Poke Bowls are a light, fresh, and healthy summer meal. Prep your ingredients ahead of time so that you can assemble a quick lunch during the week or create a "build your own" Poke bar to entertain guests.

Poke (pronounced po-kay) means “chunks” or “to slice or cut” in Hawaiian and is traditionally a raw fish salad! A Poke Bowl is an assembly of ingredients including fresh fish, rice, assorted vegetables, edamame, avocado, sesame seeds, and salty or spicy sauces like ponzu or siriacha! Poke is a balanced meal that can be customized to your taste preferences. 

At Vitality Nutrition, we like to build meals using the Fundamental Four formula which is a collection of four food groups that when paired together keep blood sugars stable. Stable blood sugars throughout the day is key to improve energy, faster recovery from workouts, increased meal-time satisfaction, and even the prevention of certain chronic diseases!

Let's take a look at the four food groups and some option you might consider adding to build your own balanced Poke Bowl:

• Carbohydrates: white rice, brown rice, pineapple, or mango
• Protein: edamame, shrimp, ahi tuna, or sushi-grade salmon.
• Fat: avocado, mayonnaise, crispy onions, or sesame seeds
• Volume: cucumber, bell pepper, grated carrot, spiralled zucchini, cherry tomatoes, sliced radishes, green onion
• Extras: soy sauce, lime juice, ponzu sauce, lemon juice, rice vinegar

If you are from the Saskatoon area, we find the best sushi-grade tuna and salmon from Charlie's Seafood Market on 8th Street!

Remember, you can create your own Poke Bowl and adjust the add-ins and portions based on your taste preference, energy needs, and appetite cues. If you'd like some guidance, you can follow my recipe below!

POKE BOWLS

INGREDIENTS

THE BOWL:

• 1/4 cup ponzu sauce (see below)
• 1.5 ounces sashimi (raw salmon)
• 1.5 ounces sushi-grade ahi tuna
• 1/2 cup white rice, cooked
• 1/2 cup zucchini, grated or spiralized
• 1/2 cup edamame, thawed from frozen
• 1/4 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/4 cup pineapple, diced
• 1/4 cup carrot, grated
• 1/4 cup wakame salad
• 4 cucumber slices
• 1/4 avocado, sliced
• sprinkle of sesame seeds

PONZU SAUCE*

• 1/2 cup soy sauce or tamari
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• small drizzle of sriracha

*This recipe for ponzu sauce is for a large serving that you can save to use throughout the week or serve to a larger group

DIRECTIONS

1. Marinade the salmon and ahi-tuna in 1/4 cup of the homemade ponzu sauce while you assemble and prepare the other ingredients. If the raw fish marinades in the ponzu sauce for too long the acid from the citrus fruit will 'cook' the fish!
2. Assemble your bowl with the base of rice and shredded zucchini.
3. Next add the edamame, pineapple, carrot, cherry tomatoes, wakame salad, and cucumber.
4. Add the marinade fish and drizzle the leftover ponzu sauce over top of your ingredients.
5. Top with sliced avocado and a sprinkle of sesame seeds.

WE WANNA KNOW!

Did you try this recipe or a variation of it? Comment below! Snap a photo and tag us on Instagram so we can see your creation.