IBS-Friendly Poke Bowl

Trying new foods is very exciting, but it can be scary too, when you have IBS. As an Italian, I have strong traditions when it comes to cooking a meal, and I tend to follow the rules quite strictly.

I consider myself a "purist" as I don't really enjoy a personalized version of big Italian classics such as ragù alla bolognese or tiramisù.

But IBS changed my perspective, not because of the taste, but of the need to find a good substitute for daily feeding myself.

In this case, I left my comfort zone with a foreign recipe that became very popular in the last few years–even in Italy, where we are so proud of our cuisine culture that we rarely accept other cultures' food to spread in our cities. In this case, it is the poke bowl.

This kind of dish is versatile, healthy, fresh, and can be carried in a lunch box, and it's been easy to adapt it to my IBS needs. It is even well-balanced when it comes to carbs, protein, fibers, fats, and being IBS-friendly–an absolutely perfect meal that can even be prepared in advance!

I used sushi rice as a base, some cooked zucchini, a few cherry tomatoes, avocado, canned champignon mushrooms, canned tuna, and edamame. It was SO GOOD!

I hope you will enjoy this version of poke as much as we did.

Buon appetito!

Makes: 2 servings
Serving size: a bowl each
Prep time: 25 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients for IBS-friendly poke bowl:

• 6 oz of sushi purpose rice
• 4 cherry tomatoes
• half zucchini
• half avocado
• 2 tablespoons of frozen edamame
• 2 tablespoons of canned champignon mushrooms
• 3 oz canned tuna in extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
• 1 tablespoon of sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon of soy sauce
• Salt to taste

Directions for IBS-friendly poke bowl:

1. Rinse the rice under cold water for a couple of minutes, until it the water comes out clean, it needs to release all the starch
2. Add the rice to a pot, cover it with water, put the lid and take it to boil
3. Once it boils, put the heat at a minimum and let it simmer for about 15 minutes (check the instructions in your rice package to be more precise) without opening the lid or mixing the rice
4. Once the timer goes off, remove the pot from the heat and let it rest for about 10 minutes, still without opening the lid
5. After the 10 minutes, add the sesame oil, mix, and add the rice to 2 bowls
6. Dice the zucchini and cook it on medium heat, in a pan with extra virgin olive oil, for about 5 minutes until soft
7. On a pan, add the edamame and half a glass of water to cook until the water evaporates completely, add salt to taste
8. Slice the avocado
9. Cut in quarters the cherry tomatoes, the champignon mushrooms
10. Put the rice as a base in the bowl, add the ingredients on top, and sprinkle the sesame seeds at the end, along with the soy sauce