Liz Della Croce is the woman behind the healthy eating blog The Lemon Bowl, and she’s down with that bowl life.
Around nine years ago, Della Croce lost 65 pounds but gained a blog. The blog existed long before it became her career, and it all started with her weight loss journey and a lot of questions. Now, she’s developed more than 1,400 recipes.
“What everyone wants to know is what you’re eating and how you did it,” Della Croce said.
When she says “everyone,” she means everyone — The Lemon Bowl’s Instagram has garnered tens of thousands of followers.
She’s been cooking her entire life, as both sides of her family tree have amazing cooks. But the real talk is that people need measurements and specifics and a blog was the easiest way to show people how to eat healthy, keep the weight off and stay the course.
The Lemon Bowl, a food, travel and fitness blog containing hundreds of healthy recipes and tips on keeping you active and healthy, was named in part because Della Croce’s family is Syrian and that means you add lemon to everything — from salads to cucumber sauce.
“Lemon is the whole cuisine,” Della Croce said. “Growing up, my aunt would make hummus back when it wasn’t a trendy condiment.”
Back then, she learned how to toast the pine nuts to go on top, being taught as a child the art of making food beautiful.
With one peek at her blog, you understand that this is a woman who lives and breathes real, fresh, life-enhancing food. She celebrates it with every recipe. Her dad’s side is Jewish, so she’s also gifted at crafting Lebanese food.
She’s still at it today, creating popular bowl recipes that are absolute works of art, filled with color, texture, flavor and life, from a Green Smoothie Bowl to a Vietnamese Shrimp Noodle Bowl.
We asked Della Croce to talk about her specific recipe for the Vegetarian Burrito Bowl with Honey Chipotle Vinaigrette, which was also born from a lot of questions.
“My readers were requesting more vegetarian dishes and I pay a lot of attention to what my readers are looking for. My job is to create useful content for them,” Della Croce said, adding that healthy eating takes effort.
She gathers inspiration from other countries to keep things exciting. For instance, she’s a fan of fresh ginger in many recipes, because it adds a ton of flavor and is low-calorie — and let’s face it, bland food that doesn’t entice you just isn’t worth it.
LET’S DISH ON THE VEGETARIAN BURRITO BOWL
What do you personally love about this meal?
Pico de Gallo. I love to make it and it’s easy to make at home. It’s very low-calorie and adds a ton of flavor and you can use it on scrambled eggs, on grilled steak as a sauce or stirred into rice.
The bowl requires a lot of fresh ingredients. Do you have a favorite farmers market you frequent here in GR?
Fulton Street. I’ve been going there my entire life. I live 5 minutes away and I grew up there as a little girl and now I take my kids there. I’m there every weekend in the summer. That’s how I find inspiration as a recipe developer.
How could we incorporate meat or chicken into the recipe?
You can add grilled chicken, pork, flank steak or sautéed shrimp. Most of my recipes are like a general formula to follow.
What’s the expertise level of this recipe?
Novice — and it’s great for meal prepping lunch for the week.
What’s up with the bowl popularity?
It’s easy and a great way to use up whatever you have on hand. You can reduce food waste here and eat seasonally. With a bowl, you can create a full meal with what you have on hand and a lot of them are naturally gluten-free.
Head over to thelemonbowl.com for the Vegetarian Burrito Bowl with Honey Chipotle Vinaigrette recipe or follow along on Instagram at @thelemonbowl.
