Sweet Potato Bowl with Tahini Pesto

Today's recipe is a rich and nutritious one-bowl vegan meal, AKA Buddha Bowl.

Take your prettiest bowl, and we'll help you fill it with wholesome quinoa, hearty sweet potatoes, high-protein black beans, nutritious tenderstem broccoli, and a fresh green tahini pesto.

Most Buddha bowls are served cold, but that's not the rule. In fact, you can enjoy our recipe warm or cold.

It's a one-bowl meal filled with veggies that is good cold. Are you thinking what we are thinking? Meal prepping paradise!

All the ingredients in this recipe have something special, and we'd like to write a few words about them below.

First of all, the sauce. A green tahini "pesto" made with sesame paste, a handful of fresh basil leaves, lemon juice, and garlic. We think you'll love it.

It's so good that we've created a standalone tahini pesto recipe with extra tips and useful swaps. But you can also prepare the pesto sauce with silken tofu for extra proteins!

Then we have black beans and quinoa, which are excellent sources of fibre and proteins, among many other good things.

Both macronutrients are essential for a balanced meal, which is the whole point of a Buddha Bowl.

Quinoa is particularly useful here, as in any vegan diet. It's one of the few plants to have all the nine essential amino acids your body needs to build proteins (thus called a complete protein source).

Finally, here come the heroes of the dish. The tenderstem broccoli!

They are wonderful veggies that combine the culinary properties of broccoli (the florets) and asparagus (the edible stem). Moreover, just like any other dark green veggie, they are loaded with antioxidants and vitamins.

Are you ready for this healthy veggie bowl? It can be made in 30 minutes and, if batch-cooked, can sort out your lunches for up to a week. Enjoy!

Step 1

Keeping the skin on, dice the sweet potatoes into small chunks and toss them with 1/2 tbsp of oil, salt and pepper.

Then, roast them for 20 minutes at 210°C (410°F) for static ovens or at 190°C (375°F) for fan ovens.

Step 2

Meanwhile, rinse the quinoa under cold water and then add it to a pot with water.

Bring it to a boil and simmer for 12 minutes. Then, drain excess water and set the cooked quinoa aside.

Step 3

Now, add the tendertstem broccoli to the tray with the sweet potatoes and season them with salt and pepper to taste.

Then, roast the vegetables for 10-15 minutes.

Step 4

In the meantime, heat the remaining 1/2 tbsp of olive oil in a skillet and add the garlic cloves, crushed or thinly sliced.

Sizzle for a minute, add the canned black beans, and sauté for 5 minutes or until the beans are soft.

Step 5

Now that all the bowl ingredients are ready, it's time for the tahini pesto.

In a food processor, add fresh basil leaves, tahini, garlic, and the zest and juice of the lemon.

Blitz all into a smooth paste and add a bit of water in between pulses to loosen up the sauce.

Step 6

Finally, divide the quinoa, beans, and roasted veggies among serving bowls and garnish with the tahini pesto.

Tips

• You can swap sweet potatoes with butternut squash and tenderstem broccoli with regular broccoli or black kale.

• You can make the pesto without tahini and use nut butter, like almond or cashew butter, or silken tofu, as in this vegan tofu pesto sauce recipe.

• Store this quinoa salad in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

• Got quinoa leftovers? You can use up cooked quinoa to make flatbread in just a few minutes!