This recipe—a twist on a classic Vietnamese sandwich—was a huge hit at our house. This past year, Cooking Light magazine has a section where you cook a base, in this case Swedish meatballs, and use it for three dishes. I also liked the third dish Greek stuffed pitas as my third meal during the week.
Adding a soy sauce and peanut butter sauce goes a long in tranforming the Swedish meatballs for the banh mi bowl. I doubled the sauce and reduced the sugar from the original recipe. My youngest didn't like the quick pickles so I left aside plain carrots and radish for her.
Banh mi bowl
Ingredients:
1 cup rice vinegar
1/2 cup water
4 tablespoons sugar
1 cup shaved carrot ribbons
1 cup very thinly sliced radishes
3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
1 1/2 cup unsalted beef stock
3 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
3 tablespoons sambal oelek (ground fresh chile paste, optional)
3 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
2 tablespoon minced garlic
12 cooked meatballs (from sheet pan Swedish meatballs recipe)
2 (8.5-oz.) pouches precooked brown rice (such as Uncle Ben's)
3 tablespoons unsalted peanuts, finely chopped
4 lime wedges
Directions:
1. Bring vinegar, 1/4 cup water, and sugar to a boil in a small saucepan. Remove pan from heat; add carrot ribbons and radishes. Let stand for 20 minutes. Drain. Add cilantro to carrot mixture and toss.
2. Combine stock, soy sauce, sambal, peanut butter, and garlic in a large skillet over medium. Add meatballs; toss to coat. Cook, covered, for 10 minutes or until heated. Remove meatballs from pan with a slotted spoon. Bring stock mixture to a boil, and cook 2 minutes or until thickened.
3. Heat rice according to package directions.
4. Divide rice evenly among 4 bowls. Top each serving with about 1/2 cup carrot mixture, 3 meatballs, and about 3 tablespoons stock mixture. Top with peanuts. Serve with lime wedges.
Serves 4.
Recipe adapted from Cooking Light magazine.
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