This is one of my personal favorite recipes, but that should come as no surprise. If you’ve been tuned into my recipes here at Well Britta for a while, you know I love a grain bowl. Even on special occasions, when the dinner choice is all mine, I’ve requested grain bowls. They always sound good to me and they always hit the spot. So, it’s no surprise that I love this recipe. The surprise was when I made this recipe for my husband, who is not as much of a grain bowl lover and he said it was in his top 5 favorites of all of my recipes. I make a lot of recipes. He likes a lot of them too. I didn’t expect a vegetable quinoa grain bowl to be in his top 5, but this recipe has a secret super power - the sauce. It’s really good. It’s not just full of fresh flavors, it’s also packed with nutrients like protein and iron. The recipe is written so that you should have extra. I recommend adding it to everything you can think of, especially grain bowls!
Yield: 4-6 bowls
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Ingredients
1 cup broccoli, cut into small florets
1 cup cauliflower, cut into small florets
1 and ½ cups brussels sprouts, cut in half or quartered
½ cup yellow onion, peeled and roughly chopped
1 15 oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
½ cup cherry or grape tomatoes, cut in half
1 Tbsp neutral cooking oil
2 tsp salt, divided
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
½ tsp chili powder
1 and ½ cups quinoa, uncooked
For the sauce
1 cup loosely packed spinach
1 cup frozen peas, cooked per the package instructions
½ cup parsley, de-stemmed
½ cup olive oil
2 tsp capers
3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
½ cup lemon juice (juice of ~3 lemons)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 425°. Line two cooking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. On one sheet, spread the broccoli florets, cauliflower florets, brussels sprouts and onion. On the other sheet, spread the rinsed chickpeas. You can move some of the vegetables to the sheet with the chickpeas if it allows for more room. Drizzle ½ Tbsp cooking oil on each sheet. Add ½ tsp salt and ½ tsp pepper to each sheet, as well. Add the garlic powder and chili powder to the chickpeas and toss the oil and seasoning with the ingredients on each tray. Then spread out the vegetables and the chickpeas so that everything is touching as little as possible. On the chickpea tray, leave a small amount of space where you can add the tomatoes once the chickpeas have roasted for some time. When the oven is heated, add both cooking sheets to the oven and roast everything for 20 minutes. Halfway through the cooking time, stir everything and switch the cooking sheet that is on the higher rack with the other.
While everything roasts, prepare the quinoa per the package instructions and add 1 tsp salt to the quinoa while it cooks.
After 20 minutes, add the tomatoes to the cooking sheet with the chickpeas and roast everything for another 5-10 minutes. You’ll leave both cooking sheets in the oven unless your vegetables look charred and crispy then you can remove one of the sheets and leave the chickpeas and tomatoes. I like mine a little crispier. After 5-10 more minutes, remove the cooking sheets from the oven. Set the cooking sheets aside once they are done.
You’ll make the sauce in a food processor or blender. Combine the spinach, peas, parsley and olive oil in the food processor and blend until smooth. Add the capers, garlic, lemon juice, 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp pepper and blend again. Taste and add seasoning based on your preferences.
Once the vegetables have finished roasting and the quinoa is done, make your bowls by scooping about ½ cup quinoa into a bowl, adding vegetables and chickpeas on top and finishing with the Green Goddess Sauce. I hope this recipe is one of your favorites too and I hope you feel amazing for days after you eat it!
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