Easy, Vegetarian, Prep-ahead Bibimbap

For some, weekly meal prep is a hobby. For others (like myself), it's a chore, so I like cheap and easy lunches. Here's a great one I tried out this week, and it was a great success!

For those who don't know, bibimbap is a Korean dish of rice topped with veggies, meat, sauce, and a topped with a fried egg. That's a pretty vague description as the vegetables are usuall sauteed and it usually includes chili paste for the flavoring, but you can make any variation you like to make your lunch delicious for you.

Preparing the ingredients...

Start by steaming a whole bunch of rice. Like, 3 cups of uncooked rice, approximately. You can use whatever rice you like, but I find long grain white rice and brown rice work best.

For the vegetables, you can sautee all the vegetables ahead of time, or you can use raw ones (I'll explain why using raw veggies is a good idea in just a bit). I used raw broccoli, spinach, edemame, and shredded carrots. Other good veggies you can use are zucchini, mushrooms, kimchi, daikon, and bean sprouts.

Believe it or not, you can cook all your eggs ahead of time and still have a gooey yolk, if that's your thing. Cook all of your eggs sunny side up. I let the top slightly undercooked so it didn't overcook in the microwave when I reheat it.

Lastly, you'll need a sauce. Any sauce will do. I used Kikkoman eel sauce (which is terrible, by the way, because it's basically just soy sauce and high fructose corn syrup). Some other good choices are the aforementioned chili paste, sriracha, soy sauce, or something homemade.

Storing for the week...

When you're putting it all together in your dishes for the week, start with the rice and top with the veggies. This order is especially important if you're using raw veggies. Then, top it with an egg. Don't put any sauce on it yet. You'll add that later after you've reheated it.

Reheating...

To reheat, add a tablespoon or two (depending on how much rice you used) of water to the dish, ensuring the water settles at the bottom. Cover the bowl with some cling wrap and microwave for about 3 minutes or so. This will revitalize your dried leftover rice, steam your raw veggies, and cook your egg. Then, add your sauce and/or seasoning to taste and enjoy!

I'm very picky about my work lunches, and seldom do I end up making one I truly enjoy, but this one was a big success. It's about as inexpensive as you can get, super quick to prepare, customizable, and can be changed easily to fit just about any diet (for paleo, you can use cauliflower rice, and for vegan you can use tofu or tempeh instead of an egg).

Good luck prepping, and try to have fun!