Definitely want to play more with my own sushi recipes in the future, because it was fun and tasty!

For this recipe I followed the directions exactly. I prepared my sushi rice according to the package directions since the recipe didn't specify how to prepare it. I had some leftovers, and on the second day I mixed the soy sauce with some tahini and maple syrup to make the dressing a little more interesting - I was happy with that change!

Made 3 bowls worth for me!

Tropical Lilikoi & Cookie Dough Smoothie Bowl

Recipe #36/100
Recipe by @amelietahiti
Page 62

You guys know I love my smoothie bowls - especially when they are basically an excuse to have dessert for lunch! This smoothie bowl was just that - the smoothie base itself was sweet and creamy, and then you top it with chickpea cookie dough to satisfy the sweet tooth even more!

This recipe uses passion fruit - both blended up in the smoothie base, and as a topping. I enjoyed the flavor that it gave the smoothie itself, but the texture of it as a topping just wasn't for me! Passion fruit is also quite expensive - so if I make this again in the future I might use a bit of mango or kiwi instead for those tropical flavors in the smoothie.

Followed this one exactly except that I replaced the coconut oil with coconut milk in the cookie dough. I topped mine with the suggested cookie dough bites, passion fruit, banana, coconut shreds, and cacao nibs. With that one substitute for passion fruit in the future, I'd definitely make this one again!

Wrap Up

Installment #6 is in the books, which means 36 recipes down! I hope you continue to follow along with me - I've learned so much throughout this challenge so far. I think my favorite from this particular batch was the Simple Sushi Bowl since it got me out of my comfort zone and inspired me to make my own sushi!

If you want your own copy of the Coconut Bowls cookbook, be sure to use the coupon code joyfulbalance-10 for 10% off your very own copy!

Until next time, stay joyfully balanced!

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