Spring Veggie Bowl with Spicey Chickpeas & Ginger-Miso Dressing (V/GF/Oil-free)

It’s finally farmer’s market season again!!  That means that our fridge is stock-full of seasonal vegetables 🙂  It’s amazing how different locally grown, organic vegetables taste from store bought .  Sometimes I have a hard time convincing myself to snack on raw veggies because I have such a sweet tooth, but when I have market fresh cucumbers, tomatoes, mixed greens, and in this case, eggplant and zucchini, it’s easy to get my full servings of veggies in one day.  I threw this recipe together last week.  I wanted something that was filling but was chalk-full of nutrients, and was not too heavy.  This is a great recipe to use as meal prep early in the week as there will be lots of leftover quinoa and chickpeas.  You could even double up the amount of roasted veggies to make sure you have lots of food to take for lunches during the week.

Prep time: 15-20 mins

Cook time: 50 mins

Assembly: 5 mins

Makes 4 – 5 servings

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup dried chickpeas (to reduce cook time, soak overnight or for 8 hours prior to cooking)
• 2 cups water
• Garlic salt
• Red pepper flakes
• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 cups water
• 1 small eggplant
• 1/2 medium zucchini
• 6 large white mushrooms (could sub 2 portobellos)
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp fenugreek

Dressing:

• 2 tbsp of the juice from the roast veggies
• 1 tbsp finely chopped ginger
• 2 cloves of minced garlic
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp miso paste
• 1 tsp maple syrup
• 1 tbsp water

Optional:

• Mixed Greens
• Top with Freshly chopped basil or cilantro (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
2. Cook 1/2 cup of dried chickpeas in 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil, turn down heat to a simmer and let cook for 40-50 mins.
3. Once the chickpeas are tender, drain them and return them to the pot. Sprinkle on garlic salt and red pepper flakes; mix well so that all the chickpeas are coated.
4. While the chickpeas are cooking, start the quinoa: cook 1 cup of quinoa in 2 cups of water for 20-25 mins or until all water is absorbed.
5. Once both the chickpeas and the quiona are cooking, prep your veggies: cut eggplant and zucchini into 1 cm thick disks and cut mushrooms into quarters.
6. Add veggies to a medium mixing bowl, mix in cumin and fenugreek. Mix until veggies are evenly coated.
7. Transfer veggies to a baking dish that is a couple inches deep, and bake covered for 25 mins.
8. Once the veggies are cooked and have cooled for 5 mins, transfer them back into the mixing bowl with a slotted spoon, saving the juice in the baking dish – we use this for the dressing.
9. To make the dressing, pour the leftover veggie juice in a small bowl.  Add minced ginger, garlic, lemon juice, miso paste, maple syrup and water and whisk together.

Assembly:

1. In a bowl, add 1/2 cup of cooked quinoa, and a large handful of fresh mixed greens.
2. Top quinoa and greens with roasted veggies and chickpeas.
3. Drizzle on dressing and garnish with freshly chopped herbs. Enjoy!