Great for a packed lunch or veggie-packed dinner, these autumn harvest bowls are made with a base of chickpeas, quinoa, sweet potato, and massaged kale. Topped with a creamy balsamic dressing, they're the cozy bowl you need for cold weather.
For some more belly-warming meals, try my vegan potato leek soup, cozy vegan baked beans, and weeknight staple easy vegan red lentil dal.
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Ingredients
While it looks like a lot, the ingredients can be changed up to suit what you have on hand and most are pantry staples. See more on this below.
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
- Kale: substitute another hardy green like chard (massaged too) or use arugula or spinach and skip the massaging step.
- Quinoa: cooked wild rice is a great sub for the quinoa.
- Chickpeas: white beans can replace the chickpeas if preferred. Canned is outlined in the recipe card but you can also cook beans in the oven.
- Apple: try pear in place of the apple if preferred.
- Dressing: while the balsamic vinaigrette is a perfect match with the fall flavours here, you can try nutritional yeast dressing if you want something a little cheesy.
How to Make Harvest Bowls
Step 1: add the kale and salt to a mixing bowl.
Step 2: use your hands to massage the salt in until the kale softens, and set aside.
Step 3: cut the sweet potato and add it to a baking sheet with the chickpeas and seasonings.
Step 4: bake for half an hour, stirring halfway through. Assemble your bowl and serve.
Top Tips
- Multitask: while the sweet potato and chickpeas are in the oven, you have time to cook the quinoa, make the dressing, and prepare the other toppings. That way everything is ready in just over half an hour.
- Add the extras: don't skip the add-ins! The seeds, fruit, and cheese take this from okay to extraordinary. Use vegan feta or sheep's cheese if you eat dairy.
- Use what you have: consider this to be a jumping off point to make your own seasonal harvest bowls. Pumpkin, walnuts, rice, and any greens you have on hand can all be used. Think about the balance (sweet, savoury, crunchy, soft) and incorporate those elements.
How to Store
Storage: this is best fresh, but can be kept in a sealed container in the fridge for a couple days and isn't bad cold or at room temperature.
Freezing: I don't recommend freezing this recipe.
FAQ
Do I need to peel sweet potato?
Nope! It's a great source of nutrition and you'll hardly notice it's there. Unnecessary peeling of fruits and vegetables also contribute a lot to needless food waste, so you have lots of reasons to keep the skin on!
Does quinoa need to be rinsed?
Most quinoa we get in North America is pre-rinsed, removing the bitter saponins from the grains. If you're not sure, you can give it a quick rinse before use, but the package will usually say.
Why do I need to massage kale?
While you don't need to massage kale to eat it, doing so improves the texture and just makes it a little easier to chew.
More Vegetarian Dinner Recipes
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Recipe
Autumn Harvest Bowls
Equipment
- Baking sheet
- lidded pot
- Mixing bowl
Ingredients
- 1 can chickpeas 19 oz. can, drained and rinsed
- 1 medium sweet potato cut into ½-inch cubes (about 3 cups)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- Few springs thyme
- ½ cup quinoa
- ½ crisp apple chopped
- 1 bunch kale shredded
- ¼ cup toasted pumpkin seeds
- ¼ cup feta
- 2 tablespoons dried cranberries
- 1 batch creamy balsamic dressing
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Add the chickpeas, sweet potato, oil, salt, garlic powder, and thyme to a baking sheet and toss to combine. Roast for 30 minutes, stirring once halfway through the cooking time.1 can chickpeas, 1 medium sweet potato, 2 tablespoons olive oil, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, Few springs thyme
- In the meantime, cook the quinoa according to package instructions. It should take about 15 minutes.½ cup quinoa
- Massage the kale with a sprinkle of salt, using your hands until the leaves are softened.1 bunch kale
- Once the chickpeas and sweet potato are ready, assemble your bowls. Divide the quinoa and chickpea mix between two bowls, and top with the kale, apple, pumpkin seeds, crumbled feta, and dried cranberries. Mix with the dressing and serve warm.½ crisp apple, ¼ cup toasted pumpkin seeds, ¼ cup feta, 2 tablespoons dried cranberries, 1 batch creamy balsamic dressing
Sophie, I made this tonight for dinner for 6 people and it was such a hit!! All the flavours combined so well together. I made the chickpeas a little spicy and it was perfect. Having this for lunch and dinner again tomorrow! Thank you!!
Ah, that is so wonderful to hear, Avvai! I was literally just thinking about you today!! I hope you're doing well 💖💕