The Perfect Whole30 Buddha Bowl
This colorful vegan Buddha Bowl is the perfect healthy lunch after the holidays! Packed full of delicious flavors and topped with a creamy avocado dressing, it's crunchy, creamy and filling!
It's the week after Christmas and let's be honest. We probably all indulged in too many cookies and rich food over the holidays. So this is the perfect dish for a healthy, fillling and delicious lunch!
A Buddha Bowl may look like a salad (and I'm putting it into that category as well) but it's more than that. It's kind of like the Superman of Salads! It oftern contains a kind of healthy grain like brown rice or quinoa but I decided to omit that in my version. I can assure you that I didn't miss it! It's a very filling meal without the grains and it makes it Whole30 friendly so it's a double win for me.
Other than lots of yummy vegetables, roasted or raw, the other standard ingredient that is always part of a Buddha Bowl is a kind of protein. Often it's chickpeas in some form or lentils but I have seen ones with eggs or chicken as well. Basically, you can use whichever protein you want but for the sake of the Buddha Bowl being a healthy meal, I suggest you choose a lean source of protein.
Personally, I love chickpeas. However, my husband can't really eat them so I don't cook with chickpeas much. Instead, I made a pea hummus here! Peas are so underrated and I really love them! I basically treated the peas like chickpeas and blended them with tahini, lemon juice, fresh coriander, olive oil and spices. I used one can of peas but it makes a lot so you will most likely not use everything for your two plates. Leftover hummus for later is always a win though!
The dressing I used here is my own recipe for Super Creamy Avocado Dressing. If you haven't tried it yet, please do! It's so easy to make and SO delicious! And as the name says, it's super creamy. I love it on all sorts of salads and it obviously works really well on this Buddha Bowl. It's basically avocado, coconut milk, lime juice, herbs and spices.
I only recently got on board the kale chips train and am now officially addicted! I make them either in the oven or in the airfryer. I'll probably post an airfryer version soon but I'm still working on perfecting it. When I made this recipe, I didn't own an airfryer yet so I made them in the oven which is totally fine (and easy) as well! Just watch them closely as they can become too brown very quickly. A little bit of brown is fine in my opinion but not more.
Kale Chips are so amazing! It's definitely a great subsitite for reguar chips cause they're sooooo crunchy and yummy!
Will you make this healthy and colorful bowl for lunch soon? Or how about my Roasted Veg Salad & Tahini Dressing?
This colorful vegan Buddha Bowl is the perfect healthy lunch after the holidays! Packed full of delicious flavors and topped with a creamy avocado dressing, it's crunchy, creamy and filling!
- 1 large sweet potato (700g)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 pound kale
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon chili powder
- 2 medium carrots
- 1 red pepper
- 1 can peas (400g)
- 1 bunch of fresh coriander
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon tahini
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/8 cup water
- 1 cup avocado dressing (see notes)
- sesame seeds (optional)
Pre-heat oven to 180°C (356°F). Cover a baking tray with parchment paper.
Peel and cube the sweet potato(es). Mix with olive oil, dried thyme, garlic powder and salt. Spread over the baking tray. Roast at 180°C (356°F) for 50 minutes.
After taking out the sweet potatoes, increase the oven temperature to 220°C (428°F).
For the kale chips, remove kale leaves from the stem, rip those into bigger pieces and mix with 2 tbsp olive oil in a big bowl. Massage the oil into the leaves (it makes them softer). Add the salt and chili powder and massage again. Roast at 220°C (428°F) for 5-7 minutes. Keep a close eye on them so they don't get too dark!
Peel and grate the carrots.
Cut the bell peppers into small pieces.
For the pea hummus, add drained can of peas, chopped bunch of coriander, lemon juice, tahini, salt, olive oil and water to a blender and blend until smooth.
Now it's time to plate! Divide the roasted sweet potato cubes between two plates. Add the grated carrot, chopped bell pepper, kale chips and pea hummus. Top with creamy avocado dressing (recipe links in Notes). Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Enjoy!
I used my Super Creamy Avocado Dressing as the dressing! You can find it here.
Pea hummus: it will likely be too much for this meal but if you have leftovers (we did), you can use it as a dip later!
