
Even though it’s the dead of winter and all I want to do is crawl under the blankets with some hot cocoa and a chocolate bar, I’ve been making an extra effort to increase my veggie intake. The more veggies I eat, the more chocolate I can have, after all. It’s simple math. Some days it’s easy to forget how great I feel when I’m fueling my body with a rainbow of plants; they keep me sane during the cold, dreary days of winter. Food has this amazing power to influence my mood (much like exercise) and I often tell myself that feeling better is only a meal (or workout) away. It really is true! So keep this in mind if you are feeling the effects of a long winter like I am. Healthy eating begins with the very next meal…
I go through vegetable phases all the time. Right, now I’m hooked on cauliflower (enough to turn it into creamy alfredo which you seem to be enjoying a lot!), cabbage (via sauerkraut…lol), and sweet potatoes. Always sweet potatoes. This tasty lunch is something I threw together recently and I loved the combo so much I decided to share with you. The main event is an energizing black bean and sweet potato quinoa salad. The only thing I missed was a sliced avocado (I opened it up and it was all bruised…sigh), so if you have some around definitely throw it in.
In addition to the salad, I added roasted sweet potato rounds (because you can never have too much sweet potato on a cold winter day), roasted cauliflower, hemp hearts. and a big ‘ol scoop of hummus for good measure. Since I already had the salad made in advance, all I had to do was throw the veggies into the oven to roast while I tended to other things. It came together quite fast! Three cheers for leftovers.

This isn’t so much an exact recipe I’m sharing today, but more of a show and tell to hopefully inspire you to create your own. I lightly adapted one of my favourite quinoa salads from last year (see link below), and then added in other things to create a filling and feel-good lunch bowl! Oh by the way, as my sister discovered last weekend, this quinoa salad is also fantastic in a wrap with hummus and other veggies. A very good idea, I’d say!
For the bowl:
– Black Bean & Quinoa Salad (I made it with roasted sweet potato instead of carrots – loved this variation so much!)
– 1-2 cups chopped roasted cauliflower
– 1 sweet potato, sliced into rounds and roasted
– hummus, as needed to get your daily quota (the salad is so good mixed with some hummus, FYI)
– hemp hearts, for garnish (adds more protein and healthy fats…and let’s not forget edible confetti)
~~~
So there you have it. A mood-booster-in-a-bowl.
Is it spring yet?
Ohhhh yum. Pour over a bit of tahini sauce, and I am all over this. <3
Bonjour,
Is there a French version of your book?
Your recipe are only in English on the website…
It’s a shame! Everything looks so good.
I’m sad.
I will have to ask my editor if there will be translated versions. Thanks for your interest!
Thank you. Keep me informed. Please
Wow.wow.wow.
The title and photos caught my attention originally, and this evening I finally got around to making this for dinner. And, it was SO good, SO healthy and SO satisfying, I had to comment for the first time.
Mind you, I’ve been extremely impressed with most every recipe I’ve made of yours – you really have a gift for creating incredibly delicious, healthy recipes, like this one … that my not-so-into-vegan husband said was delicious, and both my little ones gobbled up happily!
I’m anxiously awaiting my (well, your) cookbook to arrive! :)
Thank you so much!
Do you use any oil to roast the vegetables?
Made this for dinner tonight, added mango to the black bean salad, gradually converting my husband to the vegan way of life! Have made many of your recipes over the past month or so and all turned out fantastically! Thanks so much for being so inspiring and proving food that promotes health doesn’t have to be boring!
I enjoy your blog.
dsmith
I made this today/night…..I would have to say its the best salad I’ve Ever tasted!! Thank you for uploading it!
New to this…..LOVE YOUR BLOG. So much goodness there.
made the squash burritos…LOVED them. WeIll be having that again this week. Couple questions…..
What is edible confetti.
How do you roast your cauliflower ?
Thanks so much!
I absolutely love you blog, for the past few months I have been trying to change my diet and your blog is a massive help. Thank You!
I made this for dinner tonight and love it! I love all the flavored together and the cumin dressing is awesome. Thanks for this recipe! I bought your book today and can’t wait to start trying everything.
lovely and cozy recipe!
Yum!! This bowl looks so good and like something I would eat for lunch everyday! Although where I live was about 80 degrees today, I could totally use a warm delicious meal like this! Also, I have that same notebook and use it to keep all my recipes in :)
I made this for dinner today (so it rather was a “feel good dinner bowl” lol) with just some tiny modifications. It tasted SO good! Thank you for this recipe, will definitely make this more often from now on!
I modified this recipe a bit, specifically buying a few of the ingredients and then throwing in some of what I already had on-hand. It is so delicious! I’ll definitely be putting this one into rotation, and it’s easily adaptable. I’m constantly trying to mix things up and keep the lunches that I bring to the office interesting, which can be challenging. Thank you for inspiring such a satisfying, colorful, vegan meal!
I’m so glad you’ve been enjoying the recipe, Shannon! I agree, it’s always great to keep meals interesting :)