I have this thing (especially in the fall and winter) where I’m allergic to plates.

I mean, everything is just better in a bowl.

Salads, where the dressing gets cradled and you don’t have to stab. Soups. Roasted Veggies. Um. Spiralized noodles. Mini Meatballs. Desserts. Snacks.

Or, the best possible situation– random combinations of leftover bits and pieces, magically cozied up together and snuggled in.

I mean, right? It’s like the food gets a little hug.

Bowl food, like my friend Sara of Sprouted Kitchen so aptly named it. It’s a real thing.

Anyways, I made us some lunch bowls this past weekend. Kyle, always the adventurous eater, never even asks what my random combinations might be. At this point, he just knows better.

Sometimes, we call it the lunch lady surprise. Because, truly,  I won’t know until it’s already made. It all happens so fast.

Well, also too, just to be clear, all days, I’m a total lunch lady. I love it. So, even on the weekends, when everyone else is brunch ladying away, I’m like humming around the kitchen like it’s the best day ever, because of all the leftovers I get to play with.

Like my little daily art.

So, last weekend, I was bowl making. One for me and one for him.

I handed him his bowl, and danced back to my own on the counter and quickly took a hot bite. Then another. And another.

And, I was off. Careening around the corner, sliding in my big wooly socks, yelling my classic— “Stop! Wait! Fork down! Babe! Don’t eat more, I need it!”

Ah, classic.

My bowl, was all muddled and mushed up (cozy! lots of hugging!), with the pesto melted everywhere. A tiny beautiful mess.

Kyle’s, on the other hand is always much more… organized. There’s compartments. Structure. Order.

Poor guy. I always need his for the picture.

And since bowls are like unicorns, appearing and being soo good and soo satisyfing, until they vanish into thin air and you have no idea what you just put in it. Or how to re-create it, well I got it.

Got that unicorn bowl real good. Captured before it even knew what was happening. Lucky us. And I mean all of us.

The Cozy Lunch Bowl

Makes 3-4 servings

1 delicata squash, seeds scooped out and sliced

1 head purple kale, chopped

4 yukon gold potatoes, cubed

1 head cauliflower, florets sliced

1 chicken breast, boiled for 10 minutes, then drained and shredded

pesto to garnish

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Add cauliflower and squash on one sheet, and potatoes on another. Drizzle with olive oil and roast for 25-30 minutes until done. Cook chicken in the meantime on the stovetop in boiling water.

When cooked through, drain water, shred chicken and season with sea salt and pepper. When the roasted veggies are almost done, add shredded chicken to a heated skillet, on high heat to crisp. Add chopped kale to the skillet and fry until it wilts just slightly.

Assemble bowls in a build your own style (messy or neat), topping with pesto right before serving. Season with extra sea salt and pepper.