Name: Tahini Veggie Brown Rice Bowls
Total time: 40 min
Ingredients: 1 cup quick cooking brown rice; 5 tbsp olive oil, divided; 1 yellow onion, diced; 2 carrots, diced; 2 zucchini or summer squash, diced; 1/2 tsp cumin; 1/4 tsp cayenne; 1/2 tsp salt, plus more to taste; 1/4 tsp pepper; 1 bunch broccolini, cut into thin strips, or 1 head broccoli cut into small florets; 1 small bunch Tuscan kale, stems removed and leaves cut into thin strips; 1/4 cup tahini; 1/4 cup lemon juice; 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt; 1 clove garlic, crushed; 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter or olive oil; 1/4 cup roughly chopped almonds or pistachios

I felt the need to cleanse a little this week. I don’t mean apple cider vinegar shots and bone broth cleanse (not really my thing)…just eating vegetable-heavy meals that are cooked simply. I generally like to eat healthy anyway, and I think it’s because A. healthy food tastes good when it’s done right B. eating clean makes my body feel good C. I don’t deprive myself. (It’s no secret I love my sweet treats). So I’ve been eating protein smoothies for breakfast, these veggie bowls for lunch, fish and chicken based dinners, with fruit and cheese snacks in between. And a chocolate chip cookie for dessert, because they make me happy and that’s especially important these days.

The original recipe for these bowls comes from the Food & Wine Staff Favorites cookbook, and it has A LOT of ingredients. It is also completely vegan. If that’s important to you, you can easily cut the dairy out of the version here (it’s just butter toasted almonds and yogurt in the dressing). I took out 3 or 4 of the vegetables and 1 of the grains, and found this to still be perfectly satisfying, and easier to put together. I also added some spices, because I wanted a little more flavor, and threw in some toasted almonds for some crunch.

There is enough time to cut your vegetables as you cook, just know you will have to keep it moving pretty steadily. You can cut the onion, carrot, and zucchini as soon as you put the rice on to boil. Then, once you start sautéing the onion, you can cut the broccoli and kale. Just keep everything separate: the vegetables all cook in the same big pan, but they get added one at a time.

Tahini Veggie Brown Rice Bowls

Recipe by Too Many SpoonsCourse: LunchCuisine: Rice

Servings

4-6

servings

Cost

Total time

minutes

Brown rice cooking times vary a lot, ranging from instant rice to the traditional 40 minutes or so. The kind I used took 30 minutes, but it might be safer to say just follow the package directions.
You can eat this cold or at room temp, though I prefer it warmed up a bit.

Ingredients

1 cup quick cooking brown rice
5 tbsp olive oil, divided
1 yellow onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
2 zucchini or summer squash, diced
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp salt, plus more to taste
1/4 tsp pepper
1 bunch broccolini, cut into thin strips, or 1 head broccoli cut into small florets
1 small bunch Tuscan kale, stems removed and leaves cut into thin strips
1/4 cup tahini
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 tbsp unsalted butter or olive oil
1/4 cup roughly chopped almonds or pistachios

Directions

Combine the rice with 1 3/4 cup water in a small saucepot and season generously with salt. Bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer, cover, and cook for about 30 minutes, until the water is absorbed and the rice is tender. When done, transfer the rice to a large bowl, stir in 2 tbsp olive oil, then set it aside to cool a little.
Meanwhile, heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. When hot, add the onion and cook for about 5 minutes, until soft and translucent.
Add the carrot to the pan, cooking about 5 minutes more, until the carrot starts to soften and the onion starts to brown. Add the zucchini, then season everything with the cumin, cayenne, salt, and pepper. Cook for 3-4 more minutes until everything is crisp-tender. If you prefer your vegetables softer, turn the heat down to medium low and keep cooking for 5 more minutes. Either way, when done, remove the contents of the pan to a bowl. (They will get added to the cooked rice, but that’s probably not done yet, so for now just keep it aside).
Add the remaining 1 tbsp olive oil to the same pan, then add the broccolini and cook for 5-6 minutes until it turns bright green, tossing it well to get all the sides cooked. Add the kale, and mix it around for a few minutes until it wilts. Season with salt and pepper. You can remove these now too, or just move the pan off the heat.
To make the dressing, whisk the tahini, lemon juice, yogurt, and garlic in a small bowl. The mixture will be pretty thick, so add about 1/4 cup warm water, whisking well, until you get a pourable consistency. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed.
In a small frying pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Toss the almonds in the butter for a few minutes until they start to brown-just 3 or 4 minutes should do it.
If you haven’t already, add the onion, carrot, and zucchini to the bowl with the cooked rice, and mix it together until they seem evenly distributed.
To serve, spoon about a cup of the rice mixture into a bowl. Top with some of the broccolini and kale, sprinkle the nuts over top, then finish with a drizzle of the tahini dressing.