Chinese five spice powder is a delicious blend of warm spices, including things like cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg! I love pairing these warming flavors with bright citrus in this five spice chickpea clementine buddha bowl!
Before we move on, lets talk about the buddah bowl. It has become a popular name for vegetarian or vegan dish served in a single bowl. Usually you see a combination of whole grains, plant based proteins, veggies, and sometimes fruit!
In my buddah bowl, I used a base of brown rice. I already had a batch cooked to use in meals throughout the week. Really, any grain could be used. I recommend sticking with something that has texture.
My plant based protein included chickpeas, which I lightly pan fried with Chinese five spice powder. Top this bowl with citrus, like clementines, and veggies. I used broccoli and mushrooms, but again, almost anything would work well!
Tips and tricks for the Five Spice Chickpea Clementine Buddha Bowl recipe:
- Pan frying the chickpeas makes them crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside. It also gives the five spice powder an opportunity to get toasted and deepen in flavor!
- I roasted my veggies because it’s winter and I’ll use any excuse to turn on the oven! If you want to speed things up, you could microwave, or steam in a pan. Some veggies could also be served raw, such as cabbage.
- Don’t forget to make the sauce! It keeps the bowl moist and unifies the flavors. I made a simple dressing with clementine juice, olive oil, and soy sauce.
- 1½ cups chickpeas (1 can drained and rinsed)
- 1 TBS minced ginger
- 2 tsp reduced sodium tamari
- 1 tsp five spice powder
- 3 cups chopped broccoli (stems and florets)
- Splash olive oil
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- 4 oz portabella mushrooms, sliced
- 2 large clementines
- 2 TBS olive oil, divided
- 1 TBS reduced sodium tamari
- 3 cups cooked brown rice
- Preheat oven to 400 F.
- Combine chickpeas with ginger, 2 tsp tamari and five spice powder. Let this sit while you prep everything else.
- Toss broccoli with a splash olive oil and sea salt. Spread onto half of a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Spread the mushrooms on the other half of the baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven.
- Cut one clementine in half and squeeze the juice out into a small bowl. Add 1 TBS olive oil, and 1 TBS tamari. Whisk to combine.
- Remove the peel from the remaining 1½ clementines and slice. Set aside.
- Add soaked chickpeas to a large skillet with remaining 1 TBS olive oil. Saute over medium high heat stirring occasionally for 5 minutes, or until just starting to brown.
- Add cooked rice to the bottom of 3 bowls. Top with roasted broccoli, mushrooms, toasted chickpeas, sliced clementines, and drizzle with the clementine juice sauce.
Recipe inspired by Cooking Light.
