Tali Sauce Vegan Bowl

When I was in cancer treatment, I converted to a vegan diet. As if all of the upheaval and unraveling that comes with a cancer diagnosis at the age of 30 wasn’t enough, I decided it would be the perfect time to dramatically change my diet too. Out with the meat and in with the vegetables. I went to a nutritionist for guidance about my new eating habits and emerged with a variation of this tali sauce bowl recipe. I waited until I finished chemo treatment before making this delicious vegan bowl because chemo can really screw up your taste and I didn’t want anything getting in between me and this goodness.

Let’s hit pause for a second and talk about tali sauce. If I had to bathe in a sauce, this might be the one. I just want to be surrounded by it. My wife, Shae, and I walk around the house on repeat, like, “ why is the sauce so goooood?!?” I’m telling you – it’s something in the mix of the spices. Mustard powder (!!!), cayenne, cumin, salt, garlic salt, fresh garlic, lemon juice, turmeric, and curry powder.

From what I understand from scouring the interwebs looking for clues about the origin story of this heavenly bowl, it was born in a manger food truck (the manger of food deities?) in Portland, Oregon. The original recipe isn’t vegan so I made a few vegan-friendly changes and upped the ante on the spices and voila! The tastiest tali sauce vegan bowl this side of the Columbia River. For all you non-Northwestern folks, that’s the river that separates Seattle, where I live, from Portland, the bowl’s birthplace.

tali sauce vegan bowl and wine pairings

Because this bowl is so flavorful, I like pairing it with bright, clean, and light wines as to not overpower all of the amazing flavor complexity. Check out these wines and my vegan food and wine pairing guide if you want to learn more.

• Rosé: strawberry, rose petals, cherry, and raspberry flavors to bring a fruity edge to your meal. If you want a meatier, heavier rosé, find a Tempranillo-based rosé. For a candied grapefruit edge, look for a Garnacha-based bottle.
  • Suggested Regions: Navarra, Spain
• Viognier: aromatic white with flavors of mango, honeysuckle, peach, and tangerine. Viognier pairs well with creamy, spicy dishes like curries so the tali Sauce and Viognier are made for each other.
  • Suggested Regions: Paso Robles, California or the Rhône Valley, France
• Albariño: fruity and acidic white, with flavors of grapefruit, nectarine, lemon, and wet gravel bursting through. Albariño is another white wine that is well-suited to spicy and curry based flavors.
  • Suggested Regions: Rias Baixas, Spain

Tali Sauce Vegan Bowl

★

1 from 1 reviews

Tali sauce vegan bowl recipe is a favorite dish around our house. Taste the sauce. You’ll understand why.

• Author: Plant & Vine
• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 5 minutes
• Total Time: 25 minutes
• Yield: 4 bowls
• Category: Vegan, Vegetarian, Bowl, Main
• Method: Mixing
• Cuisine: American, Vegan, Healthy

Ingredients

Tali Sauce:

• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup water
• 1/3 cup nutritional yeast
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 5 garlic cloves
• 1/3 – 1/2 cup chickpeas (I used canned chickpeas), drained
• 1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/8 – 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Bowls Ingredients:

• 1 cup dry brown rice, cooked (use about 1/2 to 1 cup per bowl)
• 1 can (15 oz.) black beans, rinsed (1/4 can per bowl)
• Remainder of canned chickpeas, rinsed (divided equally among bowls)
• 1/2 cup salsa (about 2 tablespoons per bowl)
• 1/4 cup black olives, roughly chopped (1 tablespoon per bowl)
• 1 avocado, sliced (1/4 avocado per bowl)
• 1/2 – 1 cup vegan cheese (2 tablespoons per bowl)
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped (1 tablespoon per bowl.)
• Tali Sauce (1/4 cup per bowl)

Instructions

1. To make the sauce: put all ingredients in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth. If you want thin sauce, add additional water, tablespoon by tablespoon, until desired consistency is reached. If you want to thicken sauce, add additional chickpeas and blend until desired consistency is reached.
2. To assemble bowls: place rice and beans in the bottom of the bowl as bottom layer. Add salsa, half of the amount of Tali Sauce, then the cheddar, olives, and avocado. Drizzle with the remaining Tali Sauce, and top with cilantro.

Notes

*Recipe is a guide. Adapt as desired. Inspired by The Whole Bowl.

Keywords: vegan bowl, tali sauce, healthy bowl