The Wholesome Bowl

*Note: The amount of Black Beans needed will depend on how many people you are serving and how much you add to each bowl. Estimate about 1/4 to a 1/3 of a cup, per person. When making the black beans, follow this Basic Black Beans recipe, and then at the end, once the beans are fully cooked, drain the beans — reserving all of the cooking liquid. At this point, mash about a cup of the beans, using a potato masher. Next, add mashed beans, back to the pot with the whole beans and then add just enough cooking liquid to form a thick paste or sauce-like consistency. Save the any remaining liquid, in case you need it later. Next, place the beans back onto the stove and let cook for another 10 to 15 minutes. While this last step is not necessary, it does add nice texture to the beans. The beans can be made in advance and stored in the refrigerator. To serve the beans, simply reheat over low heat, until heated through. If needed, add some additional cooking liquid.

*Note: Once again, the amount of Spicy Curry Sauce needed will depend on how many people you are serving and how much you add to each bowl. Estimate about 1/4 to a 1/3 of a cup, per person. The sauce can be made in advance and stored in the refrigerator. To serve the sauce, bring to room temperature before serving. That being said, the sauce can be served either warm or cold.

Ultimately, these delicious bowls can be topped with any number of your favorite toppings. This combinations of these ingredients, just happens to go particularly well together. For the Brown Rice, rather then using water, cook the rice using a flavorful stock, for added flavor. *Note: For the Salsa Verde, follow the recipe, but omit the last step of adding the avocado. To assemble the bowls, spoon approximately 1 cup of rice onto the bottom of each bowl. Next add a scoop of black beans onto the side of the rice. Then pour a spoonful or two of the spicy curry sauce, just over part of the rice and beans. It's nice to have each component still visible below. Next, garnish each bowl with a spoonful of each salsa. Note: You could use only one salsa for this recipe; however, we really liked having both salsas. If however we had to pick just one, we would say to use the Salsa Verde. Next, slice the avocado lengthwise and then scoop it out of the skin. Place a few slices onto the side of each bowl. Lastly, top each bowl with a good dollop of Cashew Sour Cream, some of the black olives and good helping of fresh cilantro. Serve immediately with a nice salad and some whole-grain tortilla chips, if desired.