Winter Vegetable Buddha Bowl
This hearty and healthy Buddha bowl is full of tender farro and roasted winter vegetables like fennel, sweet potatoes and beets with crisp apple, crunchy almonds and sweet & tangy balsamic vinaigrette.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
For the salad
- 1 cup pearled farro, uncooked
- 1 large sweet potato (about 12 oz.), peeled and diced into ½ in. pieces
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 4 medium beets (about 12 oz.), peeled and diced into ¾ in. pieces
- olive oil, to taste
- salt & pepper, to taste
- 1 medium fennel bulb, diced into ¾ in. pieces
- 1 medium red onion, peeled and diced into 1 in. pieces
- 3 oz. baby spinach
- 1 medium honeycrisp apple, diced into ½ in. pieces
- 3 tablespoon sliced almonds
For the dressing
- ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ⅛ teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400ºF. Add sweet potato pieces to a large bowl and sprinkle with cornstarch, toss well to coat. Drizzle with olive oil and salt & pepper to taste and toss well to coat. Line a sheet pan with foil, spray well with nonstick spray and spread sweet potatoes over half of the pan. Toss beets with olive oil and salt & pepper to taste and spread over the other half of the pan. Roast for 40-45 minutes, stirring about halfway through the cooking time, until the sweet potatoes are cooked through and crisp on the outside and the beets are tender.
- Meanwhile, bring 1 ¾ cups water to a boil in a small pot. Rinse farro in a fine mesh sieve until water runs clear, and add to the boiling water along with 1 teaspoon kosher salt. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for about 30 minutes, until water is absorbed and farro is tender.
- Line another sheet pan with foil and spray well with nonstick spray. Toss fennel with olive oil and salt & pepper to taste and spread over half of the pan. Toss onion with olive oil and salt & pepper to taste and spread over the other half of the pan. Roast for 30-35 minutes, stirring about halfway through the cooking time, until the fennel and onions are tender.
- In a small measuring cup or bowl, add dressing ingredients and whisk well to combine.
- In a bowl, add cooked farro and about ⅓ of the dressing. Stir well to combine. Divide farro, roasted veggies, spinach and apple evenly between individual serving bowls. Drizzle with remaining dressing and top with almonds.
Notes
To make the most of your time while making this recipe, start cooking the sweet potatoes and beets first since they take the longest, start the farro soon after, and then add the fennel and onion about 10 minutes after you put the sweet potato and beets in. This will help all of your elements finish cooking at about the same time.
To get crispy sweet potatoes, don't skip the cornstarch and spray the baking sheet well with nonstick spray. When you go to turn them don't force it...they will release from the pan on their own when they've developed a nice crispy layer.