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24.03.2017

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A delicious, uber healthy, almost-vegan Buddha bowl with roast beetroot and sweet potato. The dressing is a gorgeously thick, silky rich, sweet and slightly spicy concoction with tahini and honey, that will leave a nice warm feeling in your mouth.

Roast Beetroot and Sweet Potato Buddha Bowl with Spicy Tahini Honey Dressing www.thefoodiecorner.gr  Photo description: A close up of the one bowl and its contents. To the right the small bowl of dressing with a spoon in it. The spoon has a wooden handle. Some scattered cranberries are also visible to the right of the dressing, almost out of shot.

This is my first ever Buddha bowl. I love eating my food out of bowls, so it’s strange that I’ve never got round to trying these until now. I suppose I’ve had similar meals, but they’ve literally been bowls of leftovers, so I’m not sure they can be classified as Buddha bowls.

Roast Beetroot and Sweet Potato Buddha Bowl with Spicy Tahini Honey Dressing www.thefoodiecorner.gr  Photo description: A close up ¾ view of the one bowl and its contents. In the background the other bowl and the two small bowls with dressing and sunflower seeds.

The original BB is vegan, at least from what I can tell from my research. However, it’s common to see meat in bowl meals too now, they’re just not called Buddha. I’m sticking with an almost vegan option here today, which would be full vegan if not for the use of honey. If you prefer you can switch the honey for maple syrup or maybe agave. This is an ideal lunch or dinner for anyone fasting for Lent here in Greece, since all the ingredients are suitable and their combination provides a very well balanced meal.

Roast Beetroot and Sweet Potato Buddha Bowl with Spicy Tahini Honey Dressing www.thefoodiecorner.gr  Photo description: The two bowls as in the main photo, but without dressing. To the top right are both small bowls with dressing and sunflower seeds.

I was planning on using quinoa instead of rice, but then I remembered I have several boxes of brown rice in the cupboard so it seemed the logical way to go. In the end I was happy to discover I still had some brown basmati which is really delicious, so in it went.

Roast Beetroot and Sweet Potato Buddha Bowl with Spicy Tahini Honey Dressing www.thefoodiecorner.gr Photo description: One bowl and its contents to the bottom of the photo. At the top right are the two small bowls of dressing and sunflower seeds with some scattered dried cranberries.

The veggies I’ve used here are some of my favourite. I adore both beetroot and sweet potatoes. Especially when they are roasted. In fact I would never boil beetroot again unless there was a very specific reason to do so. There is no comparison in taste, if you haven’t tried roasting beets you need to try it quick.

So I went for my beloved combo and added some spinach and rocket (aka arugula). The peppery rocket apart from being tasty is there for another reason and that is to balance out the sweetness of the roast veg.

Roast Beetroot and Sweet Potato Buddha Bowl with Spicy Tahini Honey Dressing www.thefoodiecorner.gr  Photo description: Ingredient shot with a whole beetroot (with leaves) lying on the linen material. To the top half a sweet potato and a cut slice, and to the left of the beetroot, some scattered greens (spinach and rocket).

Finally, the dressing. It’s pretty amazing. I am not a huge fan of tahini dressings. The ones I’ve tried in the past have been strange tasting and I can’t say there were any that I would have eaten again. The idea for this one however came to me while reading a recipe for a tahini maple syrup combo. It occurred to me that all the things I do like that have tahini in them, also have a lot of sweetness from either honey or sugar. So maybe this was the answer, adding a sweet component to the dressing. (Yes, it was.) And where there is honey, there should be cinnamon, so that went on the list. But I didn’t leave it there, as I wanted to add a little more complexity to the result. Some chilli helped with that, and then, when there was still a little something missing, some cumin. The final dressing is sweet but not sickly, with a hint of warmth from the spice. Definitely worth trying.

Roast Beetroot and Sweet Potato Buddha Bowl with Spicy Tahini Honey Dressing www.thefoodiecorner.gr  Photo description: A close up of the dressing. The spoon has been lifted up out of the bowl, with dressing on it. The colour is deep golden with small flecks from the chilli.

To top things off, I sprinkled some sunflower seeds and dried cranberries over the bowls. Because you can never have enough super foods in a Buddha!

Roast Beetroot and Sweet Potato Buddha Bowl with Spicy Tahini Honey Dressing www.thefoodiecorner.gr Photo description: Three quarters of one bowl and its contents in view, to the right of the photo.

So what do you think about Buddha bowls? Or any bowls for that matter. Do you love them, hate them, eat them regularly? What is your favourite flavour combo?

Ingredients

500gr sweet potato cubed
400gr beetroot, cubed
4 Tbs olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 cup brown basmati (that cooks in 20’)
3-4 handfuls baby spinach
3-4 handfuls rocket (arugula)
3-4 Tbs dried cranberries
2-3 Tbs (approx. 2 tsp per bowl) sunflower seeds

For the dressing
4 Tbs tahini
2 Tbs honey
2 Tbs olive oil, mild tasting (or start with 1 Tbs and add after trying)
2 Tbs water
1 Tbs orange juice
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp chilli powder
1/8 tsp cumin

Step 1

Preheat oven to 180C fan assisted (200C conventional). Line two baking sheets with grease proof paper. Put the sweet potato, 2 tablespoons of oil and half a teaspoon of salt in a bowl and mix with your hands to coat. Spread it out on a baking sheet (the pieces need to have room, no crowding!). Do the same with the beetroot, the other 2 tbs oil and half teaspoon salt. Put both sheets in the oven to roast the veggies. The beetroot should need about 25 minutes till softened and the sweet potato about 30’ till softened and starting to brown.

Step 2

Boil the rice according to instructions.

Step 3

To make the dressing whisk all the ingredients in a bowl. If needed warm it up a bit in the microwave to make it runnier.

Step 4

Assemble the bowls with a little of each vegetable, some rice, a small handful of spinach and rocket, a sprinkling of cranberries and sunflower seeds, and a drizzle of dressing. Start modestly with the dressing as it’s strong tasting, and add more if desired. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Notes:
Quantities make 3 large bowls or 4 smaller ones.
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Inspiration for these bowls came from this post by The Roasted Root.

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2 Comments

  • Reply
    M. L.
    24/03/2017

    Love them, but never make them at home! Weird… I should start

    • Reply
      24/03/2017

      Yes! I know what you mean. I can’t work out why it took me so long to try them. They are fantastic for lunch and really fight off the chocolate biscuit cravings, which seem to be pretty permanent round here… Thanks for visiting!