Buddha Bowl: Winter Veg Style

After learning about buddha bowls for the first time from Deliciously Ella's cookbooks last year I have been hooked ever since. I love the idea of throwing a few different veggies together to create a nourishing bowl of goodness. I made the below dish after being inspired by Ella (again) following a mouth-watering Snapchat of her lunch; it had all of my favourite things in it - sweet potato, tahini, garlic, kale... The list goes on.

I tried to recreate it but instead of having purely sweet potato mash I created a combination of mashed sweet potato, swede and parsnip. The result was a delicious wintery-veg mash which worked perfectly with a generous serving of tahini and the other ingredients in the bowl.

Ingredients (serves 2)
Medium sweet potato
1/2 large swede
2 parsnips
2 cups brown rice
2 cups kale
400g black beans
1 garlic clove
2 tbsp tahini
1 tsp coconut oil
2 tsp turmeric
2 tsp cayenne chili pepper
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp black pepper

Method
1. Put the rice on to boil; this should take 20-30 minutes.
2. Chop the sweet potato, swede and parsnips and boil them for 20 minutes or until tender.
3. Whilst the rice and veg is cooking, wash the kale and pan fry it in the coconut oil until it starts to wilt. Throw the black beans in and saute for 1 minute.
4. Once the veg is tender, drain it and mash it. I tend to add a little coconut oil to the mash but that is up to you. Stir in in the turmeric, cayenne chili pepper, cumin and black pepper.
5. Drain the rice once it is cooked and arrange everything in a bowl as per above or however you like it.
6. Chop the garlic and sprinkle it on top along with the tahini. Feel free to add more according to your preferences.

This is another quick meal so if you're looking for an easy weekday dinner and want something to warm you from the inside out then this is the dish for you. All hail the buddha bowl!

- Anna