Vegan Bunny Bowl Recipe from Bunny Palooza
Bunny Palooza is such a fun event. There are vendors selling all things bunny; treats, toys, Rabbit Advocates’ own Bunny’s Best Bites Hay, and cute bunny things for humans. There are therapy bunnies, we have had a therapy miniature horse, and an animal communicator, and of course, Rabbit Advocates’ adoptable rabbits. There was so much to do, check out the Bunny Palooza website for all the info.
For a couple of years now, I have been part of the planning committee. I got to work with a wonderful team of talented, hard-working people. Among other things, I was in charge of finding a food vendor.
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Finding a Vegan Food Vendor
As bunnies are vegan, a lot of bunny parents are vegan or vegetarian. In researching a food vendor for Bunny Palooza 2018, I could not find a vegan food vendor that was 1. Mobile and 2. Available for our event. Portland has quite a few Vegan restaurants and food carts. Fortunately for them, a number of those are in permanent food cart pods or have opened brick and mortar locations. Unfortunately for me, I couldn’t find one that could come to our event. I didn’t want to leave our guests trying to find a suitable lunch at an amusement park. In my family, when you can’t find something, you make it yourself, so I came up with some options and presented them to the other members of the Bunny Palooza planning committee.
“Bunny Bowl”
That is how we came up with the “Bunny Bowl”. It is a “Buddha Bowl” which is a base layer of greens, topped with grains, veggies, and a sauce. The special sauce in my recipe is a compilation of recipes. One, I have made before, a couple from the internet, and suggestions from another Rabbit Advocates volunteer. It is similar to The Whole Bowl, a local food cart and brick and mortar restaurant, and Cafe Yumm, neither of which were available for our event. We added romaine lettuce to the rice bowl and served it with a piece of garlic bread to make it a complete meal. It is quite filling. It can also be gluten-free when served without the bread and if you use gluten-free ingredients.
I made detailed shopping lists so we could buy the ingredients quickly the morning of the event (a requirement by the health department is that no food can be stored in a non-licensed facility). The morning of the event, an inspector from the county health department came out and made sure we were following the rules to prepare food safely. We scored 100% on our inspection!
I created order slips so each guest could customize their bowl, this way, we were able to make each bowl fresh to order. It makes me so happy that we were able to offer a meal that all of our guests could enjoy, and since we are all volunteers, after buying the food and supplies, 100% of the sales from the bowls went to the bunnies. It was a lot of work but so worth it.
Special thanks to Elizabeth, Krista, Johnny, Jenn, Katen, and Max, “Bunny Bowls” wouldn’t have been possible without your hard work!
DIY Vegan Bowl
The “Bunny Bowl” consists of Romaine Lettuce, Brown Rice, Special Sauce, Seasoned Black Beans, Tomatoes, Avocado, Olives, Corn, Cilantro, and Salsa and was served with a side of garlic bread.
Bowl Assembly Video:
If you would like to make your own “Bunny Bowl” at home, the recipe is posted below. If you are looking for a quick fix and have one near you, try The Whole Bowl or Cafe Yumm (the Chilean Zucchini bowl is my favorite at Café Yumm).
Learn More about House Rabbits
For more information on Bunny Palooza go to oregonbunnypalooza.org and to learn about adopting, fostering, helping, or caring for house rabbits go to rabbitadvocates.org
If you live in the Portland, OR area and are interested in volunteering for this event we are looking for dedicated, hard-working, bunny-loving folks to join our team.
Want to make some bunny crafts?
Check out my post with 12 bunny rabbit themed crafts you can make yourself.
Best,
Megan
Vegan Bunny Bowl Recipe from Bunny Palooza
Ingredients
Vegan Sauce
- 1/2 cup garbanzo beans canned, drained
- 1/4 cup almond flour see notes
- 1/2 cup canola oil or other light flavored oil if you prefer
- 3 each garlic cloves minced or pressed
- 1/3 cup nutritional yeast large flake
- 1/2 cup lemon juice see notes
- 1/2 teaspoon curry powder see notes
- 1 teaspoon cilantro, dried
- 1 teaspoon onion, dried minced
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon parsley, dried
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic, dried granules
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 cup water
Seasoned Black Beans
- 1 cup black beans canned, drained, and rinsed
- 1/2 teaspoon onion, dried minced
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic granules
- 1 cup water
Bunny Bowl
- 4 cups romaine lettuce
- 3 cups cooked brown rice
- 1/2 cup sauce recipe above
- 1 cup black beans, seasoned, warm
- 1/2 cup tomatoes diced
- 1 each avocado quartered, peeled, pit removed and sliced
- 3/4 cup black olives sliced
- 1 cup corn (canned or fresh cooked)
- 1/4 cup cilantro (stems removed and fed to bunny)
- 1 cup Salsa see notes
Instructions
- Combine garbanzo beans, almond flour, and oil in food processor. Blend until combined and smooth (as possible).
- Add chopped garlic and nutritional yeast and blend until combined.
- Pour in lemon juice while processor is on and blend until incorporated. Scrape down sides of the bowl.
- Combine spices in a spice grinder and pulse until fine. Add spice mixture and process until combined. Scrape down sides of the bowl.
- Add water by pouring slowly into processor while it is on and blend until combined. Scrape down sides and blend again making sure it is smooth and everything is incorporated. This recipe makes about 2 cups of sauce but you will only need about 1/4 of that. Store remaining sauce in a tightly sealed container in the fridge for up to 1 week.
- Combine rinsed black beans, dried onion, garlic granules and water in a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Let simmer for about 5-10 minutes on low.
- Divide lettuce into four bowls.
- Divide warm brown rice into four and put on top of lettuce.
- Drizzle or dollop two tablespoons of sauce on top of rice.
- Place 1/4 cup drained, warm black beans in a small pile on rice.
- Place 1/4th of tomatoes next to the black beans.
- Slice the avocado and fan it out, place it next to the tomatoes.
- Place 1/4th of the olives next to the avocado.
- Place 1/4 cup corn on the opposite side of the black beans.
- Add a pinch of cilantro between the corn and olives.
- Add 1/4 cup salsa top, center on the bowl.
Vegan Bunny Bowl Sauce
Seasoned Black Beans
Bunny Bowl Assembly
Notes
Almond Flour: I used non-blanched almond flour from the bulk food section at Winco. You can use slivered or sliced almonds and process them until fine before using, but I preferred the industrial ground almonds to make a smoother sauce. You can also find blanched almond meal or almond flour if you do not want the tiny specs of brown almond husk in the finished sauce.
Lemon Juice: It is up to you which kind of lemon juice you use. You can use fresh squeezed lemon juice, Minute Maid Frozen Lemon Juice from Concentrate (thawed), or "ReaLemon" brand bottled lemon juice. If making a single batch of the recipe, fresh or the Minute Maid concentrate juice is best, if you are making multiple batches, you can substitute up to half of the amount with the bottled "ReaLemon" brand juice.
Salsa: Use your favorite salsa. I use Mild Pace Picante Sauce.
Spices: Grinding the spices together in a spice (coffee) grinder will break down the spices for even mixing into the sauce and also bring out the flavor of the spices. I highly recommend grinding any spices for cooking to intensify their flavor. It is a good idea to have a separate grinder for spices if you have one for coffee. I like this one because it is inexpensive, compact, and I can just twist the base to wrap the cord up inside the unit.
