Happy Monday! I hope your weekend was great? Mine was….eventful. Highlights included the fact that my dear friend Gaby and her husband were in town and Pete and I got to spend Saturday night showing them Seattle. Another highlight was having 5 hours of cocktail induced sleep and then going to a 5 hour fencing tournament! But it was so worth it to watch Pia compete and she is still grinning ear to ear over the silver medal she got. A big fat Mexican meal topped it off and now, after a week of all that eating and drinking I am ready for some detoxing this week.

Vegan Fall Harvest Quinoa Bowl from HeatherChristo.com

So, in response to craving something cleaner, and it being Meatless Monday, I thought I would make these Vegan Autumn Quinoa Bowls for dinner tonight. I first made these a couple weeks ago when I started getting obsessed with turmeric. I know I have written many times about how Pia not only has the motherload of allergies, but also is currently an ethical vegan about 95% of the time (occasionally she will eat a piece of fish). I mean GAWD- try cooking for a 9 year old with those kind of eating requirements- it takes creativity!

The good news is that she is a great eater and will try pretty much anything. Quinoa (interestingly enough!) is one of her favorite foods right now and that makes me feel better since I feel like I am constantly stressing about whether she is getting enough protein and that her nutrition is on point. So quinoa bowls have become a standard lately. I make them in big batches like this and then she takes them for lunch and snacks on them after school. I try to switch them up often, adding new ingredients and flavors to keep them interesting. This was a bowl I made for her before I left for New York last week so that she would be taken care of while I was gone and she loved it.

Vegan Fall Harvest Quinoa Bowl from HeatherChristo.com

I love that the bright yellow quinoa is mildly flavored with turmeric and fresh parsley. The creamy avocado, grassy spinach, nutty butternut squash and vibrant garbanzo bean salad all add so much flavor, texture and color to what is a total meal with awesome nutrition while being totally delicious. Enjoy!

Vegan Fall Harvest Quinoa Bowl from HeatherChristo.com

Vegan Autumn Quinoa Bowl
Author: 
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 2
 
Ingredients
  • Roasted Butternut Squash:
  • 12 ounces peeled cubed butternut squash
  • 2 teaspoons olive oil
  • kosher salt
  • Quinoa:
  • 2 ½ cups vegetable broth
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric
  • 2 cups white quinoa
  • ¼ cup minced flat leaf parsley
  • Garbanzo Bean Salad:
  • ⅔ cup canned garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
  • 2 tablespoons thinly sliced red onion
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
  • pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
  • kosher salt
  • 2 cups baby spinach
  • 1 avocado, sliced thinly
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. On a sheet-pan toss the butternut squash cubes with the olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt. Roast for 15 minutes until golden and tender then set aside.
  2. While the squash is roasting, make the quinoa. Bring the vegetable broth, salt and turmeric to a simmer over medium heat and then stir in the quinoa. Stir well and bring the quinoa to a simmer then turn the heat to low and put lid on the quinoa. Simmer for 20 minutes and then turn the heat off and let sit until you are ready to serve. Then fluff the quinoa with a fork and gently stir in the fresh parsley.
  3. While the quinoa is simmering, make the Garbanzo Bean Salad. In medium bowl, combine the beans with the red onion, olive oil and vinegar and then sprinkle with the red pepper flakes and season to taste with the kosher salt.
  4. To assemble the Quinoa Bowls, spoon the quinoa between two bowls. Add 1 cup fresh spinach to each and then evenly distribute the garbanzo bean salad, the roasted squash and the avocado between the two bowls. Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve.

 

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Categorized: Bowls, Recipe Index, Side dishes, Vegan
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Happy Monday! I hope your weekend was great? Mine was….eventful. Highlights included the fact that my dear friend Gaby and her husband were in town and Pete and I got to spend Saturday night showing them Seattle. Another highlight was having 5 hours of cocktail induced sleep and then going to a 5 hour fencing tournament! But it was so worth it to watch Pia compete and she is still grinning ear to ear over the silver medal she got. A big fat Mexican meal topped it off and now, after a week of all that eating and drinking I am ready for some detoxing this week.

Vegan Fall Harvest Quinoa Bowl from HeatherChristo.com

So, in response to craving something cleaner, and it being Meatless Monday, I thought I would make these Vegan Autumn Quinoa Bowls for dinner tonight. I first made these a couple weeks ago when I started getting obsessed with turmeric. I know I have written many times about how Pia not only has the motherload of allergies, but also is currently an ethical vegan about 95% of the time (occasionally she will eat a piece of fish). I mean GAWD- try cooking for a 9 year old with those kind of eating requirements- it takes creativity!

The good news is that she is a great eater and will try pretty much anything. Quinoa (interestingly enough!) is one of her favorite foods right now and that makes me feel better since I feel like I am constantly stressing about whether she is getting enough protein and that her nutrition is on point. So quinoa bowls have become a standard lately. I make them in big batches like this and then she takes them for lunch and snacks on them after school. I try to switch them up often, adding new ingredients and flavors to keep them interesting. This was a bowl I made for her before I left for New York last week so that she would be taken care of while I was gone and she loved it.

Vegan Fall Harvest Quinoa Bowl from HeatherChristo.com

I love that the bright yellow quinoa is mildly flavored with turmeric and fresh parsley. The creamy avocado, grassy spinach, nutty butternut squash and vibrant garbanzo bean salad all add so much flavor, texture and color to what is a total meal with awesome nutrition while being totally delicious. Enjoy!

Vegan Fall Harvest Quinoa Bowl from HeatherChristo.com

Vegan Autumn Quinoa Bowl
Author: 
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 2
 
Ingredients
  • Roasted Butternut Squash:
  • 12 ounces peeled cubed butternut squash
  • 2 teaspoons olive oil
  • kosher salt
  • Quinoa:
  • 2 ½ cups vegetable broth
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric
  • 2 cups white quinoa
  • ¼ cup minced flat leaf parsley
  • Garbanzo Bean Salad:
  • ⅔ cup canned garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
  • 2 tablespoons thinly sliced red onion
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
  • pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
  • kosher salt
  • 2 cups baby spinach
  • 1 avocado, sliced thinly
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. On a sheet-pan toss the butternut squash cubes with the olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt. Roast for 15 minutes until golden and tender then set aside.
  2. While the squash is roasting, make the quinoa. Bring the vegetable broth, salt and turmeric to a simmer over medium heat and then stir in the quinoa. Stir well and bring the quinoa to a simmer then turn the heat to low and put lid on the quinoa. Simmer for 20 minutes and then turn the heat off and let sit until you are ready to serve. Then fluff the quinoa with a fork and gently stir in the fresh parsley.
  3. While the quinoa is simmering, make the Garbanzo Bean Salad. In medium bowl, combine the beans with the red onion, olive oil and vinegar and then sprinkle with the red pepper flakes and season to taste with the kosher salt.
  4. To assemble the Quinoa Bowls, spoon the quinoa between two bowls. Add 1 cup fresh spinach to each and then evenly distribute the garbanzo bean salad, the roasted squash and the avocado between the two bowls. Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve.

 

Recipe by Heather Christo (http://heatherchristo.com)