Disclosure: This post was created in partnership with Egg Nutrition Center. I was compensated for my time. As always, all opinions are my own.
Bibimbap!
Trendy, hot, and hearty, bibimbap can be a medley of surprisingly good-for-you comfort foods that come together in one nutritionally-balanced bowl of a meal. It brings me special joy to share a delicious recipe that is part of my culture and can help boost brain health. If you’re familiar with Korean food, you’ll recognize the palate personality (flavor profile) of gochujang (Korean chili paste), gochugaru (Korean chili pepper, coarse grounds), garlic, sesame oil, and radishes.
What you may not know is that bibimbap is a kitchen sink kind of meal. It’s the meal my grandmother made every once in awhile, to clear away lots of leftovers. That’s because it literally means “mixed rice,” with the subtext, “rice mixed with _____,” aka, whatever you have on hand. It’s the answer to those quietly pleading leftovers in the back of your refrigerator, trying to catch your attention – pick me, pick me. With bibimbap, it’s all possible. Look mom, no more food waste! Served with a freshly cooked egg, it feels like something new.
If I were more of a meal planner, bibimbap would be my Friday meal. The one where all the leftover bits of veg and shroom from earlier in the week would find new life under a gloriously gooey egg. Because you definitely have to #putaneggonit. Thinking about this Friday meal might even motivate me to cook more vegetables Monday to Thursday just so I’d have choice odds and ends for my Friday bowl.
Formula for Success
If you already have an amazing assortment of leftovers in your fridge, you are ahead of the game, and 80-percent of the way to a bowl of bibimbap. If one of your leftovers is rice, then make that 90-percent. This is because bibimbap is secretly like any other grain bowl at its core (don’t tell). Here’s the formula for success:
Bowl + rice + vegetables + freshly cooked sunny side up egg + jang (sauce)
Option 1: Add some fish or poultry from a prior meal
Option 2: Top with dried seaweed and/or sesame seeds
However, if you’re a first-timer and want to do this from go, I’ve got you. And so I have for you today a freshly made bibimbap recipe from start to finish. Mine uses the vegetables that show up in Korean food a lot, like mushrooms. Koreans love mushrooms. I once went to a town in South Korea with statues of mushrooms where I stopped to have a soup with more than 20 varieties of mushrooms. And that was just the starter. I also include zucchini, mung bean sprouts, and spinach. These veggies are based by whole grain brown rice, and topped with a sunny-side up egg.
Brain-Boosting Cred
MIND foods: Whole grains, leafy green vegetables, other vegetables, olive oil
Other brain-boosting bona fides: This meal includes ingredients like eggs and spices that have their own brain-health cred, though they are not (yet) specifically part of the MIND diet. Research suggests eating eggs promotes brain health in adults and children. Eggs are one of the few food sources that provide both lutein and choline, which are two nutrients important for brain development. Learn more in this educational video I worked on with the Egg Nutrition Center. Further, phytonutrients in spices like chili flakes show neuroprotectant potential in emerging research.
Pro tip: If you have more vegetables on hand than called for, feel free to cook it up and serve it on the side of this otherwise one-bowl meal. Having more veggies around is a good thing.
Recipe!
- 4 cups cooked brown rice (can sub any whole grain rice)
- 1 large bunch of spinach, 10 oz
- 1.5 tsp sesame oil, divided
- 1 tsp olive oil, more as needed
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 medium zucchini
- 8 oz mung bean sprouts
- 8 oz shiitake mushrooms
- 1 large carrot
- 2 cups mu saengchae (see separate recipe)
- 4 eggs
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Optional garnishes: green onion, sesame seeds, dried seaweed strips
- ⅓ cup gochujang
- 3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp sesame seed oil
- 1 tsp sesame seeds
- 5 oz. Jeju radish (can sub daikon radish)
- 2 tsp brown rice vinegar (can sub any light vinegar)
- 1 tsp gochugaru (Korean red chile flakes; can sub crushed red pepper flakes)
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- Make rice according to package directions, on the stove top, or in a rice cooker.
- Fill a medium pot about half way full with water and heat until boiling.
- While the rice cooks and water boils, wash, dry, and prep all the produce. Note that mushrooms should be wiped clean with a damp paper towel or clean cloth towel, otherwise they absorb too much water.
- Peel the radish, and scrub or peel the carrots. For large produce like the radish, a Y-peeler is the ideal tool to use for the job.
- Julienne cut the zucchini, carrot, and radish. They don’t have to be textbook perfect julienne cuts. First cut your long veg into approximately 3” pieces. Then slice lengthwise into planks. Then slice each plank into thin matchsticks.
- Set zucchini in a paper-towel lined fine mesh strainer. Squeeze and drain excess liquid after 10 minutes.
- Cut mushrooms into ¼” slices
- Measure out all the other ingredients
- In a small bowl, mix together the Jang ingredients and set aside for at least 10 minutes. Stir occasionally.
- In a medium bowl, combine all Mu Saengchae ingredients, tossing gently to combine. You can adjust how much of the chili flakes to use, depending on how spicy you’d like it to be. Disposable thin plastic kitchen gloves make this really simple and mess-free, but clean hands also work great.
- Once water is boiling, prepare a large ice bath in a large bowl with ice and water. Blanch carrots in boiling water for 1-3 minutes or until just slightly wilted, then transfer to ice bath and agitate for 30 seconds or until cool. Set aside to dry. Squeeze and drain excess liquid before adding to a small bowl with ¼ teaspoon of sesame oil. Season with salt to taste.
- In the boiling water used for the carrots, blanch the bean sprouts for 3-5 minutes until wilted. Transfer to the ice bath and repeat remaining steps used for carrots.
- Heat a medium pan over medium-high heat with 1 tsp olive oil. Add spinach and 1 minced garlic clove. Season lightly with salt and pepper to taste. Sauté for 60-90 seconds or until wilted. Squeeze and drain excess liquid, cut into 2-3” pieces, toss with ¼ teaspoon of sesame oil, set aside.
- In the same pan used for the spinach (add a little olive oil if pan is dry), sauté the zucchini for 60-90 seconds or until just wilted. Squeeze and drain excess liquid, toss with ¼ teaspoon of sesame oil, set aside.
- In the same pan used for the spinach and zucchini, heat ½ teaspoon sesame oil until hot but not smoking. Add mushrooms, season with salt to taste. Sauté until well-wilted, about 3-5 minutes. Drain excess liquid and set aside.
- Divide rice among 4 bowls. Arrange spinach, carrots, mushrooms, zucchini, and sprouts so they are each visible and lay from the center of the bowl out, like spokes of a wheel.
- In a non-stick pan, heat a little olive oil until hot but not smoking, then cook sunny-side up eggs until the tops of the egg whites are set, about 2-3 minutes. Top each bowl with a freshly cooked egg. Add any optional garnishes, if using. Enjoy!
Eggstravanza with Garam Masala Hummus & Pomegranate Baby Kale Salad
Sometimes experimentation pays off. Sometimes it doesn’t. It’s good to go into the kitchen with an open mind; a loose framework helps. That’s what I did today, with delicious results. After spending some time brainstorming in pajamas (it is Saturday, after all), I hit up two stores for supplies, and came back to get cooking. It’s a good thing Fred doesn’t mind waiting for breakfast. We had coffee before any of this, obvs. There are limits.
I took advantage of some beautiful seasonal pomegranate, but the rest of the ingredients can be found year-round, including a few “shortcut” ingredients like bottled sesame sauce and pre-mixed garam masala. After pomegranate season closes in January, I’d swap in strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, or even table or concord grapes.
garam masala hummus is the bomb dot com. we've got your easy #recipe right here. via @minddietmeals @maggiemoonRD Click To Tweet Pomegranate arils are a star in every dish they grace. #pomegranate #babykale #salad #recipe via @minddietmeals @maggiemoonRD Click To Tweet
Food Safety Tip
I used large AA organic cage-free eggs, but I’m not in an at-risk group. To get rid of any food safety concerns about undercooked eggs, you can use a pasteurized whole egg. As far as I know, eggs by Davidson’s Safest Choice Eggs is the only option on the market right now.
- 15.5 oz can chickpeas beans, aka garbanzo beans (I used Sprouts Market Organic Low Sodium Garbanzo Beans), drained, liquid reserved
- 2 cloves garlic
- ⅓ cup sesame sauce
- ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ tsp smoked Spanish paprika
- 1 tsp black sesame seeds
- 1 T garam masala
- 1 large lemon, zest and juice
- 5 sprigs Italian parsley, leaves separated and roughly chopped (may reserve a few whole leaves for garnish)
- Salt and pepper to taste (optional)
- 2-3 cups baby kale, loosely packed
- ¾ cup parsley leaves, loosely packed (5-7 springs)
- 1 small pomegranate, arils removed to produce at least ½ cup (you may have extra)
- 1 T extra virgin olive oil
- 1 T white balsamic vinegar
- 1 T garam masala hummus (from hummus made with recipe above)
- Salt to taste (optional)
- 4 eggs
- 2 whole grain English muffins
- Combine all ingredients except chickpea liquid and parsley in a food processor or blender, and blend until smooth.
- Taste before seasoning with any salt or pepper. Season to taste. Flavors may melt together and develop more after resting.
- Cover and let rest in refrigerator.
- This recipe makes about 1.5 cups of hummus, so you're going to have extra, which is awesome. It's great on sandwiches, as a veggie dip, and on top of fish. Freeze anything you can't use up within a few days.
- While the hummus is resting, wash and dry all produce.
- Preheat the oven to 300F.
- Combine dry baby kale and parsley in a medium bowl. In a small bowl, combine olive oil, vinegar, and hummus, whisk until smooth, and set aside.
- Bring medium pot of salted water to roaring boil over high heat.
- While water is heating, trim the top and bottom off the pomegranate, score the sides every 2-3 inches, then submerge the fruit in a large bowl of water, pry the fruit open using the scored marks.
- When water is at a roaring boil, carefully add eggs and boil for 4 minutes exactly. Remove eggs and let cool slightly at room temperature.
- While eggs are cooling, separate the English muffins and toast in oven, face up, for 3-5 minutes or to desired doneness (check periodically to avoid burning), remove from oven and set aside.
- Carefully peel eggs (if they break, it'll be messy) once they are cool enough to work with.
- Whisk reserved chickpea liquid (aquafaba) until it forms a foam, less than a minute.
- Dress the salad; dressing may need a refresher whisking if it has separated.
- Divide English muffins on two plates. Spread with hummus. Add a small handful of the salad on top of the hummus. Top with eggs.
- Dollop the chickpea foam on top. Garnish with paprika and parsley.
- Add more salad to the plate as a side dish.
- Dig in, it's going to taste great.
Chicken Basil Frittata with Zucchini, Bell Peppers, and Sweet Corn
This frittata lets seasonal summer ingredients shine, but can be enjoyed year-round with a few swaps for whatever produce is local and in season. Summer smells like basil and tastes like sweet corn, which means this frittata is going to be a seasonal favorite.
- 6 eggs
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- ½ small onion, thinly sliced
- ½ cup zucchini, shredded
- ½ cup of sweet corn, from fresh, frozen or canned
- 1 medium red bell pepper, cored, seeds removed, and diced
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 cup cooked chicken breast, shredded
- 2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
- Salt and pepper
- 6 small basil leaves (optional, for garnish)
- Preheat the oven to 350 F.
- In a medium bowl, lightly whisk eggs until uniform, then add pepper and salt to taste. Set aside.
- Heat 2 teaspoons olive oil in a 12” oven-safe skillet over medium heat then sauté onion, zucchini, sweet corn, and bell pepper until fragrant and wilted, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and transfer to a colander where excess liquid may drain; gently press on vegetables with a wooden spoon to assist draining.
- Meanwhile, bring the now empty skillet back to the stove, and heat 2 teaspoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add the chicken and half the chopped basil and sauté until just combined, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the drained mixed vegetables back into the dish and stir to combine for another minute. Pour egg mixture and remaining chopped basil into pan and stir gently. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes to allow the egg to start setting; the edges will start to pull away from the pan.
- Place pan into oven and bake for 15 minutes or until set. Let rest 2 minutes before serving. If desired, garnish with basil leaves.
MIND foods: Vegetables, poultry, olive oil
Nutrition: 180 calories, 9 g total fat, 2 g saturated fat, 15 g protein, 8 g carbohydrates, 1 g fiber