Fall Quinoa Bowl
A colorful and nutritious quinoa bowl with fall vegetables, mushrooms, chickpeas, and spices.
This heartwarming meal is vegan and gluten free.
Which flavors ?
For the vegetables, I used carrots, red onion and acorn squash, but you can definitely substitute them with what you like or have in your fridge, for example :
Broccoli or cauliflower instead of carrots (cook for 10 minutes) ;
Pumpkin or butternut squash instead of acorn squash ;
Roasted Brussels sprouts instead of mushrooms.
Nuts and dried fruits work well too in quinoa bowls ! Hazelnuts or pecans for some crunchiness and dried cranberries or raisins if you like sweet and savory flavors.
I added cinnamon and cumin in the vegetable broth, you could also use ground coriander, chili or turmeric.
How to cook quinoa?
Quinoa is a great gluten free ingredient that is full of protein and nutrients. There are several varieties that you can choose from, all listed in the blog Simply Quinoa, which also guides you on different ways to cook it.
Before cooking, rinse quinoa in cold water to remove the bitterness located on the outer coating of the grain.
Quinoa requires twice its volume of water to cook on the stove. I used the broth from the vegetables to cook the quinoa. Make sure that your broth is not too salty as the quinoa is going to absorb it all. If it is, do half water half broth.
Once the water or broth is boiling, cook the quinoa for about 12 minutes, until the water is absorbed. Remove from the stove and cover with a lid for 10 minutes to let it puff.
Be organized and don’t waste
Organization is key to not wasting time and money.
You want to cook the vegetables first so that you can reuse the broth to cook the quinoa. Keep the vegetables warm while cooking the quinoa at the same time as roasting the chickpeas and mushrooms.
You’ll have to adjust the quantity of salt depending on the type of broth you’re using. My preference is to leave some sea salt on the table when serving so that everyone can season to taste.
Since I don’t like wasting food, I keep the leftover broth to make a soup or cook rice with. I also use the chickpea water (aquafaba) to make eggless meringues or macarons.
Fall Quinoa Bowl
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cup squash (200 g)
- 1 red onion
- 3 carrots
- 8 oz button mushrooms (227 g)
- 1 cup chickpeas (150 g)
- 4 cups vegetable broth (1 L)
- ½ tsp cumin powder
- ¼ tsp cinnamon powder
- olive oil
- 1 cup quinoa
- fresh parsley or coriander
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a pot, bring the vegetable broth, cumin and cinnamon to a boil.
- Peel and cut the squash and onion in big pieces, and the carrots in slices.
- When the broth starts boiling, put the carrots and onion in, and wait for 5 minutes before adding the acorn squash, cook for another 10 minutes.
- Drain over a bowl to get back the broth that you're going to use to cook the quinoa. Keep the vegetables warm.
- Rinse the quinoa twice to remove the bitterness and bring to a boil 2 cups of broth in a small pot.
- Pour the quinoa in the broth and cook for 12 minutes. Remove from the stove and cover with a lid for 10 minutes, allowing the quinoa to puff.
- Peel and cut the mushrooms in four.
- In a non stick frying pan, heat up some olive oil on medium heat and roast the chickpeas (about 5 minutes). Set aside
- Roast the mushrooms in the same pan, season with salt and pepper.
- Put the quinoa in bowls, with the vegetables, mushrooms, chickpeas, and some parsley or coriander leaves on top.
Notes
Make sure that your broth is not too salty as the quinoa is going to absorb it all. If it is, do half water half broth.
Keep the leftover broth to make a soup or cook rice with. And use the chickpea water (aquafaba) to make a vegan chocolate mousse or macarons.
Calories are per one serving of the recipe.