Desi Masala Bowl Yum
Lately, I’m hooked on salad bowls. They’re so delicious, easy to make, loaded with healthy foods and vibrant in color – ensuring you get a variety of nutrients.
I’ve been talking to my daughters about “eating the rainbow” and this was a fun way to help them do that.
Another reason I really like to do the salad bowls is because it’s so easy to play around with the cuisine type, the textures, and the flavors. I can add raw and roasted veggies, nuts, and choose whichever grain I want. There’s really no wrong way to make these and super easy to substitute an ingredient you may not have. Honestly, food can’t get easier than that!
We’ve been doing a lot of non-desi (non-Indian) foods lately and I wanted to get the girls into Indian spices without going over the top. Plus, I don’t think I can go without Indian food and spices for that long anyways.
For the sweet potatoes, I did a simple roast with an addition of paprika for color and flavor. I’m using paprika to gradually build up the girls to trying cayenne and other types of peppers and spices so this is especially great for those of you who prefer milder spices.
I also roasted some chickpeas as those are so easy and delicious to make. It made me proud that both my girls were eating them as soon as they cooled down from the oven. These turned out so good and honestly, I had to go back and make more because between the three of us, we snacked on most of the beans! I’m definitely adding it to my snack rotation list!
The dressing on here was probably the hardest to figure out as I wanted Indian flavors but nothing too intimidating. I used almond butter to give it a little bulk and the addition of a little protein is always appreciated. Because I had already used a lot of spices for the chickpeas, I fell back a little with the dressing and opted for curry powder, turmeric (for the color and my youngest happened to have a cold which needed some help) and some fresh garlic and ginger (which appears on 90% of Indian cooking!).
I left the quinoa simple by cooking it only in salt water as there are so many flavors going around, I felt if I added more, everything would get lost in a chaotic world of spice.
For the rest of the ingredients, it was nice to have the crunch from the vibrant red cabbage, the creaminess of the avocado, and oh! those toasted cashews were just the icing on top of a great salad!
Try it out! From my kitchen to yours, I hope you enjoy this one.
Ingredients:
1 Sweet Potato, diced into 1″ cubes
1 avocado, sliced
1 cup red cabbage, shredded
1 cup baby spinach
½ c quinoa, rinsed
¼ c raw cashews
2 Tbsp & 1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp paprika
Salt and pepper to taste
For the chickpeas:
1 15oz can chickpeas, rinsed, drained & dried with a paper towel
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp cumin powder
2 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp garam masala
¼ tsp salt
For the dressing:
¼ c almond butter
½ lemon, juiced
1 tsp lemon zest
1/3 c water
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp honey
1 tsp curry powder
½ ginger, grated
1 tsp turmeric
½ tsp salt
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400ºF. In a baking sheet, toss sweet potatoes, 1 Tbsp olive oil, salt, pepper and paprika. Mix well and roast for 20 minutes.
In a bowl, combine all the ingredients for the chickpeas. Transfer to baking sheet and bake for 35 minutes.
In a medium pot, heat water and ½ tsp salt. When it comes to a boil, add the rinsed quinoa and reduce heat to medium low. Cover and cook quinoa for 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat and use a fork to fluff it.
In a small pan, mix ½ tsp olive oil and cashews. Toast on medium heat until they are a light golden red color. Turn off heat and remove pan. Set aside to use as topping.
For the dressing, combine all of the ingredients in a mason jar and shake well.
To assemble:
Line a bowl with spinach and add the quinoa, sweet potatoes, avocado slices, shredded cabbage, toasted cashews, and drizzle with almond curry dressing. Enjoy!
