Sweet Potato Chickpea Buddha Bowl

So…I’ve been chastising myself lately for my diet. Between crazy work schedules, travel, and being on crutches, I’ve just been a bit too reliant on Uber Eats and definitely lacking in fruits and veggies. It’s kind of amazing I don’t have scurvy.

Then this morning as I was working I decided to finally get around to watching “What The Health?” on Netflix, which talks through a lot of the things wrong with our diets and how that’s impacting our health, and the medical establishments and lobby groups that are set on keeping it that way.

Its basic conclusion is that we’re meant to eat plant-based diets, and that anything else is unhealthy. It’s definitely an interesting watch, and while I don’t completely agree that meat is the devil—I grew up on a family-run cow farm, after all, and I also believe that God designed us to eat some meat—I 100% agree that we’ve totally screwed up our food chain in so many ways and that a heavier plant diet is a good thing, and overall it guilted me REAL HARD into really putting on my adult pants today.

So I did some digging on plant-based diets and found some recipes that I want to try to rotate into my everyday routine. This was the first one I came across that made me go “Hmm!” The flavor combos are awesome, it’s easy to make, I’m a sucker for a good tahini sauce, and I’m hoping it’ll make an awesome lunch for a couple days this week as well. For a non-pasta vegetarian meal, I’m totally on board with this one!

You can prep your veggies ahead of time if you want, but it’s easy just to do them as you go…the baking times are spaced nicely, giving you time to prep as everything is cooking.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F and arrange the sweet potatoes halves and onion wedges on a baking sheet (I lined mine with aluminum foil to make cleanup easier, but don’t use parchment).

Drizzle both with a bit of oil, making sure the flesh of the sweet potatoes are well coated and placed skin side down (flesh side up) on the sheet.

Bake for 10 minutes, then flip the sweet potatoes (now should be skin side down) and add the broccolini or asparagus pieces. Drizzle with a bit of oil and season with a pinch of salt and pepper.

Bake for another 8-10 minutes, then add the kale. I had to do this on a separate baking sheet because I was super out of room. Drizzle the kale with a touch more oil and season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Bake for another 4-5 minutes then set aside, but stick a fork in your sweet potatoes to make sure they’re done.

While the vegetables are roasting, heat a large skillet over medium heat. Make sure your chickpeas are rinsed well and pat them dry with a paper towel, then add them to a mixing bowl and toss with the seasonings.

Once the pan is hot, add a tablespoon of oil and the seasoned chickpeas, and cook, stirring frequently. Medium heat should do it, about 8-10 minutes. If they’re browning too quickly, turn down heat (you don’t want them to burn). Once they’re browned and fragrant, remove from heat and set aside.

I had a ton of extra kale, so once the chickpeas were out of the pan I threw some kale in there as well, to soak up the remaining spices and bit of oil, just to give it some extra flavor.

There’s your roasted veggie wonderfulness (minus the kale).

Whenever it’s convenient, prepare the sauce by whisking together the tahini, maple syrup and lemon juice in a small bowl. Oddly it gets thicker once combined (I think this is a chemical reaction), so you probably will need a bit of the hot water…just add a bit at a time until it’s a pourable sauce.

Make sure you taste it and balance out the sweet and tart (I’d add a pinch of salt too). I had to add a little extra maple syrup to mine.

To serve, slice the sweet potatoes into bite-size pieces and divide the vegetables between 3 serving bowls. Top with the chickpeas and tahini sauce.

Nom nom nommity nom. For meatless, this is pretty darn good. This is best fresh, but will keep in the fridge for a few days.

Veggies

2 tablespoons of olive, melted coconut, or grape seed oil
1 whole small/medium red onion, sliced into wedges
2 large sweet potatoes, halved
1 bundle of very thin asparagus or broccolini (large stems removed), chopped
2 big handfuls kale, larger stems removed
1/4 teaspoons each of salt and pepper

Chickpeas

1 15-ounce can of chickpeas, drained, rinsed & patted dry
1 teaspoon of cumin
3/4 teaspoon of chili powder
3/4 teaspoon of garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon each of salt & pepper
Optional: 1/2 teaspoon of oregano
Optional: 1/4 teaspoon of turmeric

Tahini Sauce

1/4 cup tahini
1-2 tablespoons of maple syrup (to taste)
Juice of 1/2 lemon
2-4 tablespoons of hot water to thin

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and arrange the sweet potatoes halves and onion wedges on a baking sheet (I lined mine with aluminum foil to make cleanup easier, but don’t use parchment). Drizzle both with a bit of oil, making sure the flesh of the sweet potatoes are well coated and placed skin side down (flesh side up) on the sheet.
Bake for 10 minutes, then flip the sweet potatoes (now should be skin side down) and add the broccolini or asparagus pieces. Drizzle with a bit of oil and season with a pinch of salt and pepper.
Bake for another 8-10 minutes, then add the kale (I had to do this on a separate baking sheet). Drizzle the kale with a touch more oil and season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Bake for another 4-5 minutes then set aside; make sure your sweet potatoes are done.
While the vegetables are roasting, heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chickpeas to a mixing bowl and toss with seasonings.
Once the pan is hot, add a tablespoon of oil and the seasoned chickpeas, and cook, stirring frequently. Medium heat should do it, about 8-10 minutes. If they’re browning too quickly, turn down heat (you don’t want them to burn). Once they’re browned and fragrant, remove from heat and set aside.
I had a ton of extra kale, so once the chickpeas were out of the pan I threw some kale in there as well, to soak up the remaining spices and bit of oil, just to give it some extra flavor.
Whenever it’s convenient, prepare the sauce by whisking together the tahini, maple syrup and lemon juice in a small bowl. Oddly it gets thicker once combined (I think this is a chemical reaction), so you probably will need a bit of the hot water…just add a bit at a time until it’s a pourable sauce, and taste to make sure the balance of sweet and tart is right for you (I’d add a pinch of salt too).
To serve, slice the sweet potatoes into bite size pieces and divide the vegetables between 3 serving bowls. Top with chickpeas and tahini sauce.

The original recipe is from Minimalist Baker