Sweet Potato Chickpea Buddha Bowl

I love Buddha bowls, but for some reason I never got into the habit of making them. The Protein Salad I always order at Green is basically a Buddha bowl, after all, and it’s my favorite dish from that place. This Buddha bowl from Minimalist Baker really hit the spot for lunch: the kale and broccolini made me feel virtuous, while the sweet potato and chickpeas were comforting. The best thing was the tahini dressing, though, which both the Little Prince and I loved. I’ll have to keep that recipe handy to use with other similar dishes! I did change the recipe a bit by cutting the sweet potatoes into quarters so they’d cook more thoroughly; I peeled them once they were cooked; and I didn’t roast the chickpeas all the way because I prefer them chewy to crunchy. My onion was also a little less cooked than I would have liked, because I forgot to put it on the pan with the sweet potato. Next time, I’d consider doubling the sauce! Actually, I’ll probably use that sauce anytime I make a similar dish without a fixed recipe.

For the vegetables
2 Tbsp. olive, melted coconut, or grape seed oil
½ red onion, sliced in wedges
2 large sweet potatoes, halved
1 bundle (227 g.) broccolini, large stems removed, chopped
2 big handfuls kale, larger stems removed
¼ tsp. each salt and pepper

For the chickpeas
1 15-oz. can chickpeas, drained, rinsed and patted dry
1 tsp. cumin
¾ tsp. chili powder (I used a pinch of Korean pepper)
¾ tsp. garlic powder
¼ tsp. each salt and pepper
½ tsp. oregano (optional)
¼ tsp. turmeric (optional)

For the tahini sauce
¼ cup (56 g.) tahini
1 Tbsp. maple syrup
½ lemon, juiced
2-4 Tbsp. hot water, to thin

Preheat oven to 400 °F and arrange sweet potatoes and onions on a bare baking sheet. Drizzle both with a bit of oil, making sure the flesh of the sweet potatoes is well coated, and place skin side down on the sheet.

Bake for 10 minutes, then remove from oven, flip sweet potatoes and add broccolini. Drizzle broccolini with a bit of oil and season with a pinch each salt and pepper.

Bake for another 8-10 minutes, then remove from oven and add kale. Drizzle kale with a touch more oil and season with a pinch each salt and pepper. Bake for another 4-5 minutes then set aside.

While vegetables are roasting, heat a large skillet over medium heat and add chickpeas to a mixing bowl and toss with seasonings.

Once the skillet is hot, add 1 tablespoon oil and chickpeas and sauté, stirring frequently. If they’re browning too quickly, turn down heat. If there isn’t much browning going on, increase heat. How long you roast them is somewhat subjective – the original recipe said that 10 minutes on medium heat should do it, but I wanted to make sure they weren’t crisp, so I took them off the heat after roughly 5 minutes. Once the chickpeas are browned and fragrant, remove from heat and set aside.

Prepare sauce by adding tahini, maple syrup and lemon juice to a mixing bowl and whisking to combine. Add hot water until a pourable sauce is formed. Set aside.

To serve: Slice sweet potatoes into bite size pieces (and peel them if you wish). Divide vegetables between serving bowls and top with chickpeas and tahini sauce. This dish is best when fresh, although leftovers will keep for a few days in the fridge.