I hope you guys enjoyed the holidays as much as we did~! With all that chocolate-box-business, a much needed meaty experiment to counter the sugar overdose, a medieval festival and our family’s annual Easter Breakfast, it’s been quite a foodylicious set of days for us, leaving both of us in the mood for a light and healthy touch to our dinner plans… to say the least~

In addition to that, on my part at least, the wish to find something delish simply appearing on a plate on its own was already well on its way to chip away at my will to steer clear of our take-away flyer box during major holidays, so I had to find a way to meet all of those requirements, and pronto. Now, you guys probably know my knack for biting into a bar of soap rather than using certain over-used, over-hyped, “trendy” money-printing hook-terms like “superfood”, “clean”, “booster veg”, “superfruit” and… yes, “superfood bowl”. While I’m not quite on one page with the rather militant counter-offensive mourning the loss of knife and fork and honking on about the destruction of food culture by hipster-fueled cuisine trends-for-the-masses catering to pretty instagram-shots and hashtags rather than the tastebuds and tummies of the people eating them, food trends – and oh-so-trendy ways to serve things, for that matter – drive me up the wall, out the window and back down the chimney most of the time… like that potentially cool song you hear on the radio… 89456 times a day on every station you switch to before you throw the damn thing out of the window. Anyways, to end a rant before it takes up speed, the wholesome-meal concept behind the whole bowl idea <points to the Foodology section below the recipe> and the simple fact that they look yumtastic no matter how little time you put into presentation does have its merits. Especially on a lazy day. So, here’s my recipe for a quick-and-easy prep, healthy and comfy-to-eat-while-watching-a-movie Turkey, Avo & Raspberry Bowl~

The Lemony Turkey
300g Turkey Breast
1 heaped Tsp Celery Salt
½ Tsp Freshly cracked Black Pepper
½ Tsp Thyme
1 Clove of Garlic, very finely chopped
1 Whole dried Bird’s Eye Chilli, finely crushed
1 Generous Pinch of Green Jalapeño Flakes – these are for flavor rather than heat. If you can’t get these, use any other aromatic yet mild chilli flake.
1 Generous Pinch of Cayenne Pepper
1 Unwaxed Lemon – you’ll need 4 Tbsp of Juice and the Zest of ½ the lemon.
3 Tbsp of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Runny Honey

1) Smooth a sheet of clingfilm across your work surface and brush it with 2-3 drops of olive oil.
2) Place the turkey in the center of the sheet and cover it with another lightly oiled sheet of clingfilm.
3) Very gently tap the surface of the wrapped meat with a small pan or put a rolling pin to work in order to flatten the meat down to a thickness of about ¾ – 1 cm.
4) Place all of the remaining ingredients minus the meat and the lemon juice in an airtight container and whisk them into a smooth paste.
5) Brush the turkey with the paste until it’s evenly coated all around, then lock it inside the box and stow it in the fridge for at least 6 hours or overnight.
6) Fire up a griddle or pan on high heat, dab it with a hint of sunflower oil.
7) Brush any excess marinade off the meat before gently sliding it into the piping hot pan or griddle.
8) Fry the meat for 2-3 mins on each side until it’s nicely marked, then tuck it in under a sheet of aluminum foil and place it in a warm spot until you’re ready to plate up.

The Rice Base
200g Cooked Brown Rice – I always use a blend of brown and wild rice
100ml Chicken Stock
Every last drop of the leftover Turkey Marinade

1) Turn the heat beneath your turkey-pan down to low.
2) Deglaze the pan with the stock and stir in the remaining marinade – if a few drops of liquid have gathered on the plate holding your resting turkey, drizzle that into the sauce-in-the-making as well.
3) Give everything a good stir with a wooden spoon to whirl up all the roasting aromas sticking to the bottom of your pan, then add the rice.
4) Allow the rice to heat through and soak up the sauce while you prep the remaining ingredients for the bowl.

The Other Toppings
1 ripe Avocado, thinly sliced
½ Lemon
Herbed Sea Salt and Black Pepper
200g Raspberries
1 Small Bunch of Arugula Leaves
2 Organic, happy eggs
Togarashi Pepper
1 Tsp Butter
Fleur de Sel
2 Tbsp Sunflower Seeds, lightly toasted

1) Place the avo slices in a wide bowl or dish and drizzle them with the lemon juice before dusting them with a generous crack of black pepper and a pinch of salt.
2) Give the arugula leaves a once-over and remove the occasional long and therefore very bitter stem.
3) Place a small pan on medium-high heat, add the butter and fry up your sunny-side ups the way you like them.
4) Dust them with a pinch of togarashi pepper each once they’re done and get ready to plate up.

Assembling The Dish
1) Divide the rice into two bowls
2) Arrange ½ an avocado, ½ of the berries, arugula leaves and 1 egg per serving on top of the rice.
3) Drizzle the arugula with the leftover avocado-lemon juice and sprinkle the leaves with the toasted seeds.
4) Slice the turkey into thin strips and nestle them into the bowl as well before drizzling them with whatever juices they might have lost on the resting-plate or cutting board.
5) Serve immediately and…

…Enjoy~!

As promised, here are the basics “Behind the Bowl”
The general idea is to assemble a meal containing everything your body needs to go on at 100% – without overstuffing and draining you or leaving you peckish and unsatisfied until the next meal comes around. Not taking any lifestyle choices or reqs for athletes into consideration, a collection of the following nutrients will hit that mark:
10% Healthy Fats – unprocessed oils, avocados or nuts
20% Carbs – wholegrain only, spelt, brown rice and the likes
30% Protein – lean meat
40% Vitamin-rich Fibers – veg or fruit
Basically this is the perfect balance, just enough fat and carbs to support the digestion of the vitamins and the protein while the fibers fill your tummy to a comfy level. Going with the whole food feng shui, those 4 main components should have at least 4 different colors complimenting each other for happy-hormone-boosting eye candy. The way of serving it, the bowl, is simple marketing, the concept behind it is centuries old. In essence, you’ll end up with <eyeballs that bar of soap> an organic, clean, paleo, super healthy, super functional, superfood bowl. Grrr. You know, I eat like that – sans bowl – 90% of the time and I never felt the need to slap catchphrase name stickers all over it… I know, I know, I’ll never survive a day’s work in Marketing or Advertising. I’m ok with that.

♥