How To Create a Bone-Building & Balanced Bowl with California Prunes

Do you include prunes in your meals or snacks? I didn’t always. I’m here to tell you why you should: especially since November is National Osteoporosis Month.

Why do I care about  National Osteoporosis Month? Well, it is quite common – 1 in 2 women and 1 and 4 men will suffer an osteoporosis-related fracture in their lifetime.

Diet and lifestyle play a huge role. However, it’s not just the calcium from dairy food that matter. It’s protein-rich foods (hello tofu and beans!),  calcium-rich foods (looking at you, soy milk!) and also anti-oxidant-packed foods such as prunes. I’m highlighting specifically California Prunes.

We already know that California Prunes are a good source of fibre contributing to good digestion, but they also have many of the nutrients known to support our bone health—namely boron, potassium and the only dried fruit to be considered high in vitamin K. They also have polyphenols, a class of phytochemical found in plant foods, which play a role inhibiting bone resorption. Bone resorption is the process where bone tissue is broken down, allowing minerals to leach out of the bones and are re-absorbed back into the blood for other functions—so we don’t want a lot of that going on!

In summary, a serving of 3-5 California Prunes (40 grams) provides a combination of nutrients, vitamins, minerals and phenolic compounds, which protects our bones and overall health. It also acts as serving of fruit help meet your daily fruit and carbohydrate requirement important to fuel training.

Now, how do we include California Prunes in our diet? Well, the possibilities are endless!

California Prunes are premium quality and very versatile.  They can be included in a healthy snack or baked goods, paired with nuts/seeds or in a meal like I have below! The addition of California Prunes to this Bowl not only adds great flavour, but also a ton of those nutrients mentioned above.

Let me know if you end up trying it out! You can check out CaliforniaPrunes.ca for more delicious recipes. For additional nutrition, training and overall wellness tips, you can check out the ‘TEAM UP’ tab on the website. California Prunes teamed up with professional Canadian athletes to share tons of resources for audiences of all ages and genders.

A Balanced Bone-Building Bowl

• Servings: 4
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 25 mins
• Difficulty: easy
• Rating: ★★★★★
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Ingredients

• 2 cup cooked brown rice
• 1 head of broccoli, chopped
• 3 carrots, chopped
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 2 cups chickpeas, cooked
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 cup California prunes, chopped
• 1/4 cup tahini
• 2 tbsp maple syrup
• 1.5 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tbsp water

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 F.
2. Add the chopped carrots and broccoli to a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Top with avocado oil. Roast in the oven for 30 minutes, flipping halfway.
3. Pat the chickpeas dry with paper towel as much as possible. Heat a cast-iron pan over medium heat and add half of the oil. Once the pan is hot, add the chickpeas and cook, stirring often until browned on all sides, about 15 minutes total. Remove and add to a large bowl and toss with garlic powder.
4. To make the dressing, whisk all ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Season with salt if needed.
5. Before eating, combine rice, roasted veggies, cooked chickpeas, chopped prunes and tahini dressing. Enjoy!