Roasted Chickpea and Sweet Potato Buddha Bowl
A hearty, flavorful plant-based bowl that pairs well with almost any protein. Try it with seared tofu, salmon, or chicken. A perfect recipe for those who want to eat well and feel full.
but first...a story
Something I did not want to talk about over the last 4 months or so is that I really ate like garbage. After half a decade of eating whole, nutritious, energy-packed meals (with of course weekends of pizza and. beer when the time called for it), I finally let the pandemic take my routine and swallow it whole. I gained weight. I lost muscle. I felt lethargic. And I didn’t love the lack of effort I was putting into my daily relationship with food.
An endurance athlete myth: you have to eat healthy every day. It just isn’t true. And I am sure you know plenty of people who train hard and eat cake + burgers. I personally believe in building a base of nutrition with things that will make you strong and resilient from the inside out. This isn’t about calories or fat. This is about being fully functioning for a long life (so you can enjoy pizza and beer for many many years!!)
Last night I built a weekly meal plan again (for the first time in four months!) At the top of my list was one of my all time favorite creations: the Pick Your Protein Buddha Bowl. I like to make mine vegetarian style but the beauty of this Buddha Bowl is that it pairs well with almost any protein. Try it with seared tofu, salmon, chicken, etc. It was a joy to make this meal again. I hope it brings you joy too. -Katie
Ingredients
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 15-ounce can chickpeas (drained + rinsed)
1 package Right Rice (Original)
1/2 cup goddess dressing (I used Annie’s brand)
1/2 red onion (sliced not diced)
1 ripe avocado
2 small sweet potatoes (best to get skinner potatoes and cut into 1/2 thick medallions)
1 bunch asparagus (leaving the stalks long, trimming off just the bottom 1/2 inch)
A couple handfuls of mixed greens (I like using an herb mix for added flavor)
Salt & pepper to taste
1 Tbsp cumin (I use a LOT of cumin to season the chickpeas)
1-1.5 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp garlic salt
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place your sliced red onions and sweet potato medallions on a baking sheet (leaving room for your chickpeas). Drizzle with olive oil and make sure the vegetables are evenly coated.
In a separate mixing bowl, combine the washed chickpeas with the cumin + garlic salt. Toss together with a splash of olive oil until well mixed. Add the seasoned chickpeas to the baking sheet and place the tray on the middle rack of the oven. Bake for 10 minutes, then remove from oven and flip sweet potatoes. You can also give the chickpeas a gently stir to expose the sides that haven’t been cooked yet. Place the sheet back in the oven a bake for an additional 15min (or until the chickpeas are a toasty brown and the potatoes have cooked all the way through). **If your oven is sensitive like mine, you may need to adjust these bake times accordingly by 3-5 min more/less.
While the vegetables are roasting, prepare the Right Rice in a saucepan on the stovetop. Bring 1 1/2 cups water to a boil. Add the package of RightRice, cover, and remove from heat immediately. After 10min, the rice should be ready to fluff with a fork!
In a frying pan, drizzle some olive oil and turn up to medium-high heat. Add in the trimmed asparagus stalks and lay them out single file. After 3-4min rotate them so that all sides are seared evenly. Keep an eye on them and turn down the heat if necessary to avoid burning. Toss a dash of salt over them after removing from heat and set aside.
Now you are ready to build your bowl! Place 1 cup of the cooked rice in your bowl of choice as a base. Add in roasted sweet potatoes, red onions, chickpeas, and a handful of mixed greens as the next layer. On top of that you can place your seared asparagus, your protein of choice, half an avocado sliced, and a heaping portion of your Goddess dressing. Enjoy :). This recipes makes enough for 2-3 hearty portions.