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This is a popular recipe that was previously published on Robust Recipes. I have updated for a better experience. Enjoy!
Hey friends, anyone else here struggle with eating salads during the winter?
Give me all the salads all summer long please! But come winter the last thing I want is a pile of cold leaves and veggies. Yet, my body still craves all of the veggies a good salad provides.
Let’s re-think that cold salad situation and instead roast some veggies and pile them on top of some warm quinoa alongside a hard boiled egg. The result is a hearty, warming veggie packed bowl that will make you feel all warm and cozy inside.
Which is very needed this winter with the crazy amounts of snow and freezing cold we are having. Yes?!
A Buddha bowl is a bowl that is mounding with veggies, much like the appearance of a Buddha’s belly.
It’s a trendy food thing, just go with it, okay?!
I just love the roasted, crispy Brussels sprouts with the tender, silky roasted eggplant (an underestimated vegetable), on top of the fluffy quinoa, with crunchy sunflower seeds, hard boiled eggs, and all drizzled with a simple tangy apple cider vinaigrette. So filling, so healthy – like a hug in a bowl!
Best part is that this roasted Brussels sprouts eggplant Buddha bowl only takes 30 minutes to make!!! Perfect for busy weeknight dinners.
They are naturally gluten free, vegetarian, and dairy free. You could easily keep the Buddha bowl vegan by omitting the hard boiled eggs and using the quinoa and sunflower seeds as your protein sources. Pile on those sunflower seeds!!!
When I decided to update this Buddha bowl recipe it was so I could share nicer looking photos on my social media channels of an already fairly popular post. What I ended up doing was changing the recipe slightly so that it was both easier to make, and more of a rib-sticking dish.
Originally I made the Buddha bowls with Swiss chard as the base and also roasted up some sliced leeks and whole garlic cloves along with the eggplant and Brussels sprouts. This time around I swapped the lettuce for the quinoa to bulk the meal up a little. The quinoa provides extra protein and healthy carbs that are needed for a balanced meal.
Also the quinoa allowed me to suggest an easy way to make these Buddha bowls vegan while still providing a good amount of protein. I love providing flexible recipes.
I also decided to leave out the roasted leeks and garlic…too many pans to manage Simple, is best, don’t you agree? The result was a filling Buddha bowl that I enjoyed even more than the original version.
Also, I realized how confusing my recipe instructions were. Oh man, even I was confused haha. Practice over the years has made for great improvement.
That’s what so great about a blog. I can always come back to tweak and perfect older recipes to provide even better content for you.
Don’t worry though, if you’ve made this recipe before and liked the Swiss chard and the roasted leeks and garlic you can certainly add those back in – I have provided the instructions for how to do that in the notes below.
I hope you enjoy these roasted Brussels sprouts eggplant Buddha bowl as much as we do. They’re perfect for a healthy, hearty quick weeknight dinner, or even for a weekend lunch.
A meal that’s warming and packed with veggies?! Yes, I’m in!
Brussels Sprouts Eggplant Buddha Bowl
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 30 mins
- Yield: 2 to 3 1x
- Category: entree, bowl, salad, 30 minutes, healthy, superfood
- Cuisine: gluten free, dairy free, vegetarian, vegan
Description
Brussels Sprouts Eggplant Buddha Bowl – Warm roasted veggies piled on top of quinoa! SO YUM! An easy & healthy recipe! Vegetarian/gluten free!
Ingredients
- Veggies for the bowl
- 1 pound Brussels sprouts, trimmed and cut in half (or quartered if large)
- 1 eggplant, cut into 1 inch chunks
- 2 tablespoons olive oil or avocado oil
- salt and pepper
- Quinoa
- 1 cup raw quinoa
- 2 cups filtered water (or use chicken or veggie broth for more flavor)
- Dressing
- 2 to 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 to 2 tablespoon honey
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 clove garlic, pressed or minced
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- Optional toppings
- 4 to 6 hard boiled eggs, sliced (see notes)
- roasted sunflower seeds
- green onions, sliced
Instructions
- Prepare: Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Cut your veggies as instructed above.
- Roast the veggies: Place the eggplant and Brussels sprouts on a large rimmed baking sheet. Toss with the olive oil, salt, and pepper until well coated. Spread the veggies out in an even layer so that they aren’t too crowded, make sure the Brussels sprouts are cut side down. Roast for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the Brussels sprouts are charred and fork tender and the eggplant is tender. If the veggies are done roasting before you are ready to assemble your bowls you can keep them in the oven with the heat off to keep warm.
- Cook the quinoa: Place the quinoa and water in a small sauce pot with a tight fitting lid – place lid on pot and allow the quinoa to come to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and allow it to simmer, with the lid on, for 15 minutes, or until most of the water has been absorbed. Remove from the heat and fluff with a fork, keep warm in the pot until ready to use.
- Make the dressing: While the quinoa and veggies are cooking make the dressing Add all of the dressing ingredients to a mason jar with a lid and shake until everything is well combined – or whisk together in a small mixing bowl. Taste and adjust flavors and seasoning as needed.
- Assemble bowls: Place some quinoa into each bowl. Top with some of the roasted veggies, 2 to 3 sliced eggs, green onions, and a good sprinkle of the sunflower seeds. Drizzle everything with a good amount of the dressing. Enjoy immediately.
- Leftovers: Any leftovers you may have should be stored in separate containers. Only assemble the veggies just before you eat them.
Notes
Hard boiled eggs: often times you can find pre-cooked hard boiled eggs at the grocery store – this is always a short cut option. Otherwise I do suggest cooking them in advance from this recipe, so that you don’t have a lot of pots and pans to all pay attention to at once.
Notes about original recipe: This original recipe contained Swiss chard as the base for the Buddha bowl rather than quinoa – I found the quinoa to be a little more filling than having lettuce as the base, but if you want to use the Swiss chard (or other leafy greens) instead than go for it. I also had roasted leeks and whole cloves of garlic. I omitted those veggies to help simplify the cooking process of the recipe. However if you want to add them see directions below.
How to roast the leeks and garlic cloves: Slice 2 leeks and separate the cloves of 1 head of garlic and remove the skins. Place the leeks and garlic cloves onto a separate rimmed baking sheet from the Brussels sprouts and eggplant. Toss with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Roast the veggies for 15 to 20 minutes, tossing half way through, or until the garlic is tender and the leeks are crispy.This can be roasted at the same time as the Brussels sprouts and eggplant.
Vegan option: To keep this recipe vegan you can omit the hard boiled eggs and use the quinoa and sunflower seeds as your protein source.
This is an excellent recipe. We loved it. A definite keeper.
Yaaay So glad to hear that you loved the recipe! Thanks Meryl! 🙂
Do you have the nutritional information or calories per serving??
Hi, I don’t, sorry. Since I include various substitutions in many of my recipes it is hard to keep the exact calories and nutrition info accurate. There are plenty of aps and websites for entering nutritional info and calories if you would like. Hope you enjoy the recipe!:)