This Quick Quinoa Veggie Bowl is the perfect throw together meal for a speedy lunch or even dinner if you’d rather. It’s versatile too for using what leftovers you may have on hand.
As we all know, we get to times in the year when we are just in a breakfast, lunch, or dinner rut! So, this month’s Recipe Redux is all about getting out of the lunch rut with some new and fun ideas. Once we read the theme for the month which is “Limpin’ Along for Lunch” (isn’t that cute!), Ann immediately assigned me the task because I am the queen of the “Lunch Bowl,” which I pretty much make every single day…including the weekends!
I know what you are thinking…BOWLS, BOWLS, BOWLS…they are everywhere. They are the new hot rage for foodies whether it be a breakfast bowl, lunch bowl, dinner bowl…or maybe even a snack bowl. I have not seen the snack bowl yet — guess that means we need to come up with one. Last month, our Recipe Redux post was an Egg, Avocado, & Spinach Oatmeal Bowl so we are bowl crazy here.
But now, we re-focus on my killer lunch bowl that are usually vegetarian and are made up of the following 7 core ingredients:
- A grain with lots of nutritive value (e.g. whole wheat couscous, quinoa, freekah, brown rice, farro or wheatberrries)
- Lots and lots of vegetables
- Sun-dried tomatoes
- Feta cheese
- Pine Nuts
- Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
- Kosher Salt and Ground Black Pepper
The grains and vegetables are usually the leftovers that are in my refrigerator. But, I will say that my “leftovers” are planned. I do not just hope that I have some vegetables and grains ready. I purposefully cook my dinners with extra vegetables and grains so that I will have leftovers.
The greatest part about any bowl is that you can mix and match everything. You can change the cheese and use parmesan or some other cheese you like. You don’t fancy pine nuts. No problem. Just swap those out for some slivered almond or walnuts. I have also bought some infused olive oils just to add a little extra flare every once in a while. I love the lemon-infused olive oils the best.
[bctt tweet=”Versatile and Fresh…The Quick Quinoa Veggie Bowl never disappoints! #healthy ” username=”MyMenuPal”]
Quick Quinoa Veggie Bowl
Ingredients
- 1 1/3 cups water
- 2/3 cup uncooked multicolored quinoa
- Kosher salt to taste
- Ground black pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup sliced sundried tomatoes
- 1 cup broccoli, chopped
- 1 cup carrots, sliced
- 1 avocado, diced
- 1/2 cup feta cheese
- 1/4 cup pine nuts
- 4 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, bring the water to a boil. Add the quinoa to the boiling water. Cover and reduce heat to low and simmer for 12-15 minutes, or until tender and all liquid is absorbed. Fluff with a fork. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- While quinoa is cooking, place broccoli in microwavable bowl with 1 tablespoon water and cook for 5 minutes or until desired tenderness.
- Build your bowl by starting with 1/2 cup of cooked quinoa in each, then topping with 2 tablespoons sundried tomatoes, 1/4 cup broccoli, 1/4 cup carrots and 1/4 of the avocado. Drizzle with 1 teaspoon olive oil and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons feta cheese and 1 tablespoon pine nuts.
Notes
- If you want more flavor for your quinoa, cook in vegetable or chicken stock instead of water.
- Carrots and broccoli may be steamed or roasted in the oven with olive oil if you prefer. To roast broccoli and carrots, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Toss vegetables with a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Place on baking sheet and roast until golden brown, about 20 minutes.
- Add edamame, bell peppers, peas or any other vegetable you love for more variety.
- Add tofu, egg, or a meat for an additional protein source.
- You can also swap out the quinoa with brown rice, farro, freekah, black bean pasta or couscous.
Nutrition
