Coconut Bowls Project - Part 7

Welcome back, my friends! Let's get into yet another installment of the Coconut Bowls Project!

If you're new here, welcome! Let me bring you up to speed.

Basically I have challenged myself to make every recipe from the Vegan Bowls Cookbook by Coconut Bowls! I give my honest reviews of each recipe right here on the blog, and if I make any changes to the recipes I always let you know. If my reviews inspire you, you can always get your own copy of the cookbook on the Coconut Bowls website and use the discount code joyfulbalance-10 for 10% off. I've already done 6 other installments, so you can find those here if you'd like to catch up:

Now, onto the next 6 recipes!

Lime & Potato Curry

Recipe # 37/100
Recipe by @bettinas_kitchen
Page 178

This one was a simple curry that can be made in less than 30 minutes, served in a bowl with some yummy toppings!

I loved how simple this one was. I replaced the olive oil with water and also added some lemon juice for a little more acidity - but other than that I pretty much followed the recipe! I was very happy with the texture of the veggies and can definitely see myself making more versions of this in the future.

I served mine in coconut bowls with mixed greens, cilantro, toasted cashews, black sesame seeds, and some coconut yogurt! Made about 3 bowls worth for me.

Unicorn Ravioli with Hemp Pesto

Recipe # 38/100
Recipe by @lenaliciously
Page 158

Alright, so I definitely think this one is one I would save for special occasions because it took a lot more time than my recipes usually take. BUT if you're looking for a slightly fancy meal, this is a fun option! In this recipe you make three colors of pasta dough (colored with natural ingredients like spinach and beet) and then you mix them together and make little raviolis filled with pesto! My colors didn't come out as vibrant as the photos in the cookbook, so I think I may have combined them more than necessary.

I decided to be extra here and use my ravioli maker, because I have one and don't use it enough! The actual recipe has you cut out the ravioli shapes yourself - which you could absolutely do. I just figured I'd use my ravioli maker because I could! The process was messy for me, but that was mostly user error because I had to remind myself how the ravioli maker worked.

My only issue with this recipe was that the measurements for the liquid in the dough were way off for me. I ended up adding extra liquid until a dough formed because my initial measurements weren't forming a dough. I know that measurements such as "cups" and "tablespoons" aren't universal and differ from place to place, so I'm wondering if maybe there was a mixup because of differing locations! But my method of just adding liquid until it turned into a dough worked out in the end.

Overall super yummy. Again, this one does take a lot of time - but it was a fun little experiment! I served my ravioli with sautéed cherry tomatoes and basil. I got about 4 bowls worth out of this.

Red Beet Zoodles with Minty Crumbled 'Feta'

Recipe # 39/100
Recipe by @fannythefoodie
Page 104

This one is basically a salad with spiralized zucchini, and I'm always excited for an excuse to spiralize zucchini. You mix the zucchini up with a beet hummus and add it to a bowl with tofu feta, greens, and some other fun ingredients.

The beet hummus had an interesting flavor to it, but I liked it! It came out thinner than my typical hummus, but it worked perfectly as a sort of dressing in this meal. The tofu feta was simple to make, but I think in the future I would add more herbs to it to give it a bit more flavor. I also would add less salt to the tahini dressing next time around, but I tend to have a pretty low-salt diet so that could just be my personal taste buds!

Zoodles aren't everyone's thing, but if you're a zoodle fan this is a fun way to use them! I replaced the olive oil in the hummus with aquafaba, and left out the oil in the feta. I was also out of figs, so I used dates instead for my sweet element. Made about 3 bowls for me!

Green Goodness Noodle Bowl

Recipe #40/100
Recipe by @vegansoulfoody
Page 112

For this noodle bowl, we basically combined rice noodles with a sweet potato sauce, and then topped it off with lots of veggies!

This one required me to step out of my comfort zone a bit on two levels. The first is that I don't typically cook rice noodles, so they were a little unknown to me. The second is that I had never had Romanesco broccoli before! I ended up liking the broccoli, but decided that I don't think rice noodles are my thing. Something about their texture doesn't quite work for me personally!

On a positive note, I LOVED the sweet potato sauce. I think in the future I would make the sweet potato sauce and use it on some rice or quinoa and would really enjoy it! Basically, the particular combination in this bowl wasn't quite my thing, since I didn't love the rice noodles - but I enjoyed the individual components and think it would be fun to play with them in other combinations that are better suited to my preferences.

Only change I made was using a regular sweet potato instead of a purple one! Made 2 bowls.

Choc-Hazelnut Overnight Oats

Recipe #41/100
Recipe by @odilejp
Page 58

Overnight oats seem to be super popular for anyone who likes oats and needs quick on-the-go breakfasts. This recipe is a chocolate-hazelnut version of the trend!

Personally I prefer the texture of regular freshly-cooked stovetop oats, but overnight oats are great for those busy mornings where you just don't want to cook anything - so I do appreciate them from time to time! These flavors made my taste buds happy and satisfied my sweet tooth. If I were to make overnight oats again in the future, I'd definitely consider this recipe again!

Truthfully my version was more of a "choc-almond" overnight oats because I replaced hazelnut butter with almond butter since that's what I had on hand. But other than that, I followed the recipe the way it's written! I used almond milk as my plant-milk for this one, and I kept my toppings simple with coconut shreds, some extra maple syrup, and chopped strawberries. I really liked the pairing of the chocolate oats with the strawberries!

Made two small bowls for me.

Zucchini Rice Rolls with Beans

Recipe #42/100
Recipe by @klaraslife
Page 110

This is a fitting name and pretty much explains everything. For this recipe you make a rice mixture with some seasonings and veggies, make a bean mixture out of kidney beans and some spices, and roll it all up in zucchini strips! Extra points if you display them cutely in coconut bowls.

I love the idea of these zucchini rolls and think they would be a fun snack to make and display at gatherings since they are so pretty! They are a bit messy to eat, but that's not a downside in my book. In the future I might alter the seasonings of the rice a bit because I would personally prefer less turmeric. It gave it a beautiful color, but the turmeric was just a bit too strong for my taste, so I'd tone it down in the future! I also had leftover rice compared to beans and zucchini strips, so I would make less of the rice overall so that the ratios all matched up.

The only ingredient I substituted for in this recipe was water for oil when sautéing my onions! I also used my fun vegetable sheet cutter to cut my zucchinis instead of slicing them the way the recipe said - because it seemed like a fun idea! I got 6 rolls out of this recipe.

Wrap Up

Installment #7 is in the books! I think my favorite recipe from this batch was the Lime and Potato Curry - so quick for busy nights! 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!

Want to pin this post to come back to later?