Mother Earth Bowl (Flower Child Copycat)

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Inspired by Flower Child, these mother earth bowls are loaded with greens, super grains, roasted veggies and broccoli pesto all topped with a delicious red pepper miso vinaigrette.

This mother earth bowl has been a recipe I’ve been wanting to share on EBF for awhile now, so I’m excited to finally be sharing it with you today!

This recipe comes from the restaurant Flower Child, which is a favorite of mine for quick, healthy food. Unfortunately, there isn’t a location in Richmond, so I just had to find a way to recreate this bowl at home because it’s SO good!

This bowl has the perfect combination of flavors and textures that will leave you feeling satisfied and nourished. And don’t let the ingredient list intimidate you. All the components of this bowl are pretty straightforward and can easily be prepped in advance for faster assembly.

Trust me, you’re going to want to add this recipe to your weekly menu asap!

Mother earth bowl.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

  • Tastes like a restaurant quality meal at home!
  • Full of healthy and nutritious ingredients.
  • Jam-packed with tons of flavor!
  • Perfect for meal prep!
  • Vegan, dairy-free + can easily be made gluten-free.
Ingredients measured out to make a Mother Earth Bowl: baby arugula, rice vinegar, roasted vegetables, super grains, cucumber relish, red pepper miso vinaigrette, broccoli pesto, avocado, sprouts and hemp seeds.

Ingredients Needed

  • arugula – the base of this bowl along with the super grains. The arugula adds a fresh and slightly spicy flavor that pairs well with the other ingredients.
  • super grains – we’re making our own super grain mixture by combining red quinoa, farro and barley, which are all rich in nutrients and make for a great base for this bowl.
  • roasted vegetables – a combo of sweet potatoes, red onion and portobello mushrooms.
  • cucumber relish – a simple cucumber salad made with cucumber, rice wine vinegar, maple syrup, chili garlic, sesame seeds, mint leaves and salt. These ingredients create a sweet, tangy, and slightly spicy condiment that adds a delicious, refreshing contrast to the other ingredients.
  • broccoli pesto – made by blending broccoli, kale, pistachios, garlic, mint, lemon zest, salt, pepper and olive oil together in a food processor. It adds a ton of flavor and isn’t something you’ll want to skip!
  • red pepper miso vinaigrette – a unique, flavorful dressing that pairs perfectly with the rest of the components in this bowl. It’s made by blending together peppadew peppers (or roasted red peppers), garlic, ginger, miso paste, rice vinegar, tamari and olive oil in a blender until smooth and creamy!
  • sprouts – nutrient rich sprouts add a nice freshness.
  • avocado slices – a good source of healthy fats, fiber and a number of essential nutrients, including vitamin E, potassium and folate.
  • hemp seeds – rich in protein with a slightly nutty flavor that makes for a great topping.
Photos showing the process to make broccoli pesto, red pepper miso vinaigrette, cucumber relish, super grains and roasted vegetrables.

How to Make

Cook grains: First cook grains by adding quinoa to a saucepan with 1 cup water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer, cover and cook about 15 minutes, until water is absorbed. Set aside. In a second larger saucepan, bring 2 quarts of water to a boil. Once boiling, add farro and barley and return to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-high and cook, uncovered for 25-30 minutes, until tender. Drain off cooking water and add farro + barley mixture to quinoa. Stir to combine and set aside. 

Roast veggies: Preheat the oven to 400 F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Combine sweet potatoes and onion in a large mixing bowl and toss with 1 Tablespoon oil, ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Add to one baking sheet and bake for 30-40 minutes, tossing halfway through. While sweet potatoes and onions are roasting, add portobello mushrooms to the same mixing bowl and toss with 1 Tablespoon oil, ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Add mushrooms to the second prepared baking sheet and when sweet potatoes have about 10-15 minutes left to cook, place mushrooms in the oven and cook for 10-15 minutes, until tender. 

Make pesto: Add all broccoli pesto ingredients to a food processor and process until combined. Set aside.

Make dressing: Add all dressing ingredients to a high powered blender and blend until smooth and combined. Set aside.

Make cucumber relish: Make cucumber relish by combining all ingredients in a small mixing bowl. Set aside. 

Assemble bowls: When you’re ready to assemble bowls, place arugula in a bowl and toss with rice vinegar. To make bowls, add ¾ cup super grains mix, ¾ cup roasted veggies, 1 cup arugula, 2 Tablespoons cucumber salad, 1 Tablespoon broccoli pesto and 1 Tablespoon red pepper vinaigrette to 6 bowls. Top each bowl with avocado slices, sprouts and hemp seeds. Serve immediately and enjoy!

Close up of a mother earth bowl.

Customize Your Bowl

  • Mix and match the grains: Feel free to swap the combo of grains with only one variety of grain if that’s all you have on hand. You can also use a pre-made grain blend like this ancient grains blend if you want a quick and easy option. For a gluten-free option skip the farro and barley and just use quinoa! You could also do a blend of quinoa and brown rice.
  • Add or swap out the vegetables: You can add or swap out the vegetables based on your preferences and what you have on hand. Instead of sweet potatoes, red onions and portobello mushrooms, you could try roasted zucchini, bell peppers and eggplant. You could also add raw vegetables like carrots, cucumbers or radishes for a crunchy and refreshing addition.
  • Swap out the greens: If you don’t have arugula, you can use any type of leafy green you’d like. Spinach or kale would be my second choices.
  • Change up the toppings: Add or switch out the toppings in this recipe based on what you like. For example, you could try adding roasted nuts or seeds like almonds, pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds.
  • Add protein: Add some protein to this dish to make it more filling and satisfying. You could try adding grilled chicken, salmon, tofu, tempeh, chickpeas or lentils.
Two mother earth bowls side by side.

How to Meal Prep in Advance

This is the ultimate meal prep bowl. You can prep all of the components in advance and have a delicious, filling meal in minutes! Here’s what I would do:

  1. Cook the super grains and store in an airtight container.
  2. Prep and roast the sweet potatoes, red onion and portobello mushrooms and store in a separate airtight container.
  3. Blend together the dressing and store in a mason jar.
  4. Make the cucumber relish and store in a separate airtight container.
  5. Make the broccoli peso and store in a mason jar.

When you’re ready to enjoy this meal, I would warm the roasted veggies in a toaster oven, conventional oven or air fryer. Assemble the bowls as directed below and enjoy!

Mother earth bowls.

More Bowl Recipes to Try

Be sure to check out all of the vegan recipes as well as the full collection of dinner recipes on EBF!

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5 from 16 votes

Mother Earth Bowl (Flower Child Copycat)

Inspired by Flower Child, these mother earth bowls are loaded with greens, super grains, roasted veggies and broccoli pesto all topped with a delicious red pepper miso vinaigrette.
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Servings: 6

Ingredients  

Grain Bowl

  • 6 cups baby arugula
  • 6 teaspoons rice vinegar
  • Super grains
  • Roasted vegetables
  • Cucumber relish
  • Broccoli Pesto
  • Red pepper miso vinaigrette
  • Sprouts
  • Avocado slices
  • Hemp seeds

Super Grains

  • ½ cup dry red quinoa
  • ½ cup dry farro
  • ½ cup dry barley

Roasted Vegetables

  • 2 sweet potatoes, chopped into ½ inch chunks about 4 cups
  • 1 red onion, sliced
  • 8 oz package portobello mushroom, sliced
  • 2 Tablespoons olive oil, divided
  • 1 teaspoon salt, divided
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper, divided

Broccoli Pesto

  • 1 cup broccoli, blanched
  • â…” cup kale, blanched
  • 3 Tablespoons roasted salted pistachios, shelled
  • 1 large garlic clove
  • 1 teaspoon mint leaves
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest, zest from 1 lemon
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • â…“ cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 Tablespoons water

Red Pepper Miso Vinaigrette

  • ½ cup jarred peppadew peppers or roasted red peppers, roughly chopped
  • 1 garlic clove, roughly chopped
  • 2 teaspoons ginger, peeled & rough chopped
  • 1 ½ Tablespoons miso paste
  • 1 ½ Tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
  • 1 Tablespoon tamari
  • 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Cucumber Relish

  • 1 cup cucumber, chopped
  • 2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon maple syrup
  • 2 teaspoons chili garlic sauce
  • 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
  • ½ teaspoon mint leaves, minced
  • ¼ teaspoon salt

Instructions 

  • First cook grains by adding quinoa to a saucepan with 1 cup water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer, cover and cook about 15 minutes, until water is absorbed. Set aside.
    Adding water to a sauce pan with dry quinoa.
  • In a second larger saucepan, bring 2 quarts of water to a boil. Once boiling, add farro and barley and return to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-high and cook, uncovered for 25-30 minutes, until tender. Drain off cooking water and add farro + barley mixture to quinoa. Stir to combine and set aside.
    Farro, barley and quinoa mixed together.
  • Preheat oven to 400 F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
  • Combine sweet potatoes and onion in a large mixing bowl and toss with 1 Tablespoon oil, ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Add to one baking sheet and bake for 30-40 minutes, tossing halfway through.
    Vegetables on a sheet pan to be roasted.
  • While sweet potatoes and onions are roasting, add portobello mushrooms to the same mixing bowl and toss with 1 Tablespoon oil, ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Add mushrooms to second prepared baking sheet and when sweet potatoes have about 10-15 minutes left to cook, place mushrooms in the oven and cook for 10-15 minutes, until tender.
    Mushrooms on a sheet pan to be roasted.
  • While grains are cooking and veggies are roasting make the remaining components of the bowl.
  • Add all broccoli pesto ingredients to a food processor and process until combined. Set aside.
    Broccoli pesto in a food processor.
  • Add all dressing ingredients to a high powered blender and blend until smooth and combined. Set aside.
    Red pepper miso vinaigrette in a high powered blender.
  • Make cucumber relish by combining all ingredients in a small mixing bowl. Set aside.
    Cucumber relish in a bowl.
  • When you’re ready to assemble bowls, toss arugula with rice vinegar.
  • To make bowls, add ¾ cup super grains mix, ¾ cup roasted veggies, 1 cup arugula, 2 Tablespoons cucumber relish, 1 Tablespoon broccoli pesto and 1 Tablespoon red pepper vinaigrette to 6 bowls. Top each bowl with avocado slices, sprouts and hemp seeds.
    A mother earth bowl.
  • Serve immediately.

Nutrition

Serving: 1/6 | Calories: 452kcal | Carbohydrates: 54g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 14g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 1mg | Sodium: 1109mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 7g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Lunch/Dinner
Cuisine: American
Keyword: mother earth bowl
Did you make this recipe?Mention @eatingbirdfood and tag #eatingbirdfood!

About Brittany

Hey there, I’m Brittany, the creator of Eating Bird Food, cookbook author, health coach and mama of two littles. Here you’ll find quick and easy recipes that make healthy fun and enjoyable for you and your family!

More about Brittany
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Recipe Rating




13 Comments

  1. I had this bowl the other day at Flower Child and loved it. I did ask the manager what seasoning they put on the grains because it tasted so good and I want to make it at home, I live in Miami. He said all it is is tamari. So easy! Thanks for doing this!

  2. 5 stars
    I made this today and it was excellent, we loved it. I had this at Flower Child and was happy to find this recipe. It did take a lot of prep time but it could be made in stages and ahead of time. I don’t mind cooking so it was not a problem. I will reduce the garlic in the pesto next time.

    1. WOO! I am so excited to hear that you are loving this recipe, Anne. Thank you so much for sharing your review & star rating, I truly appreciate it!

  3. 5 stars
    Ok, I love Flower Child so I was skeptical that these were going to be as good but oh man! You cracked the code! These were phenomenal and I felt so accomplished being able to recreate them at home. My 8mo daughter loved it as well — so BLW friendly. Thank you!

    1. Ah this is so great, April! I am so excited to hear that you and your little one are loving this recipe and it turned out great for you. Thanks so much for sharing your review & star rating, I really appreciate it!

  4. Thanks for sharing this recipe! We live abroad and can’t go to Flower Child more than once every couple years (when we’re visiting the U.S.), and I was wishing I could eat this bowl! We brought a couple ingredients over from the States, and we had to substitute several ingredients, but it was so delicious even so! I especially love the cucumber relish and the pesto. I never could have come up with this on my own, so thank you again!

    1. Excellent! I am so glad you were able to enjoy a little bit of back home with this recipe. Thanks so much for sharing your review + star rating I really appreciate it!

  5. 5 stars
    Made this tonight for my family and we love it!! Recipe is easy to follow and tastes amazing!! Thanks for sharing

    1. Ahh yay! This is amazing, I am so glad you gave this recipe a try and are loving it, Mai do. Thanks for your review + star rating, I appreciate it!