Oh Hello, you beautiful Winter Power Bowl!
Everywhere you look there is a latest and greatest “power bowl”, and there is a reason why. They are delightfully tasty and they make meal prep a walk in the park. My recommendation is to roast a bunch of your favorite vegetables, cook multiple servings of your rice and wah-la! Your healthy lunches are a one-minute and thirty-second magic microwave ride away, you’re welcome.
With winter upon us, I thought what better way to use all of the root vegetables than a winter power bowl! Root vegetables have a ton of health benefits. Like…
1.) They are loaded with fiber, which helps with weight loss
2.) They are anti-inflammatory, which helps to prevent cancer and other disease in the body.
3.) They provide vitamins A and C, very important for sight, skin, and your immune system.
4.) Increased intake has shown to lower bad cholesterol and support heart health.
My latest obsession has been parsnips. These little cousins of carrots are generally roasted, bringing out a nutty sweetness that will captivate your soul, or you will just really, really like them in a slightly less dramatic way. I teamed them up with roasted chili garlic sweet potatoes, left over red cabbage from the shrimp tacos, some butterkin squash, sauteed kale, over some forbidden black rice, and finally I tossed everything with an spicy orange almond sauce. The end result was a texture heaven and not so bad on the eyes. Behold; the winter power bowl.
Winter Power Bowl with Spicy Almond Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 Parsnips, scrubbed, medium diced
- 1 Sweet Potato, peeled, medium diced
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 Butterkin Squash, peeled, sliced
- 2 cups Red Cabbage, thinly sliced
- 1 cup Black Forbidden Rice
- 2 cups Kale, veins removed, rough chopped
- 2 cups of Chicken Stock, Veggie Stock, or Water
- Sesame Seeds to Top (Optional)
- Salt and Pepper to Taste
- 3 tbsp Olive Oil
- Spicy Almond Sauce:
- 1/4 cup Almond Butter
- Juice of 1 Orange
- 1 tbsp Rice Vinegar
- 1 tbsp Tamari
- 1 tbsp Honey or Alternative Sweetener
- 1/4 tsp Ground Cinnamon
- 1 Pinch of Red Chili Flakes
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
Cook the rice. I use a rice cooker to cook my rice, you can use a pot, on medium heat, and then cover to keep warm when done cooking. Rinse black rice under cool running water for about 15 seconds. Using your liquid of choice (I used chicken stock) pour 2 cups of liquid and 1 cup of rice and let cook. My particular rice cooker has a "keep warm" feature that will allow my rice to be hot while my vegetables roast.
Place your cut squash, potato, and parsnip in 3 separate bowls. Add salt, pepper, and oil to all three bowls adding the additional garlic and chili powder to the sweet potato bowl. Toss until each of the vegetables are coated. You can place the vegetables all on one sheet pan, as long as they are not overcrowded (this will result in uneven cooking times). Put into oven, when temperature is reached. Check after 15 minutes the first time and then every 5 minutes. Cook until vegetables start to brown and are cooked through.
Heat some olive oil in a saute pan on medium heat, add kale and cook until kale is soft. This can be done at any time.
While your veggies are cooking in the oven, prepare the spicy almond sauce.Add all the ingredients into a small bowl and whisk together until well mixed. If you have a zester, add the zest of the orange that is juiced. Feel free to adjust any of the ingredients to your taste. Set aside.
To Assemble, place rice first and top with all the veggies; butterkin squash, sweet potato, parsnip, cabbage, and kale. Drizzle the Spicy Almond Sauce and then sprinkle with sesame seeds for a finishing touch. Now your winter power bowl is ready to be devoured!
Notes
I like to salt my liquid that I cook my rice in, but this is optional.
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