They’re all the latest food rage. You simply can’t scroll through Instagram without one (or a hundred) popping up in the feed. And, oh my goodness, Pinterest has blown up with them, in part because they photograph beautifully in their rainbow of colors. Partly because they are versatile and delicious, in addition to being a quick and easy way to get your daily dose of vegetables.
So, okay, I get all that. But why the name “Buddha bowls”? As a visual person, the images that connection conjures up in my mind is confusing my sensibilities and is, frankly, not all that appealing. I googled the history behind it.
The story goes that “Buddha woke before dawn every morning and carried his bowl through the woods or paths wherever he was staying. Local people would place food in the bowl as a donation, and at the end he would eat whatever he had been given. So, that was the original Buddha bowl: a big bowl of whatever food the villagers had available and could afford to share. It was probably pretty healthy since Buddha lived before the age of cheap processed food, but it was probably pretty simple, maybe rice and a simple curry.”
Hmmm. I thought it might have something to do with balanced eating. That’s pretty ironic, considering that it is highly doubtful the original buddha bowl held much resemblance at all to those luscious organic bowls on Pinterest.
But, never mind that. It’s just our American penchant for naming and re-naming things to make movements out of something. After all, “grain bowls” and “hippie bowls” have been in existence for a very long time without any fanfare whatsoever.
Now that we’ve settled that, back to the Buddha bowl itself. There doesn’t seem to be any hard or fast food rules to creating one. You can use a grain (like brown rice, quinoa, farro, or wheat berries), toss in some greens – roasted, steamed, raw, or whatever suits your fancy. Add in some colorful vegetables, nuts or seeds, and serve with a drizzle of dressing.
For the one we made, we chose the following recipe from minimalistbaker.com. It was satisfying and delicious!
SWEET POTATO CHICKPEA BUDDHA BOWL
Flavorful, filling, 30-minute Buddha Bowl with roasted sweet potatoes, onion, kale, crispy chickpeas, and an AMAZING tahini-maple sauce! A healthy, satisfying plant-based meal.
Author:Minimalist Baker
PREP TIME5 minutes
COOK TIME25 minutes
TOTAL TIME30 minutes
Servings:Category: Entree
Cuisine: Gluten-Free, Vegan
Freezer Friendly No
Does it keep? 3-4 Days
Ingredients
VEGETABLES
- 2 Tbsp olive, melted coconut, or avocado oil
- 1/2 medium red onion (sliced in wedges)
- 2 small sweet potatoes (halved)
- 1 bundle broccolini (large stems removed // chopped)
- 2 big handfuls kale (larger stems removed)
- 1/4 tsp each salt + pepper
CHICKPEAS
- 1 15-ounce chickpeas (drained, rinsed + patted dry)
- 1 tsp cumin
- 3/4 tsp chili powder
- 3/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp each salt + pepper
- 1/2 tsp tsp oregano (optional)
- 1/4 tsp turmeric (optional)
TAHINI SAUCE (OPTIONAL)
- 1/4 cup tahini
- 1 Tbsp maple syrup
- 1/2 medium lemon (juiced)
- 2-4 Tbsp hot water (to thin)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (204 C) and arrange sweet potatoes and onions on a bare baking sheet. Drizzle both with a bit of oil, making sure the flesh of the sweet potatoes are well coated and placed skin side down on the sheet.
- Bake for 10 minutes, then remove from oven flip sweet potatoes and add broccolini. Drizzle broccolini with a bit of oil and season with a pinch each salt and pepper.
- Bake for another 8-10 minutes, then remove from oven and add kale. Drizzle kale with a touch more oil and season with a pinch each salt and pepper. Bake for another 4-5 minutes then set aside.
- While vegetables are roasting, heat a large skillet over medium heat and add chickpeas to a mixing bowl and toss with seasonings.
- Once hot, add 1 Tbsp oil (amount as original recipe is written // use half of total amount if altering batch size) and chickpeas and sauté, stirring frequently. If they’re browning too quickly, turn down heat. If there isn’t much browning going on, increase heat. I found 10 minutes total at slightly over medium heat was perfect.
- Once the chickpeas are browned and fragrant, remove from heat and set aside.
- Prepare sauce by adding tahini, maple syrup and lemon juice to a mixing bowl and whisking to combine. Add hot water until a pourable sauce is formed. Set aside.
- To serve: slice sweet potatoes into bite size pieces. Divide vegetables between 3 serving bowls and top with chickpeas + tahini sauce.
- Best when fresh, though leftovers will keep for a few days in the fridge.
