Green Spring Balance Bowl with Roasted Asparagus and Basil Dressing

It’s time for some new recipes here on the website after the launch of the e-book which took up most of my recipe development capacity in the first part of the year. I am excited to bring you three balance bowls today. Or nourish bowls. Or buddha bowl. Whatever you choose to call them I am bringing you three combos that I really enjoy and this one is perfect for spring with it’s green vibrancy. It has mixed greens, herby quinoa, a spicy chickpea and edamame salad, roasted asparagus and the most delicious basil dressing that you might want to put on everything after trying it. Enjoy!

See the other two bowls here: Spicy Beet Balance Bowl and Mexican Inspired Balance Bowl.

Malin x

Green Spring Balance Bowl

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS:

Herby quinoa:

0,75 cup quinoa

1,5 cup water

Packed 0,5 cup fresh coriander

Packed 0,5 cup fresh flat leaf parsley

1 lemon

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

0,5 tsp herbal salt

Black pepper, to taste

Roasted asparagus:

1 bunch asparagus

1 tbsp olive oil

Salt and black pepper, to taste

Bean salad:

1 can of chickpeas

1 cup shelled edamame beans

1 tbsp chili oil with “bits”

Basil dressing:

1,5 cup fresh basil leaves

1 cup baby spinach

1 lemon, juice only

1 shallot

1 garlic cloves

0,25 cup nutritional yeast

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsp cup tahini

3 tbsp water

1 tsp maple syrup

Salt, to taste

To serve:

4 large handfuls mixed baby greens

150 g sugar snaps, sliced in half

A handful of microgreens, optional

METHOD:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celsius.

Rinse the quinoa if you wish and then transfer it into a sauce pan along with the water. Season with salt and cover with a lid. Bring it to a boil and then reduce to a simmer until all the water has been absorbed by the quinoa. This usually takes about 20 minutes.

While the quinoa is cooking trim the woody ends off on the asparagus and place it in an oven safe dish or on an oven tray. Drizzle with oil and season with salt and black pepper. Toss to coat. Roast in the oven for 12-15 minutes or until tender.

Then prepare the bean salad simply by draining and rinsing the chickpeas and mixing them with the edamame beans and chili oil until well coated. Set aside.

Also make the dressing while the other components are cooking. Combine all the ingredients in a high speed blender and blend until smooth. Refrigerate until you are ready to use it.

To finish off the quinoa, once it is cooked, finely chop the fresh parsley and coriander and add to a bowl along with the quinoa. Use a microplane or box grater to zest 1 lemon into the bowl and then squeeze in the juice of half of it. Drizzle over the oil and season with herbal salt and black pepper. Mix well to combine.

To assemble the bowls start with a bed of mixed baby greens followed by the sliced sugar snaps. Then layer the herby quinoa and bean salad on top. Drizzle the dressing over it all and finish with the roasted asparagus.