Fall Harvest Buddha Bowl

I came across this recipe just as I had extra kale that I wanted to use up before it went bad. I ended up making the pesto and freezing it until I got around to making the rest of the dish. I changed the recipe a bit because I didn’t see myself eating a whole head of cauliflower and another of broccoli, in addition to the rest of the stuff in here, so I used broccolini instead of both of those. It’s technically a fall buddha bowl, but all those ingredients are available pretty much year-round! 

Bonus tip: if you have leftover pesto, make pesto pizzas! I bought English muffins and split a few of them open, then spread some pesto on them and topped with shredded mozzarella cheese. I topped a few more with leftover tomato sauce, crumbled breakfast sausage, and cheese. I made the Fox promise he would at least taste the green pizzas in his lunch, and lo and behold, we were both pleasantly surprised to find that he liked them better than the tomato-sausage ones! 

For the pesto 

1 cup fresh basil leaves 

⅓ cup pine nuts 

2 cloves garlic 

½ cup olive oil 

1 cup kale, stemmed 

1 cup shredded parmesan cheese (or nutritional yeast, for a vegan version) 

salt, to taste 

pepper, to taste 

For the buddha bowl 

1 cup diced butternut squash 

1 cup diced beets 

⅓ cup olive oil 

kosher salt, to taste 

freshly ground black pepper, to taste 

7 oz extra-firm tofu, sliced into squares 

2 cups cauliflower florets 

2 cups broccoli florets 

3 cups kale, stemmed 

1 cup cooked quinoa 

Preheat the oven to 425 °F. 

Put the basil, pine nuts, garlic, olive oil, kale, Parmesan, salt, and pepper in a blender, and blend until smooth. 

Put the butternut squash and beets on a quarter of a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Toss to coat. Add the tofu to another quarter of the baking sheet and brush with some of the pesto. Bake for 10 minutes, then remove from the oven. 

Flip the tofu, then add the cauliflower and broccoli to another quarter of the baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Toss to coat. Bake for 10 minutes, then remove from the oven. 

Add the kale to the remaining quarter of the baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake for 10 minutes, until the kale is crispy and all of the vegetables are tender. 

Put the quinoa in a bowl. Top with the tofu and vegetables and drizzle with pesto. Enjoy!