Quinoa Donburi and Mini Bento, #Beyond Meat

This is a sponsored post. All opinions are my own.

I am honored that my friends at Beyond Meat included the Ninja Baker in spreading the word about Beyond Meat Beef-Free Crumbles. Visionaries, Bill Gates (Yes! The Bill Gates of Microsoft) and Twitter co-founders, Biz Stone and Evan Williams are among the investors.

CEO & Founder of Beyond Meat, Ethan Brown, is the son of a farmer. Mr. Brown is also an expert in the clean energy sector. Concerned about the astonishing number of cattle killed for consumption, he wondered if we'd continue our habits if the taste could be replicated with plants. Well, God Bless the scientists of our world. They accomplished the feat!

Beyond Meat Beef-Free Crumbles tastes like the “real” thing. (And I’m not just saying that because this is a sponsored post.) Equally impressive are the non-GMO, gluten-free and Kosher ingredients. (The same as ground beef.) An added bonus: No saturated or trans fats appear in Beef-Free Crumbles. Also, the Beyond Meat products contain no cholesterol but delivers 10 grams of protein.

There are two kinds of Beef-Free Crumbles at the moment - Beefy and Feisty. The beefy flavor is accented with garlic and citrus flavors. As you can imagine, the Feisty one is stellar for those who prefer a bit of heat in their tacos and chili.

For my quinoa donburi, I chose the Beefy crumbles. What is donburi? Sites on the American internet mostly define the Japanese dish as simmered meats and veggies poured atop mounds of rice. Although accurate the Japanese internet (and my Japanese cooking friends) confirm that a donburi can also be various items prepared separately then placed atop rice.

Quinoa Donburi Bowl

My donburi features predictable Asian veggies such as Chinese cabbage and Japanese daikon radish. However, I substituted quinoa for traditional Japanese sticky white rice. Also, to the best of my knowledge, Beef-Free Crumbles are yet to be seen atop donburi in Japan. (But, you never know what tomorrow brings, right?) The recipe below fits perfectly into one large bowl and one mini bento box.

Mini bento box with quinoa, Beef-Free Beefy Crumbles,
Chinese cabbage, purple cauliflower, Japanese daikon radish
and a yellow zucchini butterfly!

Here's a link to locate the closest store which carries Beyond Meat Beef-Free Crumbles. (You'll find it in the frozen section.)

Quinoa Donburi and Mini Bento

The Beefy Crumble when sautéed with the soy sauce and grapeseed oil tastes similar to a sweet sausage. (The good news is the No-Beef Beefy Crumble is gluten-free and contains no cholesterol!) The soy sauce contrasts nicely with the Beefy Crumble.

If you can get a hold of Satsuma Mandarin balsamic vinegar, do so. The citrus flavor enhances the squeeze of lemon juice in the crumble.

This recipe makes enough for one generous serving for a donburi rice bowl and one mini Japanese bento lunch box.

Ingredients:

½ cup quinoa
1 cup water
3 tablespoons grapeseed oil
1 cup Beyond Meat Beefy Beef-Free Crumble
2½ tablespoons soy sauce
2 cups Chinese cabbage, roughly chopped
1 or 2 large purple cauliflower florets
7 small slices of Japanese daikon radish
5 medium slices of yellow zucchini
1½ -2 tablespoons Satsuma Mandarin balsamic vinegar (or balsamic vinegar with a drop or two of lemon or lime juice)

Directions:

Bring water, quinoa and 1 tablespoon of the grapeseed oil to a boil. Stir. Simmer over medium-low heat for about 12 minutes (or until the liquid is absorbed.) Remove from the stove. Let the quinoa rest for 5 minutes. Fluff.

In a large skillet, sauté the Beefy Crumble with the soy sauce and remaining 2 tablespoons of grapeseed oil.

Lightly steam the cabbage, cauliflower and Japanese daikon radish along with the zucchini. Drain in a colander.

Scoop mounds of quinoa into a bowl for donburi, into a bento box for a mini lunch treat. Arrange the Beefy Crumbles and vegetables atop the bowl and bento box. Sprinkle with the balsamic vinegar.

The Beyond Meat Mission:
We believe there is a better way to feed the planet. Our mission is to create mass-market solutions that perfectly replace animal protein with plant protein. We are dedicated to improving human health, positively impacting climate change, conserving natural resources and respecting animal welfare...At Beyond Meat, we want to make the world a better place and we’re starting one delicious meal at a time.?

What is Meat??? Meat is no mystery.
It’s actually pretty simple: amino acids, fats, trace carbohydrates and minerals, and a lot of water combined to give us that familiar chew, resistance, and variation.??What if we are able to take these inputs from plants and apply heating, cooling, and pressure so they combine just like animal meat? And what if you define meat by what it is—amino acids, fats, carbs, minerals, and water—versus where it is from (i.e cows, chickens, pigs)???What you’d have is meat for the future. Meat from plants.

For more information about Beyond Meat, visit their website, see them on The Today Show or in the New York Times.

Wishing you and me a planet where happiness and goodness surrounds us.

The Ninja Baker

The Ninja Baker has guest blogged and contributed recipes to numerous food sites. These additional recipes can be found here.

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