These Greek brown rice bowls are filled with everything you love about a gyro and a Greek salad combined, flavorful lamb, pickled red onions, cucumbers and of course, feta!
This week is all about bowl meals.
Fact: when your whole meal fits into one cozy little bowl, it just tastes better.
We had strawberry coconut polenta breakfast bowls yesterday and today, we’re doing Greek brown rice bowls.
This post is sponsored by the Healthy Aperture network and USA Rice as part of their #ThinkRice campaign.
If a gyro platter and a Greek salad had a (hairy) little Greek baby, this Greek brown rice bowl would be it.
And, if you swap gyro meat or beef in this case for shrimp, you’d get this Greek shrimp skillet – another great one to try!
Gyros are great but tzatziki sauce is messy as heck (and leaves you with garlic breath for a year) and Greek salads are refreshingly tangy and awesome but are definitely missing the protein component to keep you full enough to call it a complete meal.
Enter Greek brown rice bowls.
I somehow got off the rice train for about a year.
I’m not really sure how it happened, but my plastic container dedicated to brown rice in the cabinet seemed to sit unused for far too long.
Then, back in October, I started my nutrition plan with Renaissance Periodization and quickly came to realize 1 cup of cooked rice was my new bff to get my post workout carbs in.
Not only do I get a lot more bang for my buck than with potatoes or pasta, U.S.-grown rice (look for the “Grown in the USA Rice” logo on packages to ensure nutrition and help reduce miles your food travels to get to your plate) is easy to cook (white rice literally takes minutes on the stove top) and a nutritional powerhouse.
I can tell you the Greek husband was quite pleased with this one, gobbling it up in minutes before heading out to work a night shift but don’t worry, Greek genes aren’t required to love this quick, easy and nutritious meal.
Try swapping out the ground beef for beef kafta instead or if you’re feeling takeout vibes, try this simple ground beef stir fry recipe.
Love this Greek Brown Rice Bowls recipe?
Check out this spicy beef and red pepper rice bowl and this tuna sushi bowl for more easy rice bowl meal ideas!
Greek Brown Rice Bowls
Ingredients
- 1 cup uncooked brown rice
- 2 cups water
- 1 pound ground lamb
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon dill
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 medium red onion, thinly sliced into rings
- 1/3 cup distilled vinegar
- 1/2 large cucumber, peeled and cut into half moons
- 1/3 cup pitted kalamata olives
- 1/4 cup crumbled feta
- fresh dill for garnish
Instructions
- Place the sliced onions in a small bowl, cover with the vinegar and set aside to quick pickle while you prepare the rest of the meal.
- Add rice and water to a small sauce pot. Bring to a boil, stir, then cover, reduce heat to low and let simmer until rice absorbs all the liquid.
- While rice cooks, place the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
- Once hot, add the lamb. Cook until browned, breaking into small pieces as it cooks with a spatula. Drain off the excess liquid/fat from the pan, return to the heat and add the oregano, dill, salt and pepper. Toss to combine, remove from heat and set aside.
- Assemble by spooning rice into 4 servings bowls. Evenly distribute the lamb, cucumbers, kalamata olives and pickled onions (drained from vinegar) around the bowls. Sprinkle with feta and garnish with fresh dill before serving.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Gina Matsoukas is an AP syndicated writer. She is the founder, photographer and recipe developer of Running to the Kitchen — a food website focused on providing healthy, wholesome recipes using fresh and seasonal ingredients. Her work has been featured in numerous media outlets both digital and print, including MSN, Huffington post, Buzzfeed, Women’s Health and Food Network.
A meal in a bowl, especially one with Greek flavors on rice, is TOTALLY my game plan.
Love the colors! Such an awesome dish for the spring.
This is my kind of dinner bowl! Yum!
I LOVE all these flavors. I especially like the idea of quick pickling the onions. Yum!
I love rice, and eat it more than I probably should! Gyros are one of my favorites, so these bowls look amazing!
I love rice, and eat it more than I probably should! Gyros are one of my favorites, so these bowls look amazing!
Words can’t even describe how beautiful this is!
Rice bowls are always a hit for dinner at our house. I’m loving the Greek flavors in this one.
This looks unbelievably good :)
Oh my, this looks so amazing! I love rice bowls, they are so filling.