I liked this so much I bought myself a copy. There are several recipes we now have in regular rotation,

This is a fun, versatile cookbook that inspired me to want to try all kinds of new bowl dishes. It's broken up into the following sections and Vegan and vegetarian options are given, but tofu is pretty much the only substitution mentioned for all of the meat recipes, which would mean an excessive amount of tofu.

Overall good as it has a range of meal type idea but a pit repetitive for vegans

I really liked this cookbook. I think there are a lot of ingredients but it needs to be filling and healthy. With the recipes I tried...YUMMY!

Thank you to NetGalley and Storey Publishing, LLC for Build-a-Bowl: 77 Satisfying & Nutritious Combos: Whole Grain + Vegetable + Protein + Sauce = Meal by Nicki Sizemore. This book is filled with relatively quick and easy bowl meals that are delicious and nutritious. The book is divided into chapters based on ingredients – fruit, eggs, beef & lamb, etc. And the book is built on the premise of the subtitle…delicious meals can be made by combing a grain, vegetable, protein, sauce, and garnish.

One of my two favorite chapters is the cooking grains chapter which goes into detail about each grain, how to cook it, etc. There is a picture that shows what the grains look like uncooked and then the same grains cooked which I found useful. And at the end of the book is a helpful resource guide on where to buy grains and rice. My second favorite chapter was the vegetables chapter because it has so many great recipes.

Speaking of recipes, my favorites are: Apple Crisp Bowl; Peanut Butter & Berry + Strawberry-Chia Jam; Huevos Rancheros + Fresh Tomato Salsa; Vegetable & Quinoa Fry-Up with Eggs; Double-Broccoli Power Bowls with Chickpeas & Fennel; Green Beans & Grains with Parmesan-Crusted Zucchini, Roasted Tomatoes & Mozzarella + Classic Pesto; Grilled Pepper & Sweet Corn Salad + Creamy Avocado-Lime Dressing; Marinated Bean Salad with Roasted Red Peppers & Cucumbers; Curried Red Lentil & Sweet Potato Dal with Kale & Toasted Coconut; Chicken Burrito Bowls + Guacamole; Crunchy Vietnamese-Inspired Chicken & Rice Salad + Spicy Lime Dressing; Thai-Inspired Turkey Fried Rice; and Chipotle-Marinated Hanger Steak with Avocado, Corn & Tomato Relish.

Many of the recipes have make ahead tips or sauce swaps to add to the variety which allows you to get more than 77 recipes out of this book. There are lots of pictures throughout the book, but not one for every recipe which I would prefer. Overall, this is a great book with lots of tasty recipes with mostly easy to find ingredients. I found the recipes easy to make and easy to put together. And a lot of the sauces can be used in other dishes, too.

Build-a-Bowl: 77 Satisfying & Nutritious Combos: Whole Grain + Vegetable + Protein + Sauce = Meal by Nicki Sizemore is an innovative cookbook with great ideas for full meals served in a bowl. The cookbook, complete with beautiful photographs (unfortunately not of every dish) will give cooks great ideas to put together healthy grains with vegetables, proteins, and sauces that make nutritious and delicious meals.

The recipes include breakfast bowls, fruit bowls, vegetarian bowls, and bowls with proteins and eggs. The photographs make the bowls look mouthwatering, and Sizemore gives great instructions for preparing the individual elements of the bowls. Actually, there is something for everyone in this fun cookbook. There is a Quick & Easy Thai-Style Vegetable Curry that is excellent, as well as a Crunchy Vietnamese-Inspired Chicken & Rice Salad with Spicy Lime Dressing that is crunchy and delicious. The Bibimbap-Style Steak with Bok Choy, Carrots & Kimchi with Gochujang Sauce is the hands-down favorite so far, but there are several dishes in the queue that may upstage that dish. Everything isn’t Asian - Za’atar Chicken with Roasted Cauliflower & Pomegranate Molasses has a Middle Eastern character, and All-American Roasted Salmon & Asparagus. Also included are Chicken Burrito Bowls with Guacamole (south of the border), and Italian Sausage Meatballs with Fresh Ricotta & Crispy Broccoli with Quick & Easy Marinara Sauce. Sizemore has included recipes from regions all over the world, and they all include nutritious grains mixed with fresh vegetables and a variety of proteins including eggs, seafood, poultry, and meats.

These bowls are delicious, and the separate parts are easy to prepare; many can be made ahead, so that the bowls can be assembled in a matter of minutes. The recipes are easy to follow and the recipes have turned out picture perfect. These bowls will appeal to everyone, and this cookbook has excellent ideas to turn out meals that are both healthy and appealing.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

Great recipe book. Used some of the "recipes" already and it was a success every time. On a personal note, it helped me a lot with my own diet and I learned a lot of things.
Must to read if you want to start a healthy life.

Thank you Storey Publishing and Netgalley for an ARC of this book.

This book was great to reinvigorate my cooking habits. It provided great recipes to help include more vegetables and healthier options which has motivated me to try different dishes instead of relying on the usual family staples.

I recommend this book, it has lovely recipes and great photographs.

Beautiful pictures! And I love bowls in general so this book is right up my alley! Can't wait to try a few recipes! I appreciate that the bowls are healthy and calorie conscious.

These are tasty, healthful, and satisfying! There is something that is so appealing about having a meal in a bowl, too. "Bowls...not just for soup and cereal any more!"

I am obsessed with being able to Build-A-Bowl type meals. Especially with three young kids these types of meals are fundamentally essential in our weekly meals. I enjoyed the diverse meals along with the simplicity of ingredients to put some of them together.

This is a neat cookbook! The gimmick did not really work well for the reality of my family, but it definitely might for yours! Great tips, photos and recipes - you should definitely check it out.

Ich habe viel nachgekocht und für gut befunden - so lecker kann gesunde Ernährung sein!
Nach ein paar sinnvollen Basics und Tipps finden sich hier Bowls für jeden Geschmack. Liebevoll in Szene gesetzt.

I was really intrigued by the concept behind Build-a-Bowl: 77 Satisfying & Nutritious Combos: Whole Grain + Vegetable + Protein + Sauce = Meal by Nicki Sizemore. I'm always looking for new dinner ideas and some of the recipes here sound really good.



The photography is gorgeous and each recipe comes with an introduction that makes it sound good even if I'm not fond of all of the ingredients. The cooking instructions are detailed and would be easy to follow. The book also includes extensive information about cooking the different grains recommended and that's where this system might not appeal to my family. I've tried feeding them quinoa already. They weren't fans and I don't see them embracing many of the other options included here.

Sizemore tells you what the right proportion of the above ingredients to make a SuperBowl meal.
How make-ahead, cook ahead options save you. The author identifies that cooking grains is a hands-off affair. I was talkign with a colleague who gave up cooking in the morning because its time consuming. I shared what I did when I had to cook only for myself. I would wake up in the mronign for a read. On the side, I would let onions and a frozen vegetable pack cook itself to nutritious completion.

Time to put on your scholarly hat. Remember, "All whole grains contain phytic acid". To counter the anti-nutrient effects of it, additional to soaking, author suggests adding lem
on juice or vinegar.

The author shows whole grain options. There is a nice picture showing uncooked and cooked grains.
I have had cooked barley. it is very filling. I have not heard of Einkorn, Freekeh and ryeberies (but did hear of rye through Catcher in the rye book by J.D.Salinger ). I have tried Teff as Ingera bread in Ethiopian restaurants.

The author shows you recipes of how to cook each of the grains. Each requires different amounts of water to cook. for example, a cup of barley needs 2 and 1/2 cups of water, while for the same amount, Buckwheat requires only 2 cups of water. She even provides details for different medium of cooking - Stovetop or Ricecooker. Cookign time varies, if the grains have been soaked or not. These details are provided too.

Love the watercolor pictures of the grains.

You might think that grains are only for lunch or dinner. With fruits, they are good to go for breakfast too. The famous Muesli.

Banana bread bowl with cooked brown rice is a recipe that I will try this weekend.
Pumpkin Pie Rice Pudding.
Triple chocolate buckwheat looks like a dessert
The amazing Huevos Rancheros. Loved this at the hospital stay after our baby's birth.

The bowls look beautiful, colorful. The combination of veggies are fresh too.

If your plan of eating grains has fallen flat, it might be because of the pairing. With Nicki Sizemore's recipes you will make vibrant bowls.

What a fun idea for a book! With healthy bowls of food in vogue, it's an exciting time to see recipes like the ones featured in this book. As tasty as they are creative and much more interesting than the salads I was making before, I really enjoyed this little cookbook. I made a coconut oat bowl with citrus and while it needed sugar (I'm not that healthy!), I still enjoyed the flavors. The layout is logical, and the photos are gorgeous. Best of all, I have almost all the ingredients already in my pantry. I'm super excited about this book and can't wait to gift it to friends this year.

*Note: review will post to my blog on 10/2/18

Bowls are an excellent and easy dinner - full of protein, carbs, veggies, and all the things you need to fuel your body properly.  Even better is that each family member can customize them to their own specifications.  I don't know about you, but my family is picky.  One kid is a vegetarian, the other kid is lactose intolerant, and my husband has his own dietary needs.  As you can see, meal planning at my house can be tough.  That's why this cookbook is such a great find.

Build-A-Bowl is a well organized and varied cookbook.  It gives you a breakdown of what makes a tasty, well-balanced bowl as well as in-depth descriptions of common - and not-so-common - grains along with instructions on how to cook them properly.  Which is the key because there isn't anything easier to goof up than a grain.   This list of grains is the first step towards making new and exciting meals, with or without a bowl.  

The recipe section is broken down by type - fruits, poultry, vegetarian, etc - and gives you varied recipes on each topic.  In addition to recipes to fit every taste and dietary need, you are given make-ahead tips and suggestions for other sauces or ingredients to try so that you can even mix it up with your favorite recipes.  Something that I find to be vital in keeping the family from getting bored with dinner.  

If you're looking for a cookbook full of versitale, healthy recipes for any occasion, The Build-A-Bowl cookbook is for you.  

*thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for an advance copy of the book in exchange for a fair review.

I have been obsessed with so-called “Buddha Bowls” for months now. These bowls, so named because their over-stuffed shape is reminiscent of the stereotypical Buddha belly, generally consist of a base of whole grains, a protein, a huge pile of veggies –cooked and/or raw– and a sauce of some type. They’re great because they’re versatile, balance exciting flavor combinations with (usually) simple cooking methods, and are full of nutrients due to their emphasis on whole grains and veggies. So naturally, when I saw this cookbook available for review, I had to have it! And let me tell you, it did not disappoint.

Author Nicki Sizemore not only offers recipes for every meal of the day and covering 7 categories including fruit, eggs, and seafood as well as poultry and red meat options, she also introduces the reader to several different kinds of whole grains that can be used as the base of the bowls. Some, like wild rice, are familiar if not necessarily staples in every kitchen while others such as einkorn or buckwheat are less familiar (to me at least!) and offer not only a different flavor profile but new textures and even a different set of micronutrients to experience. Sizemore not only offers instructions on how to cook each grain, but also a brief history or origin as well as a flavor profile and ideas for what kind of bowl would best fit with each.

The recipes offer a wide range of flavors and textures and can be made to fit a variety of diets. I am a lacto-ovo vegetarian, myself, and found plenty of recipes to meet my requirements and tastes. There are gluten free grain options, and plenty of recipes that are or can easily be made vegan as well. And for the carnivores among us, well there are seafood, pork, chicken, turkey, beef, and lamb based dishes to choose from, too! From the autumnal Pumpkin Pie Rice Pudding to the Lox and Eggs with Chive Creme Fraiche, brunch is covered, and the Roasted Butternut Squash, Apple, and Goat Cheese Salad is perfect for a light lunch or would make a nice potluck dish. I have the Pork Banh Mi Bowls with Maple Sriracha Yogurt Sauce on the menu for my wife’s sake, and I’ll just substitute tofu for the pork for my own bowl. The first recipe I made from this book was the Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Brussels Sprouts with Eggs, which also uses the Maple Sriracha Yogurt and let me tell you, I’d eat that sauce on anything. SO GOOD. And my kiddo wouldn’t keep her sticky little hands out of the maple cinnamon pecans that go on top! Not that I can blame her, those things are like candy!

The great thing about these recipes is that despite the semi-long ingredient lists, they are relatively easy to swap out ingredients for what you have or what you like. Sure there is a nice combination of veggies listed for the Thai-Style Vegetable Curry, but it’s so easy to use whatever you have in your crisper drawer instead of the eggplant, sweet potato, broccoli, and green beans that are suggested. A few recipes suggest specific grains to use based on their particular flavor or texture, but ultimately you can use whatever you love or have to hand. Even the sauces can be mixed and matched according to your mood.

The only critique I have of this book is that the ingredient lists can be daunting, especially for inexperienced or anxious cooks. I urge you to give it a try anyway, and either just stick to the simpler recipes, or pick just one recipe a month to experiment with until you have the confidence to follow your instincts on what you can skip or substitute and what you really need to find for a given recipe.

The other thing I love about this book is how much of it can be done ahead. I went out to the bulk section at my local Winco and stocked up on several different kinds of grains, and I have at least 2 batches in my freezer in addition to the leftover squash and goat cheese salad in my fridge (I made it with oat groats and apples from the tree in my backyard. What a treat!). I have plans to cook up a few more batches of grains and put them in the freezer along with a couple of different sauces and protein options so I have most of a bowl ready to mix and match once the school term gets underway. That will leave me with only a few things to defrost and some veggies to saute or roast between me and a nice healthy, balanced dinner even in the middle of the week.

Final Review, 5 out of 5 stars highly recommend!

This is a fun, versatile cookbook that inspired me to want to try all kinds of new bowl dishes. It's broken up into the following sections:

Build a Bowl Basics
How to cook all kinds of grains (including gluten free, with paleo alternatives)
Build a Bowl Meals:
Fruits
Eggs
Vegetables
Legumes
Chicken, Turkey & Pork
Beef & Lamb
Seafood

Vegan and vegetarian options are given, but tofu is pretty much the only substitution mentioned for all of the meat recipes, which would mean an excessive amount of tofu (I'm sure an experienced vegan or vegetarian could come up with more substitutions). That said, vegans and vegetarians are likely to still enjoy the recipes with substitutions.

I wish there were photos for every recipe, but the photos that are there are definitely beautiful and sell the recipes. I'd estimate there are photos for maybe 25% of the recipes at the most.

I especially loved the fruit section, which is full of great breakfast options like Banana Bread Bowl, Appple Crisp Bowl, Millet Muesli and Pumpkin Pie Rice Pudding, among many others.

The author recommends that each savory bowl consist of a grain, a protein, a couple of veggies, a sauce and something for crunch. The breakfast/fruit bowls are similar, with crunches like toasted nuts on top and lots of spices and flavors.

I have not tried any of the recipes but they seem like they would work well and provide tasty dishes. Most are fairly easy with ingredients that you're likely to have on hand, although there are also lots of interesting new flavors and ingredients to try that sound like fun things to sample.

The author recommends cooking up batches of all different grains once a week and if you do this, it could be quite quick and easy to make many of the dishes. I also like that she recommends a wide variety of really healthy ancient grains, with lots of information about the taste, texture and nutritional benefits for each.

I received a temporary digital ARC to read for the purpose of this review. If this cookbook had a photo for every recipe, I'm pretty sure I'd spend the money to buy my own copy. As is, I may look for it in my library and try a few recipes before making that decision.

The information and recipes in this book were clearly written and educational. The author showed a variety of ingredients that can be used to build quick and easy meals and it's great for planning out meals ahead of time when you know you can utilize multiple ingredients in different meals.

I really enjoyed the techniques and recipes that Sizemore shows and demonstrates in her new release Build-A-Bowl. The recipes are easy and can be customized to suit your budget and taste buds.