Vegan Root Vegetable Power Bowl
A vegan root vegetable power bowl packed with roasted butternut squash, carrot, and parsnip, bell peppers, brussels sprouts, kale, and quinoa. Throw together in under an hour and have lunch ready for a week.
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Introduction
Power bowls - the golden child of the vegan Instagram account. Adaptable, healthy, and most importantly, they look great in pictures. Most of the time, though, they’re packed with goji berries, sprinkled with black and white sesame seeds, edible golden leaf, and drizzled with vinaigrette sourced from the Himalayan mountains. They’re expensive, and while they may look great, are we going to head out to the grocery store to grab the $85 worth of ingredients to make them? Probably not.
So, I’m putting my foot down. Healthy food should not only look Instagram worthy and taste like Midas himself preheated your oven for you, it should be accessible to everybody. The question we have to ask ourselves is whether the healthy food we make is tasty, easy, and affordable enough to rationalize not buying Sour Cream and Onion chips and 3 cans of chili 4 out of 7 nights of the week.
In my humble opinion, this power bowl ticks those boxes. Chop up some vegetables, toss them in the oven, throw some quinoa in a pot, and make your avocado look fancy. Let the ingredients do the work for you. In less than an hour, you’ll have lunches for a week.
So, wrap up the chips (don’t throw them out, that would be sacrilege), save that chili for a frosty winter’s eve, and give your stomach the break it’s been desperately crying out for. It (and you) deserve to feel great about what you’re eating.
The secret to this recipe is seasoning. Without seasoning, you’ll wind up with Plain Jane veggies, and quinoa that tastes like, well, quinoa. Salt well, toss with garlic powder and onion powder, hit it with some pepper, and the food that awaits you on the other side of that oven timer is going to smash your expectations of what a power bowl should taste like.
Check out the Spruce it Up section for ideas on how to take this recipe to the next level.
Before we Get Started
Prep Time: 20 Minutes
Cook Time: 35-40 Minutes
Total Time: 1 Hour
Yield: 5-7 Bowls
Ingredients
1 Butternut Squash
4-5 Carrots
4-5 Parsnips
Handful of Kale
~10 Brussel Sprouts
2 cups Uncooked Quinoa
1-2 Bell Peppers
Avocado
3 tbsp. Garlic Powder
3 tbsp. Onion Powder
Method
Preheat your oven to 400°F. Line a baking tray with aluminum foil.
Have a look at the instructions for your quinoa, and follow them accordingly.
If the cooking process will take a total of 25 minutes, do your best to time starting it 25 minutes before everything else finishes.
For reference, the root vegetables will take about 40 minutes in the oven.
While you’re waiting for the oven to preheat, peel your butternut squash. Cut the thinner top part away from the bulbous bottom half. Slice into slabs about 2 cm. thick, and then cut into cubes.
When cutting the top part away from the bottom, you may hit some of the stringy membrane. Use a spoon to shovel it out.
Cut your carrots and parsnips into cubes roughly the same size.
Don’t beat yourself up if they’re not the same size - mine weren’t.
Put your butternut squash into a bowl, drizzle with a good amount of olive oil, toss in a three-finger pinch of salt, and add 1 tbsp. of both garlic powder and onion powder. Give it a good toss to ensure all of the cubes are covered in your spices, salt, and oil, and place on your baking tray. Repeat for the carrots and parsnips.
As soon as your oven has preheated, put your vegetables into the oven, and set a timer for 20 minutes.
Start to think about when you’re going to cook your quinoa. After you put your vegetables in the oven, they will be finished in about 40 minutes, so try to cook your quinoa according to that timing.
While your vegetables are cooking, slice your bell pepper into sticks. Grab your brussels sprouts, and cut off a small part of the bottom. Peel away some of the looser leaves, then slice them in half. Despine your kale, and chop into bite-sized pieces.
“Despining” is a fancy word for pulling the green leaves away from the stem.
After the 20 minute timer has gone off, pull the baking tray out of the oven and put your sliced bell pepper on. Hit them with a bit of olive oil and some salt, then return it to the oven. Set another time for 15 minutes.
Heat up a pan with some oil over medium-high heat, and put your brussels sprouts in, flat side down. Hit them with a good pinch of salt, and let them cook for about 3-4 minutes, then give them a flip. Let them cook for another few minutes, then put them onto a plate with some paper towel.
Using the same pan, toss in your handful of kale, hit with some oil and salt, and cook until crispy.
Slice up some avocado.
After your root vegetables and quinoa have finished cooking, hit your quinoa with a good pinch of salt, and fluff with a fork.
Plate up however you’d like.
Enjoy.
Spruce it Up
If you’re not a fan of brussels sprouts, replace them with another vegetable you like, or some tofu.
Hit the bowl with a sauce of your choosing.
For some spice, add chili flakes, Frank’s, or your favourite hot sauce.
To bring a different flavour to your root veggies or quinoa, use different spices. Try curry powder, thyme, or some BBQ spices.