Mango Ginger Rice Bowl

This rice bowl is one of our go-to meals when we're craving something light. It's easy to make, and mango, ginger & basil make it wonderfully refreshing.

Welcome to another meal planning week! About a month ago, I wrote a 5-part series that was all about my basic approach to meal planning. This was the plan: I started the week with a set amount of groceries and ideas for 5 meals, each meal utilizing the ingredients from the day before. The “plan” was not set in stone, so that my dinners would be somewhat flexible if I got a new idea mid-way through the week. If you missed that series.

After getting such a wonderful response to that series, I thought, let’s do it again! I chose this particular week because it’s summer(!), which means that we’ve been spending more time outside, more evenings strolling our neighborhood, and more time eating out. I love to eat out, but after a while, I’m ready to start eating in again.

So here’s the first recipe for the week: this super refreshing Mango Black Bean Ginger Rice Bowl – basically a burrito bowl with Asian-ish flavors.

What’s in this rice bowl recipe?

If you’re a fan of our cookbook, you’ll recognize the sauce/dressing here – it’s a light tamari-lime vinaigrette, similar to the one that I poured over the Brussels Sprouts with Coconut Rice on page 63. I’m crazy for this dressing because it’s so simple but seriously flavorful – perfect for a bowl with many components.

Along with the sauce, I filled these bowls with mango, black beans, shredded cabbage, and a few crunchy veggies – blanched snap peas, sliced cucumbers, and carrots. The interesting pops of flavor come not only from that dressing, but also from pickled ginger, sliced basil, and a combo of toasted peanuts and sesame seeds. (If you’re nut-free, skip the peanuts and just go for the sesame seeds).

For an even healthier variation, you could use brown rice, cauliflower rice, or cilantro lime rice as the base of your bowl.

This rice bowl is everything I want to eat in the summer: it’s light, crispy, crunchy, and herby with a light sauce and a great pop of sweetness from the mango (use mango salsa for a fun variation!).

If you’re looking for the rest of this 3-day meal plan, check out these nori wraps and these mango tacos, and then find the grocery list here.