Roasted Veggie Quinoa Bowl with Avocado Crema
Trips to the grocery store are becoming progressively more expensive. Solution? Go shopping in your pantry and refrigerator! That’s what I did and here is what I found: organic quinoa, red garnet sweet potato, baby carrots, fresh baby spinach, large red bell pepper, ripe avocado, fresh basil, fresh lime, roasted cashews, and oat milk. Yep, my fridge is usually well-stocked! Boom! Roast the veggies, whip up the avocado crema, and serve on a bowl of quinoa. This dish has it all…protein, fiber, vitamin B-6, iron, vitamin A, folate, and beta-carotene, just to name a few.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner, Lunch
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
Quinoa
1 cup organic quinoa
2 cups filtered water
1 teaspoon roasted vegetable (vegan) Better than Bouillon paste
Roasted Veggies
1 large red garnet sweet potato, sliced in 1/4 inch rounds
1 large red bell pepper, seeded and sliced into vertical strips
10–12 baby carrots, sliced in half lengthwise
2–3 tablespoons grapeseed oil
Avocado Crema
1/2 cup roasted, unsalted cashews
1 medium ripe avocado
1/2 – 3/4 cup full-fat oat milk
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, loosely packed
3 tablespoons lime juice (1 whole lime)
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
Garnish
1 cup baby spinach
1/4 cup roasted, unsalted cashews
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400F and cut a piece of parchment paper to fit a large baking sheet.
Soak the cashews in 1 cup of warm water.
Roasted Veggies
• Rinse the sweet potato and use a paring knife to cut out any eyes or roots. Do not peel. Slice into ¼ inch rounds.
• Rinse the bell pepper, slice in half, remove seeds, and trim away the white pith with a paring knife. Slice into vertical strips about ¼ inch wide.
• Slice the baby carrots in half lengthwise.
• Spread veggies evenly on the parchment lined baking sheet and brush lightly with grapeseed oil.
• Flip veggies with a spatula after 20 minutes and brush lightly again with grapeseed oil.
• Bake for a total of 35-40 minutes. Veggies should be tender and starting to turn lightly brown and crispy.
Quinoa
• Rinse quinoa in a fine mesh sieve and add to a medium saucepan with 1 ¾ cups filtered water.
• Bring to a boil, stir in the teaspoon of bouillon until well dissolved. Cover, turn heat down to low and cook for 10-15 minutes.
• Remove from heat, leave lid on for 10 minutes to steam.
• Then fluff with a fork and it’s done!
Avocado Crema
Make the avocado crema while the quinoa and veggies are cooking.
• Drain water from cashews, do not rinse, and transfer to high-speed blender.
• Peel and seed the avocado.
• Add peeled avocado, ½ cup oat milk, and all other ingredients to the blender.
• Start on medium speed and stop to scrape down sides as needed.
• Blend for 1-2 minutes, adding additional oat milk one tablespoon at a time if needed to achieve a creamy (not runny!) consistency.
Plating
• To serve mound quinoa in a wide, flat bowl.
• Layer veggies on top of quinoa in sections: 1/3 sweet potato, 1/3 red pepper, and 1/3 carrots.
• Fill a small baggie or squeeze bottle with the avocado crema. If using a baggie, snip off one end.
• Using a back-and-forth motion, top the veggies with horizontal ribbons of crema (see photo).
• Tuck fresh spinach leaves inside the edges of the bowl and sprinkle with cashews. Dig in!
Notes
Substitutions
• Veggies: Use anything you already have – potatoes, squash, broccoli, asparagus, onions, etc. Ideally choose one starchy veg and something that will lend a bit more crunch (like carrots or broccoli) to your bowl.
• Olive oil will work just fine in place of grapeseed oil.
• Soy milk can be swapped for oat milk.
• Fresh cilantro is a good alternative to basil. Dried herbs should work fine if you don’t have fresh. Use 1 t. of basil or cilantro.
• Like things spicy? Feel free to add a splash of siracha or a grind or two of pepper.
Storage: Refrigerate leftovers for 3-4 days.