making lately: buddha bowls

We've been talking about working some more vegetarian dinners into the regular rotation over here, and buddha bowls (aka quinoa topped with veggies/legumes/sauce) are one thing making that super easy because (a) everyone in the fam loves them and (b) they require very little thought to produce, which is my ideal kind of meal because then I can manage to multitask with childcare, podcast listening, and dishwasher emptying all while making dinner!

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I'm not a person who is comfortable cooking without recipes (which is why I am much more of a baker than a cook...), so the way something becomes a go-to recipe in my repertoire is if I start out by following a particular recipe, make it several times, and then become familiar enough that I feel like I can produce it on the fly, and even maybe make a few tweaks of my own. Things like fritattas work really well for this, as do buddha bowls, it turns out. So if you're a newbie to the process, here are some resources and ideas to help you make this meal your own too!

The basic recipes I started with: sweet potato chickpea buddha bowl from Eat with Clarity, Thai chicken buddha bowls from Damn Delicious (with or without chicken), and beach buddha bowls from Communikait.

But here's how you can throw it together to make a highly nutritious and delicious dinner without needing any recipe - just start with a base of quinoa cooked according to package directions (basically like cooking rice), and then top it with whatever combination of things sounds good (or is in your fridge). Then a sauce or dressing is what really takes it into super flavorful and dinner winner status.

Cooked/roasted toppers:

• Crispy chickpeas - the BEST part. Hendrik adores these too. I loosely follow this recipe - basically I just fry them up for 5-10 minutes in a little avocado oil, with a dash of salt, garlic powder, and chili powder.
• Roasted sweet potatoes
• Roasted broccoli and cauliflower
• Sauteed shredded brussels sprouts
• Sauteed bell peppers
• Roasted or sauteed kale

Raw/cold toppers:

• Avocado
• Pickled red onions - these add SUCH a good flavor punch and crunch to contrast with everything else.
• Halved cherry tomatoes
• Shredded red cabbage
• Shredded carrots
• Chopped cashews or peanuts
• Sesame seeds
• Lemon or lime wedges for squeezing over top

Sauces:

• Green goddess dressing - our current fave because it's delicious, and because I don't actually have to make a sauce myself!
• Tahini dressing - easy recipes like the one in this post
• Peanut sauce - recipes like the one in this post

Some variation of this is showing up weekly around here lately - nobody is sick of it yet, but if they start to complain, I can just change up the sauce and it's like a whole new meal!