Recipe: Rainbow Roast Buddha Bowl {Super Easy, Vegan & GF}

Summary: I make this dish all the time and I never really thought about posting the recipe because it’s so simple. But my family are always asking about how I make it, so I’m posting this recipe for them. That’s the cool thing about having a blog, it becomes the family cook book. Plus it’s that time of year where the food vibe is a bit cleaner and veggie oriented. This is such a flavoursome way to get your veggies in! I love how tasty and easy this is to make, it’s become quite the go to on busy evenings. I often serve it with rice but it’s lovely on couscous or quinoa or polenta too. I tend to use one of those 250g pouches of 90 second rice or grains because it’s easy. Sometimes, I omit the chickpeas and put the veggie mix on pasta, it’s so good on filled pastas or the pulse pasta. It’s really a flexible dish that way.

If I see one of those packs of grill vegetable you can get in Coles on sale, I’ll use that instead of whole veggies. Even though I still have to do some chopping, it does speed up the process. The recipe is good guide but I will add that bit of capsicum that needs using or chuck in a few extra tomatoes or whatever needs using in the fridge. These are my ‘go to’ flavours thought the door is wide open and you can change it up as you like. You might want to add a little sauciness at the end, depending on how juicy the tomatoes are and how you like things. Sometimes, I sprinkle a tablespoon or two of vegan ‘chicken’ stock over the cooked veggies or mix in a little salsa or just finish the bowl with some sriracha. Sometimes, I just leave it as it is, it’s up to you! 

Ingredients

• 1 tblsp garlic olive oil
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp sweet paprika
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 zucchini
• 1 capsicum
• 1 red onion
• 1 (200g) punnet cherry tomatoes
• 1 (400g) can chickpeas, rinsed & drained
• 1 (250g) pouch 90 sec rice or grains

Instructions 

1. Set the oven to 180C to preheat while you prep and line a tray with baking paper. I like to rinse my chickpeas now, so they can drain while I’m doing the veggies.
2. In a large mixing bowl: add the oil, onion powder, cumin, paprika and salt. Stir well to combine and to allow the spices to hydrate a bit.
3. Chop the zucchini into half moons, the capsicum into smalish chunks, the red onion into quarters that are separated onto 1-2 layers and the cherry tomatoes into halves. Add the veggies to the oil mix as you chop.
4. Add the chickpeas to the bowl of oil and veggies and gently turn everything through until it’s coated with the spiced oil. Tip out everything on to the lined baking tray and bake for 30 – 45 mins depending on size of veggies.
5. When the timer goes off, check the veggies and see if you want to add some stock and add it if you want. Put it back in to the oven to keep warm while you microwave the rice.
6. Divide the rice between two bowls. Remove the roast veggies from the oven and spoon over the rice.