Don’t let the “Buffet” in the title fool you. This can easily be crowd food (think a healthier version of the old “potato bar”), but it can also be the key to you doing a 1 hour food prep to save you time in the kitchen for a whole week. Take a look!
The list of ingredients above is a suggestion. Go with the ingredients you like, and what you have on hand. Pint mason jars make for great storage. They are uniform, rustic, and for a casual buffet with friends, can be used as serving bowls for the buffet (much less cleanup!) Brilliant!
For a gathering with friends...
Set all the ingredients out. If you are having a larger group, you could divide the ingredients to two locations; i.e. grains, proteins greens in one location and veggies, sauces, and garnishes in another.
Buddha bowls are a creative endeavor, but tend to follow a pattern. Here is a suggestion to get you started:¼ cup each of 1 grain, 2 proteins, and 2 leafy greens; ⅛ cup of 4 veggies; 3 TBSP of your sauce of choice; garnish to your taste.
To create meals for the week...
Assemble the Buddha bowls in pint jars and store in the refrigerator. These are great for a quick snack, or to take to the office for a healthy, nutritious lunch.Pint Mason jars are a great size for this but you might consider repurposing peanut butter and salsa jars?! Reusing is ever so earth friendly...and free.
For a formal buffet...
Assemble your ingredients on a large (24") platter. It can become the focus of your buffet table. Section the ingredients around the platter, mixing up the colors and textures. People can assemble their bowls and then move to a second station to add their sauce of choice and the garnishes
Notes
Some thoughts from Chef Leander: Prepping this many ingredients may seem like a monumental task, but it takes less time than the prep you do for daily meals all week. I typically shop on Saturday. On Sunday I get the jars and the ingredients on the counter. In less than an hour, I can have all the fresh ingredients chopped and stored in the fridge. Some weeks I make Buddha "jars" for the fridge. Or I can leave the ingredients in the fridge until I need them for Tuesday's recipe, or Thursday's dinner. You get the idea. I find this one hour of chop and prep saves me at least three hours in the meal prep during the week. Try it!To avoid waste, use small serving bowls, and small scoop spoons in the ingredients.The formula is:1 grain2 protein1-2 leafy greens1-4 chopped veggies1 nut garnishOne sauceThat’s more than 2 cups of food for everyone. If you have meat eaters in your crowd, prepare diced chicken in a skillet and add that as an ingredient to the buffet. Season with salt, pepper, lemon juice. Serve as a buffet or make them all in mason jars (or salsa/peanut butter jars) and put them in the fridge for on the go snacks and meals.