Bowl meals come by many names, Buddah bowls, power bowls, nourish bowls, grain bowls, etc., and are just about the easiest thing to make. You just toss everything into a bowl! The ratio of ingredients is what I like best about bowl meals, including this sweet potato kale quinoa bowl.
This bowl is not a kale salad, and it is not a quinoa salad either. It is truely a bowl meal that is balanced with grains and proteins, fresh vegetables and cooked vegetables, as well as crunchy and soft textures.
I used my favorite dressing, a red wine vinaigrette, and spiked it with a little extra garlic to really take the flavors of this bowl to the top.
The sweet potatoes are seasoned with just the right amount of spice to balance their sweetness and add a little heat to the bowl.
I was thinking about making this a vegan bowl, but I couldn’t resist adding a splash of feta. It’s salty and creamy flavors go a long way to making this bowl just a little bit richer.
Variations to the Sweet Potato Kale Quinoa Bowl recipe:
- Vegan: Swap the feta for diced avocado to add healthy fats as well as a creamy element.
- Grains: Quinoa can be swapped for any grain of choice. Try short grained brown rice, bulgar, or farro.
- Greens: Try spinach or arugula in place of the kale. Other greens will not need to be messaged.
- Ditch the bowl: Toss everything together with the dressing and roll it up in a wrap for a to-go meal.
- 1 large sweet potato, diced
- Splash olive oil
- ¼ tsp each: red pepper flake, chili powder, and black pepper
- ¼ cup quinoa
- ½ cup water
- 3 cups messaged kale
- 2 TBS each: red wine vinegar and olive oil
- 2 small or 1 large garlic clove, minced
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 cup black beans (from a can)
- ¼ cup roasted pepitas
- 2 TBS feta crumbles
- In a skillet, cook the sweet potato in a splash of olive oil until tender and starting to caramelize. Mix in red pepper flake, chili powder and black pepper. Remove from heat.
- Meanwhile, combine quinoa and water. Bring to a boil and simmer until all the liquid is absorbed. Let rest 5 minutes and fluff with a fork.
- In a small bowl or liquid measuring cup, whisk together red wine vinegar, olive oil, garlic, Dijon and salt.
- Layer kale, sweet potato, black beans and quinoa in two medium bowls. Drizzle with the dressing and toss. Top with pepitas and feta.
