CAVA-inspired Meal Prep
CAVA is one of those magical unicorn food establishments that is a treat of its own. Imagine Chipotle but Mediterranean style with more options, ultra healthy ingredients, and a plethora of mouth watering sauces all for an insanely affordable price. Here in Seattle, we unfortunately do not have a CAVA located anywhere nearby so I’ve decided to take matters into my own hands and make this bootleg version while I patiently wait for my next visit to the real deal.
CAVA bowls are typically assembled with a bed of greens, a grain or pita bread of your choice, a fresh vegetable side such as baba ganoush or cucumber tomato salad, a protein, and a generous dousing of one of their sauces.
It wouldn’t be a Geminieats meal if I wasn’t exercising my laziness to some degree. To make my CAVA bowl at home, I am outsourcing! I bought my roasted red pepper hummus from Trader Joes. If you don’t have the time to make falafels from scratch, you can also buy the dry falafel mix from Trader Joes which is just as good. Trader Joes also sells their own Garlic Spread and Dip which would substitute for the garlic toum recipe here. However, I do suggest you try to make the fresh parts of this dish such as the vegetables from scratch for ultimate flavor but regardless of what you choose to make from scratch or pre-made, there’s no judgment here!
Ingredients:
Cook time: 1 hour | Makes: 5 servings
2 cans of chickpeas
1 bottle of extra virgin olive oil
1 bunch of parsley
1 bunch of cilantro
8 cloves of garlic or 1 bulb (4 bulbs if you’re making the garlic sauce)
1 white onion
1 red onion
1 box of cherry tomatoes
2 cucumbers
½ tsp of baking powder
2 tbsp cumin powder
2 tbsp coriander powder
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 bottle of black pepper, whole
½ cup of apple cider vinegar or white vinegar
¼ cup of sugar (I used Lakanto)
2 lemons
½ cup of tahini
1 bag of greens of your choice (spinach, kale, arugula, mixed greens, etc)
2 cups of grains or starch of your choice
store-bought red pepper hummus
any additional vegetables you want to add (zucchini, carrots, red cabbage, cauliflower, etc)
Falafels sub for Trader Joe’s Falafel mix
2 cans of chickpeas
¼ cup of olive oil
½ bunch of parsley
½ bunch of cilantro
5 cloves of garlic
½ onion, roughly chopped
½ tsp of baking powder
2 tbsp cumin
2 tbsp coriander
Crack of black pepper
Blend everything together in a food processor or blender (I highly recommend using a food processor more). Place the dough covered in the fridge for at least one hour. After it’s chilled, use your hands to form balls with the dough. Place the balls either in the air fryer at 380 degrees for 20 minutes or bake at 375 for 30 minutes. Spray or brush with oil before cooking.
Pickled red onions
1 red onion
½ cup of apple cider vinegar or white vinegar
½ cup water
5 whole cloves of black pepper
1 clove of garlic
¼ cup of sugar
1 tsp salt
1 bay leaf (optional)
Slice your red onion finely into strips and place on the side. In a jar, add the rest of the ingredients together and shake it up. Lastly, add your pickled red onions and let this sit in the fridge overnight or until translucent.
Tomato Cucumber Onion salad
1 box of cherry tomatoes
2 cucumber, diced
½ onion, diced
1 tbsp dried oregano
2 tbsp olive oil
½ the juice of a lemon
½ tsp of salt
Crack of black pepper
Wash and chop your vegetables. Mix them all together with the rest of the ingredients.
Lemon Herb Tahini dressing
½ cup of tahini
½ cup of hot water
1 tbsp maple syrup or agave
1 lemon, juiced
1 tsp of salt
1 tbsp garlic powder or 2 cloves of garlic
¼ cup of finely chopped cilantro
¼ cup of finely chopped parsley
Blend everything together in a blender or you can use a whisk to mix up the ingredients until well-incorporated enough to your liking.
Garlic toum (optional) sub for Trader Joe’s Garlic Dip & Spread
3 heads of garlic or 1 cup of garlic cloves, peeled
½ cup of cold water
2 cups of chilled olive oil
½ cup of lemon juice
1 tsp of salt
Cut the garlic cloves in half and scoop out the little green germ in the middle to avoid your toum from tasting bitter. In a blender or food processor, blend the garlic cloves and salt with ¼ cup of the chilled water. Next, slowly stream ½ cup of olive oil into the food processor/blender while it’s going, then stream 1 tbsp of the lemon juice. Repeat this until the lemon juice is used up and then switch to use the rest of the chilled water until both are depleted. The texture should be airy and fluffy.
Other CAVA bowl ingredients
1 bag of your greens of choice (kale, spinach, arugula, mixed spring greens)
2 cups of your grain or starch of choice (rice, quinoa, pita, right rice, farro, cous cous, sweet potato)
Trader Joe’s red pepper hummus or eggplant hummus
other vegetables for more nutrients (I used red cabbage but other great additions would be roasted carrots, olives, roasted cauliflower, roasted zucchini, etc)
To assemble, place a bed of greens onto your bowl or container then add the grains, falafel, tomato cucumber salad, garlic sauce or lemon herb tahini dressing, hummus of choice, and pickled red onions. Enjoy!