Forbidden Rice Burrito Bowls

Burrito in a bowl — topped with my creamy jalepeño and cashew cheez sauces, making this an incredible dish! With forbidden rice, black beans, seasoned tempeh, and all the right veggies — these bowls make a healthy and delicious meal!

I’m quite surprised I’ve never shared these bowls with you in the past. I’ve been making them for many years now, long before I even started Veggies at Tiffani’s. In fact, I first planned on putting this recipe on the site a little over a year ago. My friend’s Megan and Gricelda even came over to be my omni (omnivorous) taste-testers.

These bowls definitely passed the taste test. From what I recall, they both enjoyed them very much. Megan is a sucker for my cashew cheez, and Gricelda loved the creamy jalepeño sauce. I believe the only reason why I didn’t share this recipe with you then, was for lack of a good picture. We all took some at the table, but I was so eager to eat I failed to take the time to take one properly.

Where did I get the idea for these bowls? I think it came from two different recipes. I’d never heard of forbidden, or black, rice before but came across a recipe for a bowl using it. Not a burrito bowl, but one with several cooked veggies and some other kind of sauce.

I followed the recipe exactly, and the bowl as a whole, was just okay. The sauce didn’t impress me, and I didn’t feel like the veggies used were the right fit with everything else, but the rice! I was in love with the black rice! It was delicious, and everything I read about it praised it for being so nutritious. The healthiest of all rice!

The second recipe which led me to these bowls was one by Vegan Richa. I make these tempeh scramble wraps by her all the time, and they have a Jalepeño Popper Dip in them which is very similar to the Creamy Jalepeño Sauce in this recipe. My sauce is really just an altered version of hers, the way I make it when I make her wraps.

I love that jalepeño sauce, and so the day I decided I wanted to make a burrito bowl I thought it’d go great on top! I’m pretty cheezy too so I had to put some of my Cashew Cheez on top, and I thought it’d all be perfect over my new favorite rice!

Let’s talk about the rice for a minute, shall we? It did take me quite some time before I learned how to make it just right. My first several times cooking black rice, even after looking up and following recipes, it would turn out with clumpy parts all through it, which just wasn’t OK.

I finally figured out how to make forbidden (black) rice, so it turns out perfectly, and luckily for me (because it’s easiest) it involves the rice maker.  One of the critical details for making this rice is rinsing it. You need to rinse it for daaaays!!! Ideally, you’re supposed to do it until the water comes out clear. I even mix it around with my hands in a bowl of water a couple of times.

*Once I rinse the rice, rinse it again, and again and again — I add it to my rice cooker. Now my own little secret, which is what finally allowed me to get this rice done right. I add a little coconut oil, about one to two tablespoons, and stir it into the rice before pouring in the water. The water needed for the one cup of rice (one regular measuring cup, so eight ounces. NOT rice cooker cup, which is less) is two and one-fourth cups, a little more than with other varieties of rice. Now I simply push the brown rice button on the cooker and let it do its magic.

**The tempeh is easy. I steam it for eight minutes which removes some bitterness. To steam (if you don’t know), put a steamer basket inside a saucepan and fill the pan with water until you reach the bottom of the basket. Now cover the pan with a lid and put it over high heat until the water boils. Once the water boils, add the tempeh to the basket, return the lid, and leave for eight minutes. If you do not have a steamer basket, you could boil the tempeh instead.

Once the tempeh is steamed and cool enough to touch, crumble with your hands into a skillet heated with a little oil. Stir in the seasonings and lime until the everything is thoroughly mixed and tempeh is again hot.

The sauces are also easy. Take turns mixing all sauce ingredients in a high-speed blender until everything is completely smooth. If you do not have a high-speed blender, make sure your cashews have been soaked overnight. Transfer each sauce into squirt bottles for decorative distribution.

To prepare the bowls, I add a generous spoonful of the rice at the bottom and then surround it with sections of the tempeh, avocado, sweet corn, tomato, green onion, black olives, cilantro, and black beans. I next line each bowl with tortilla chips. On top, I drizzle both sauces, but usually, add more as I’m eating! If you do not have squirt bottles, instead add a dollop of each.

Last night, my daughter’s friend, Alyssa, tried this as well, giving it a third omni-thumbs-up! Of course, all of us herbivores love it as well, or I wouldn’t be sharing it. I hope you enjoy it too! Let me know by leaving a comment below, or by taking a pic and tagging me on Instagram, @veggiesattiffanis.