The Cactus Club restaurant has recently started to serve what they call “Med Bowl”. It is a Mediterranean style meal featuring falafels, turmeric rice, greek salad, sauerkraut and fresh baby greens all with a delicious glomp of beet hummus and a garlicky white sauce drizzle. It is very exciting when a popular restaurant comes out with a new vegan menu offering! Anything that makes the strange word “vegan” seem more mainstream makes me happy.

The Cactus Club website provides the complete nutritional profile of their “Med Bowl”. Sure enough it contains 1970 mg of sodium and 15 grams of added sugar. Ack! These high levels of salt and sugar are what keep us coming back for more! It’s a little secret of the restaurant business.

Watching sodium, sugar and added oil consumption.

How much sodium and sugar per day is okay?

Health Canada recommends that adults get 1500 mg of sodium and only 25 grams (6 teaspoons) of added sugar per day in their diet. This does not include the sugars in real, whole foods such as fruits and vegetables. We do not need to be concerned about these naturally occuring sugars… It’s the added sugar that causes issues in the body.

Adding a little bit of salt to flavour meals is not a problem for most people. The culprit of excessive sodium in the diet tends to be processed foods and dining out in restaurants often…

In the United States in 2012, the average adult intake of sugar was 77 grams per day, which is triple the recommended amount. (source) Excessive sugar consumption has been associated with obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, certain cancers, tooth decay, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and more.

How much fat in the diet is recommended?

Another dietary concern is the excessive amount of added oils in the diet. Fortunately, the “Med Bowl” at Cactus Club has only 26 grams of fat in its 460 gram serving, (less than 7% fat), which is surprisingly positive! If you choose to make my recipe, you can leave out any added oils which will make it even more attractive.

Dr. T. Colin Campbell, the pioneer of plant-based diets, director of NutritionStudies.org and author of The China Study, recommends that only 10-15% of our diets be comprised of fats. He suggests that these fats be naturally found in plants, not in added, refined oils. For someone consuming 1800 calories a day, that equates to 180-270 calories of fat.

Why this “Med Bowl” Cactus Club Copycat recipe is so great:

Easy to make
High in antioxidants and phytochemicals
High in fiber
Low in sugar, salt and oil
Easily premade
Very gut healthy
Cholesterol free
Colorful
Rich in iron

This bowl is a perfect way to enjoy the rainbow of vegetables, maximizing the nutrient value of your meal. In a pinch, you could buy all of the separate elements of this recipe at the grocery store, such as the beet hummus and greek salad and just put it together! You can get as simple or as complex as you want. Heck you could even make your own falafels if you wanted. Sorry I can’t help you with a recipe for that yet!

Buy or make your own sauerkraut! Either way, read this important tip…

If you have any interest in making your own sauerkraut to help improve your gut health, check out my 2 ingredient recipe here. It’s super easy and SO much less expensive than the store bought varieties.

Buying your sauerkraut in the store? Make sure to find it in the fridge section. Refrigerated varieties contain the live bacteria, which is what the microorganisms in your digestive tract want. Those big jars on the regular shelves might look like a good deal, but they have been pasteurized, so the beneficial bacteria have been sterilized.

I have enjoyed this Med Bowl at Cactus Club a couple of times now so I figured it was time to make my own version. My recipe above and the Cactus Club Med Bowl below. Hard to tell the difference!

Here is a photo of the Cactus Club Med Bowl…

I had a wee bit of backlash for not including a recipe to make your own Fabulous Falafel Balls for this recipe instead of keeping it simple and buying them… I have now added that recipe. Click here to find out how to make your own moist falafel balls instead of buying them! Here is a photo to entice you to try! They can be made in advance as well, then frozen and reheated.

Med Bowl (Cactus Club Copycat recipe)
Print
Serves: 4 Prep Time: 25 minutes Cooking Time: 20 minutes 20 minutes

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Ingredients

Med Bowl Ingredients:

1 package of falafel balls (approximately 400 grams). Recipe to make your own falafels below in Instructions.

1 cup uncooked basmati or jasmine rice, cooked as per directions. Add 1 teaspoon of turmeric to the water before cooking.

1 cup sauerkraut, purchased, or homemade - 2 ingredient recipe above

Greek Salad:

4 cups of greens of your choice, chopped

1/2 large English cucumber, diced

1 cup baby tomatoes, diced

1/2 cup red onion, diced

1/2 cup assorted olives, chopped

1/2 cup vegan feta, crumbled (optional) you can buy at the store, or even crumble raw tofu (add spices)

1-2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar to taste

1 teaspoon olive oil (optional)

1/2-1 teaspoon greek seasoning to taste (or sprinkle oregano, basil, thyme, dill, marjoram and salt and pepper to taste)

Beet Hummus recipe:

1 can chickpeas, save 2 tablespoons of aquafaba (chickpea water from can) then drain and rinse

1 small raw beet, top and bottom removed

1 lemon, zested and squeezed

1/4 cup veggie broth

3 cloves garlic

salt & pepper to taste

Garlic sauce:

1/3 cup plain vegan yogurt or vegan sour cream (recipe link below)

1 1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar, or lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon hot sauce

1/8 teaspoon salt

Instructions

Prepare each element of the dish separately and set aside until ready to put the bowl together. (You can make this dish in advance if desired. Keep in the fridge until needed, then simply heat up the rice and falafel.)

Cook the rice as per instructions, adding the turmeric to the water before cooking. This gives it a nice yellow color. For a little extra pizzazz, you could fry the cooked rice with spices of your choice.

Make the beet hummus by adding all hummus ingredients to a high powered blender and blending until smooth.

Chop the veggies to make the Greek salad and toss with the balsamic, oil (if using) and spices.

Next, cook the falafels according to package instructions.

In a small bowl, whisk together the Garlic Sauce ingredients and set aside to pour over the top once assembled.

Assemble the bowl, drizzle with the white garlic sauce and serve!
Fabulous Falafel Ball recipe link here.

Sauerkraut recipe link here.

Sour cream recipe link here.

www.thevibrantveggie.com

Below, after they had cleared away my finished Med Bowl, a shot of the four of us celebrating our youngest daughter’s 18th birthday!

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