I’m always craving food that’s simple, healthy, and delicious. In the world of healthy food, (and the world of Pinterest because as you probably know, I’m obsessed), one food trend I love and had been wanting to try is the Buddha Bowl! They’re called Buddha Bowls because they’re so full that they’re rounded like a buddha’s belly! Buddha Bowls are filling meals packed with hearty veggies, and there’s really no limit to what you can do with a Buddha Bowl. I guarantee you can find a Buddha Bowl recipe with all your favorite veggies, and it’s super fun to mix and match different recipes too to create something that’s all your own!

To get myself started in the Buddha Bowl craze, I decided to try Minimalist Baker’s Sweet Potato Chickpea Buddha Bowl (recipe here)! I headed to Whole Foods for the gorgeous produce I used in this dish. Whole Foods is definitely pricier than your average supermarket, but I love to shop there when I need something unique or when I know I want extra great quality produce to be the star of a dish. And since the beautiful veggies are the superstars here, Whole Foods was definitely the way to go!

I mean, look at how enormous those sweet potatoes are! Spending a little bit extra for organic veggies once in awhile definitely pays off, but I was a little peeved that Whole Foods didn’t have any broccolini (broccoli’s cooler little cousin), so I had to use broccoli instead. #foodieprobs. Broccoli’s great too though, so it’s all good.

This dish was so incredibly easy to make. All the vegetables have different cooking times, but essentially the bulk of the work for this recipe is chopping them up, throwing them in a pan, and roasting them. Easy peasy!

The veggies involved here were sweet potatoes, broccoli, kale, and red onions. Yummm!

Then you fry the chickpeas with a super yummy spice blend, throw together the only-four-ingredient tahini sauce, and assemble these bowls, and you’re ready for Buddha Bowl heaven!

I was so happy with the way this meal came out! Roasting vegetables really brings out all the wonderful natural flavors inside, which don’t need any more seasoning than the sprinkle of salt and pepper and drizzle of olive oil that the recipe calls for. The chickpeas are such little gems of flavor! I ended up making too many chickpeas, so I saved them in a container in the fridge and proceeded to snack on them constantly throughout the week! The chickpeas are great both  in the dish and on their own! The tahini sauce on top was well balanced by the nutty, earthiness from the tahini, mixed with bright lemon juice, and sweetened with maple syrup. A generous drizzle of the simple but perfect tahini sauce was a perfect addition to the delicious veggies in the Buddha Bowl, and it totally tied everything together.

My Buddha Bowl left me very satisfied, and proved to even my meat-loving dad that veggies can indeed be a filling meal. Simple, healthy, delicious, and oh so trendy. How can you not love it?

Enjoy! 🙂 Love, The Perky Foodie