Another day, another delicious bowl! This one is loaded with plant-protein and nutrient-dense veggies. Warm quinoa, roasted and charred carrots and cabbage, crunchy sweet apple or pear, and roasted chickpeas. It all gets drizzled with a simple maple dijon dressing and topped with crunchy toasty nuts and herbs. Basically, winter in a bowl!
Ingredient highlight
Cabbage! If you couldn’t tell, I eat a lot of cabbage, especially in the winter months. It’s delicious raw or cooked and it stays good in the fridge for eternity! It also happens to be also an excellent source of vitamin C, potassium, folic acid, vitamin B6, calcium, and magnesium to name a few.
Servings 4 People
Prep Time 5 minutes 
Cook Time 20 minutes 
Total Time 25 minutes Ingredients
- 1 cup quinoa (3 cups cooked)*
- 5 carrots, peeled and cut into ½-inch pieces (about 2 cups)
- ½ purple or green cabbage, thinly sliced (about 4 cups)
- 2 (15 oz) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 3 tbsp olive oil, divided
- 1 tsp kosher salt, divided
- 1 apple or pear, cored and chopped into bite-sized pieces
- ½ cup toasted pecans or walnuts
- ½ cup cilantro, parsley, or sliced scallions, for garnish
For the dressing:
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard
- 1 tsp maple syrup
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
- *How-to cook perfect quinoa
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425F or 400F convection. Line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a medium pot, add the quinoa and 1 ½ cups of water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes, or until the water is absorbed. Let sit for 5 minutes, then fluff it up with a fork and set aside.
- Add the carrots to one half of one baking sheet, and cabbage to the other half. Add the chickpeas to the second baking sheet. Use a kitchen towel to dry the chickpeas off a bit. Drizzle the carrots and cabbage with 2 tablespoons of oil and the chickpeas with 1 tablespoon of oil. Sprinkle each baking sheet with ½ teaspoon salt. Toss everything separately to coat.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the vegetables are golden/charred in spots and the chickpeas are starting to turn golden. The chickpeas may be done sooner than the vegetables.
- Make the dressing by adding all ingredients to a jar with a tight-fitting lid. Shake vigorously to combine.
- Add quinoa, roasted veggies, chickpeas, and chopped apple or pear to your bowl. Drizzle generously with the maple dijon dressing and top with toasted pecans or walnuts and herbs.
Items you can prep ahead (optional)
- Cook 1 cup quinoa
- Roast carrot, cabbage, and chickpeas
- Make maple dijon dressing
- Toast ½ cup pecans or walnuts
Substitutions:
- Any grain can be substituted for quinoa
- Easily substitute any roasted veggies for the carrot and cabbage
- Not into the roasted chickpea thing? Just use plain old drained and rinsed chickpeas or any other legume
- Skip the chickpeas and add shredded chicken or sliced steak to up the protein.
Storage:
- Store the components separately in airtight containers in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Leftovers + Repurposing:
- Warm up your quinoa, roasted veggies, and chickpeas. Add your chopped apple, dressing, and crunchy herby toppings.
- Mix and match the components of the two bowls this week. It all works together!
leave your comments!