VEGAN QUINOA BOWL WITH AVOCADO SAUCE {GF}

Vegan quinoa bowl with Roasted Veggies and Avocado Sauce is made with oven roasted beets, sweet potatoes, cauliflower, asparagus and pan toasted chickpeas, served over a fluffy bed of quinoa and drizzled with a creamy and flavorful avocado dressing. The ultimate feel good meal. Gluten Free & Vegan.

Vegan Quinoa bowl topped with roasted veggies and avocado sauce
This vegan quinoa bowl is new favorite meal right now..

And I literally mean favorite. This vegan quinoa bowl with roasted veggies and avocado sauce is the ultimate healthy, nourishing and feel good meal.

Probably one of the healthiest things I’ve ever made. And for that to be one of the most delicious too is pretty much the best combination ever. Don’t you just love when healthy food is actually super delicious? So often I feel like healthy food can get a bad rap and so many people frequently opt for junk food or just food that isn’t healthy instead. But this doesn’t have to be the case. What I love about this vegan quinoa bowl is that it ticks both the healthy and the tasty box at the same time. This is the kind of nourishing meal our bodies need.

One of the highlights in these bowls for me is the roasted beets. All the beet haters out there simply must not have ever tried roasted beets. Beets take on a whole new dimension and taste profile when roasted. Something magical happens to them in the oven and I cannot believe I have never roasted them before.

Even though beets are such a prominent ingredient in Russian cooking I rarely cook with them, and when I do I just boil them. That is definitely not the way that the beet flavors really shine.

So this recipe came to me when D and I had rented an apartment for a few days in Vancouver so that I could catch up on some cooking. Well naturally I went way way overboard at the grocery store and bought $200 worth of groceries for a 4 day stay.

Yep, I’m insane and pretty much need to be kept on a tight leash at the grocery store. All my friends already know this about me – pretty much forcing me to write out a list and keep to it any time they go to the store with me. But I just can’t seem to control myself in there! It’s my dream shopping experience – running around a grocery store and grabbing everything in sight. Tell me I’m not alone? Any one else enjoy grocery shopping as much as I do?

So naturally I needed to find a way to use up the obscene amount of groceries I had in the fridge staring at me with guilt inducing eyes every time I opened that fridge door.

What to do with a full pound of asparagus, three beets, a head of cauliflower and one sweet potato?

Roast ’em all. First off they all shrivel in size a bit, making them less daunting to eat, and second of all they will taste ah-mazing in any vegan quinoa bowl you make.

Seriously roasted veggies = the best things ever. Lightly crispy, smoky, caramelized, ah they are the best. You can feel free to use your favorite veggies here. I opted for cauliflower, asparagus, beets, chickpeas and sweet potatoes. Beets when caramelized take on an almost sweet quality which is quite pleasant and surprising at the same time. Asparagus also gets crisped up a bit and nicely charred which I love. And cauliflower is a classic roasted veggie that I simply cannot live without.

The chickpeas are just added for good measure – and these can be tossed into the oven too or lightly pan fried on the stove top is your baking trays are already full to the brim with the veggies.

Then I got the blender to work with a creamy dreamy avocado sauce.

I could barely contain my excitement in the kitchen. This vegan quinoa bowl is just oozing vitamins and nutrients. And there is an endless variety of toppings for these. You could top the quinoa with pesto brussel sprouts, broccoli steaks, a vegan mushroom stir fry, – you get the idea.

Just whatever you do, do not skip out on the avocado sauce. If you’re feeling lazy and don’t want to get the blender out and going, and just want to chop up a few avocados – don’t. Put the blender to work and make a full batch of this avocado sauce. You will actually most likely want to make a double batch – I promise you’re going to love this sauce. It also happens to work perfectly on just about anything else too – as a salad dressing, topping for a Mexican themed rice night, you name, the avocado sauce can handle it.

So for your next dinner, treat your body to a delicious vegan quinoa bowl. I promise you’ll love them.

And if you love these then I know you’ll also love my vegan avocado quinoa pineapple salad, sweet potato tofu burger, sweet potato and chickpea salad, and my vegan quinoa roasted veggie buddha bowls with creamy pesto tahini sauce. Or for other vegan recipe ideas be sure to check out my round up with vegan zoodle recipes.

Basically if you love this recipe we can be the best of friends best it proves you have excellent taste in food! Just kidding.

I honestly hope you’ll enjoy this vegan quinoa bowl as much as I do. With somuch health and goodness in one bowl these are simply hard to resist!

Vegan Quinoa Bowl with Roasted Veggies and Avocado Sauce {Gluten-Free}

Vegan Quinoa Bowl with Roasted Veggies and Avocado Sauce made with oven roasted beets, sweet potatoes, cauliflower, asparagus and pan toasted chickpeas, served over a fluffy bed of quinoa and drizzled with a creamy and flavorful avocado dressing. The ultimate feel good meal. Gluten Free & Vegan.

Ingredients
1 cup quinoa
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
2 cups vegetable broth
3 beets peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
1 large or 2 small sweet potatoes peeled and cut into 2 inch cubes
2 head cauliflower cut into florets
1 pound asparagus thick ends cut off
salt to taste
few tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 and 1/2 cups chickpeas
For the dressing:
1/2 avocado
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1-2 cloves garlic minced
1/4 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup water or more depending on desired consistency
salt to taste
Instructions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Heat pot over medium heat, add 2 teaspoon olive oil and quinoa. Toast for a few minutes until quinoa starting to brown. Add vegetable broth, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered 15-20 minutes until quinoa cooked through.
Separately toss each of the veggies with a drizzle of olive oil (just to coat them) and salt to taste.
Place in single layer on baking sheet and roast in preheated oven until cooked through. The beets and sweet potatoes with need 40-45 minutes, the asparagus will need 20 minutes and the cauliflower will need 25 mins.
Heat pan over medium heat and add 1 teaspoon olive oil. Add chickpeas and toast until browned.

In a blender combine the ingredients for the dressing and process until smooth.
Recipe Notes
Calories 773 % Daily Value* Total Fat 36.3g 56% Saturated Fat 8.1g 41% Cholesterol 0g 0% Sodium 190.9mg 8% Total Carbohydrate 95.6g 32% Dietary Fiber 21.1g 84% Sugars 18.2g Protein 25g 50% Vitamin A 50% Vitamin C 183% Calcium 17% Iron 56%