I started making poke (pronounced po-kay) bowls a lot this summer. Once the rice is cooked, the rest is pretty easy. And, you can play around with various toppings, depending on what you have. Traditionally, I think of a poke bowl with raw ahi tuna, but I don’t limit myself. I’ve used roasted salmon in place of the ahi tuna and, most recently, played around with sweet potatoes.

I will be the first to admit, sweet potatoes are difficult for me. Where many of my friends and family love the sweetness of them, I never really fell in love. Ok, fine. Until this summer, I would have shrugged and said I didn’t like them. But, I decided to see what they would be like baked and then added to this bowl. Game changer.

Matt was wary about adding greens to the poke bowl, but we both loved how this turned out. It’s a very filling, lovely vegetarian dish. And, leftovers are amazing for lunch. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 4 servings sushi rice, made using package instructions
• 1 sweet potato, baked (foil-wrapped, 350 degree oven until tender), cooled, chopped into chunks
• 1 avocado, sliced
• 1-2 cucumbers, sliced
• 1 carrot, julienned
• 2-4 scallions, chopped
• chopped herbs – we used basil and cilantro
• Sesame oil for sauteing greens
• 6-8 cups greens – we used beet greens, kale, and Swiss chard
• Sauce:
  • 2 Tbsp soy sauce
  • 1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup Hoisin sauce
  • 1/4 cup mirin
  • 2 Tbsp rice vinegar
  • 1 Tbsp sesame oil
  • 1 Tbsp honey
  • 1/4 cup Sambal Oelek
  • 2 grated garlic cloves
  • 1-2 inches grated fresh ginger
  • 1 Tbsp corn starch stirred into 1/2 cup water
• Sesame seeds

Directions:

1. Stir all sauce ingredients, except corn starch water, together in a small saucepan. Heat to boiling and add half the corn starch water. Bring back to a boil. If you like the consistency, remove from heat. If you want a thicker sauce, add more corn starch water and return to boil. Set aside.
2. Swirl 1-2 Tbsp sesame oil in a large saute pan. Add enough greens to fill the pan. Stir and then cover to steam/wilt. This will take 1-2 minutes. Stir in 1 or so Tbsp sauce and some sesame seeds. Remove greens from pan and repeat until all greens are sauteed.
3. To assemble, spoon rice into bowl. Top with sweet potato, greens, cucumber, avocado, carrot, scallion, herbs, sauce, and sesame seeds. Dig in!