Rainbow Veggie Bowl

This Rainbow Veggie Bowl features a lot of superfoods and is bursting with nutrients that has the potential to do great things for your body!

Who doesn’t love a healthy weeknight meal that’s easily packed up and served for lunch the next day? This vegetable bowl; around here we call it a “power bowl”, is a great way to offset pizza night on Friday (it’s a thing) and it looks beautiful, too! Visuals aside, you will love the creamy lemon and cilantro tahini dressing–you WILL be going back for more.

Rainbow Vegetable Bowl Ingredients

Before I get into the “how-to” portion of today’s post, I want to tell you about all of the superfoods in this power bowl and all of the awesome things they do for your body! Because, let’s be honest, if I’m eating a bowl filled with the vegetable equivalent of a rainbow, I want to know all the amazing things it’s doing for me!

• Red Quinoa: Gluten-free, high in fiber and minerals, and antioxidants (can help fight aging and disease)
• Red Pepper: Tons of vitamin C ( we’re talking 300 % of your daily intake), antioxidants and a good source of carotenoids
• Edamame: Helps build a healthy immune system, high in potassium and manganese (good for bone health) and contain about 8 grams of fiber per cup
• Brussels Sprouts: Cancer fighting properties, high amounts of vitamin C and K, improve bone health, and can help fight skin damage caused by the sun/pollution.
• Kale: Contains Folate and vitamin B (great for brain health), almost 3 grams of protein per serving and 2.5 grams of fiber, helps your body detox.
• Butternut Squash: Has high vitamin A levels which promote skin and eye health, great for bone health, and contains carotenoids which promote heart health.
• Tahini: High in protein, prevents anemia, high in unsaturated (good!!) fat, helps maintain healthy skin and muscle tone.
• Cannellini Beans: Have a low glycemic index (which means they metabolize slowly so you get more energy over a longer period of time!), help detoxify due to their high molybdenum content, and contain tons of antioxidants!
• Avocado: Contain tons of potassium (more than a banana!), loaded with good-for-you fats, high fiber content, and they help lower cholesterol levels.

And those are just SOME of the ingredients! Remember that this is a vegan veggie bowl and you should expect the green goodness without any guilt! No substitutions needed for this recipe as all the ingredients are plant-based.

FOR THE DRESSING

• Tahini
• Coconut cream
• Almond milk
• Cilantro
• Lemons

(Scroll down to the bottom for the printable recipe card with exact measurements and instructions.)

HOW TO MAKE THE RAINBOW VEGGIE BOWL

Peel and cube a small butternut squash then add to a parchment-lined baking sheet along with the quarter red pepper. Drizzle with olive oil, sea salt, and chili powder and toss together to coat.  Bake at 375 for about 25-30 minutes or until tender.

While your squash is roasting, add 2 cups of water or organic chicken broth, plus 1/2 tsp. salt, and 1 cup of red quinoa to a medium-sized pot and bring to a boil.  Once the water is boiling, reduce to a simmer and cook for about 20 minutes or until the liquid has been completely absorbed.

Prepare the rest of the veggies once that initial cooking is done. Use a food processor with the shredding attachment for the Brussels Sprouts and then set aside.

Rinse/drain the edamame and cannellini beans then prepare the dressing by adding the coconut cream, almond milk, cilantro, lemon juice and tahini to a food processor and blending until smooth. To serve, simply add all of the components to a large bowl and drizzle with the lemon-herb dressing!

This is a dish best served as soon as it’s done for maximum flavor.

RAINBOW VEGGIE BOWL HACKS

If you have access to fresh edamame, use it! Frozen organic is fine, but for all ingredients in this recipe, the fresher the better. Especially where the cilantro is concerned, the dried variety is fine but it lacks a certain something you will definitely get from the freshest possible bunch. Some people like to swap the lemons out for Meyer lemons, but this is pretty much a personal preference.

Some shop a day or two ahead of time for their meals and I will urge you to shop same-day for most of the fresh veg in this recipe, but ESPECIALLY for the cilantro, Brussels spouts and the avocado.

Cilantro tends to get wilty after a day or so, the Brussels sprouts start to lose their firmness and shape, and the avocado just gets gross and brown. Yes, you can eat a brown avocado in a similar way to being able to eat a brown banana, but honestly, who wants to?

Double up on the healthiness and wash down this meal with a Grapefruit Cucumber Mint Juice!

Rainbow Veggie Bowl

Yield: 4

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

This Rainbow Veggie Bowl features a lot of superfoods and is bursting with nutrients that has the potential to do great things for your body!

Print

Ingredients

• 1 small butternut squash
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 2 tsp kosher salt, divided
• ½ tsp chili powder
• 2 red peppers
• 1 cup uncooked red quinoa
• 6-8 Brussels Sprouts
• 1 head of kale
• 1 cup edamame, I used organic frozen
• 1 cup cannellini beans
• ½ red onion, sliced
• 1 avocado, sliced

Dressing

• ½ cup tahini
• ¼ cup coconut cream (I used canned organic)
• ½ cup almond milk
• 2 tbs fresh cilantro
• 2 lemons (juiced)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
2. Peel and dice the butternut squash then add to a small bowl along with the olive oil, salt, and chili powder. Toss to coat.
3. Spread on a parchment-lined baking sheet along with the red pepper (quartered and de-seeded).
4. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the squash is tender.
5. In a medium-sized pot add the water, 1 tsp of salt and quinoa and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce to a simmer, cover and cook for about 20 minutes or until the liquid is absorbed.
6. In a food processor (with the shredding attachment) add the Brussels Sprouts. Remove and set aside.
7. Roughly chop the kale into bite sized pieces and set aside.
8. Rinse and drain the edamame and cannellini beans and set aside.
9. In a food processor or blender, add all of the ingredients for the dressing and blend until smooth.
10. Once the squash and quinoa are cooked, add the quinoa to a bowl, top with other ingredients and drizzle with dressing.