We're fortunate to have a year-round farmers' market in our neighborhood, and right now it's loaded with beautiful winter root vegetables like beets, parsnips, and salsify; pumpkins and squash in every shape, size, and color; dark leafy greens, and cancer-killing cruciferous veggies like broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, and kale. When roasted, the flavor of vegetables deepen and sweeten, so an otherwise bland vegetable, such as cauliflower, transforms into caramelized goodness.
This Farmers' Market Bowl recipe from award-winning author Carolynn Carreño's new cookbook BOWLS OF PLENTY: Recipes for Healthy and Delicious Whole-Grain Meals features roasted acorn squash, Brussels sprouts, and carrots that are served atop of bed of Kamut Khorasan wheat (a "high energy" wheat loaded in protein and fiber) along with radicchio and chickpeas, then dressed with an herb-packed yogurt green goddess and topped with crunchy pepita seeds. It's an easy meal that takes little effort and tastes oh so wonderful on a cold winter night.
BOWLS OF PLENTY features more than 75 wholesome, convenient, and nutritious meals from breakfast to dessert, and they're all family-friendly, flexible, and doable for the busy home cook. In addition to her recipes, Carolynn also give numerous suggestions for creating and building your own bowls. Here's a sneak peak at some of the deliciously nutritious bowls in the cookbook:
Spiced Apple Breakfast Farro with Yogurt Cream
Coconut Millet Porridge with Bananas and Poppy Seeds
Sesame Duck and Wild Rice Salad Bowl
Winter Wild Rice Salad with Dates and Parmesan
Red Rice Pad Thai with Tofu and Shrimp
Coconut Black and Wild Rice Pudding with Mangoes and Macadamia Nuts
Be sure to also get these two recipes from BOWLS OF PLENTY: Five-Spice Riblets with Sticky Rice and Apple Slaw and Coconut Curry Rice Bowl with Green Vegetables and Sweet Potatoes.
FARMERS’ MARKET BOWL with Yogurt Green Goddess and Salty Pepitas
Serves 4
"The beauty of the squash and carrots in this bowl is the color you achieve when they’re roasted. The color is the result of what is referred to as caramelization. That the root of this word is caramel is no coincidence. Roasting vegetables brings out their natural sweetness. Winter squash keeps at room temperature for weeks, if not months. During the fall and winter, I keep a display of assorted squash in my house, so I can admire their beauty while also having them to cook for hunger emergencies. You can roast cauliflower, fennel, or sliced sweet potatoes—in place of the vegetables called for here. This recipe is vegetarian. To make it vegan, skip the egg and dress the bowl with Tahini Sauce (page 148) in place of the Yogurt Green Goddess." ~Carolynn Carreño
FOR THE ROASTED VEGETABLES
1 acorn squash, halved lengthwise, seeded, and sliced into ½-inch half-moons
½ pound Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
1 bunch carrots with greens, scrubbed and halved lengthwise (leaving 1 inch of greens attached)
3 tablespoons olive oil
2½ teaspoons kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
FOR THE BOWLS
Yogurt Green Goddess (recipe follows)
1 cup Khorasan wheat, cooked (or farro or spelt)
1 head radicchio, sliced
1½ cups cooked chickpeas or 1 (15-ounce) can, drained and rinsed
2 medium-cooked eggs, cut in half
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 cup roasted salted pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
1 cup radish sprouts (or another type of sprouts or microgreens), optional
Gluten-Free Alternative: To make this gluten-free, substitute wild rice, quinoa, or sorghum, or a combination, for the Khorasan wheat.
To cook the vegetables, arrange the oven racks so one is in the middle and none is near the oven floor; you are going to put the baking sheet on the oven floor. (If you have an oven that doesn’t allow you to put a baking sheet on the floor, put the rack as close to the floor as possible.) Preheat the oven to 500°F.
Toss the vegetables in a big bowl with the oil, salt, and pepper and lay them flat on two baking sheets, making sure not to overcrowd them. (If you overcrowd the baking sheets, the vegetables will steam instead of caramelizing.) Put one baking sheet on the middle rack and one on the floor of the oven or the lowest rack and roast for 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the baking sheets and turning the veggies midway through the baking time so they brown evenly. (I turn the vegetables one by one with tongs to get perfect browning, but if you’d rather just give them a good shake, I hear you.) Remove the vegetables from the oven.
To prepare the bowls, smear a big spoonful of the green goddess in the bottom of each bowl. Scoop the grains into the bowl, and arrange the radicchio, roasted vegetables, and chickpeas on top. Nestle an egg half in the center of each. Season the eggs with salt and pepper, and scatter the pepitas and sprouts, if using, over the bowls. Serve with more green goddess on the side to drizzle at will.
YOGURT GREEN GODDESS
Makes about 2 cups
"A little yogurt turns a simple lemony vinaigrette into something totally original— and really flavorful. We used a similar vinaigrette in Nancy Silverton’s Mozza at Home, which we were finishing up at the time I started working on this one. I had a jar of the dressing in my refrigerator and found myself drizzling it onto all kinds of salad and roasted vegetable bowls. Make this once and you’ll see for yourself."
INGREDIENTS
½ cup packed fresh parsley leaves
2 tablespoons packed fresh sage
2 tablespoons packed fresh oregano (or marjoram)
2 tablespoons packed fresh thyme
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
¼ cup buttermilk (shake before pouring)
Juice of ½ lemon
1 garlic clove
½ teaspoon kosher salt
METHOD
Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend until the dressing is light green. This dressing will keep, covered, for up to 3 days. (Try it as a dip for raw vegetables.)
Excerpted from the book BOWLS OF PLENTY by Carolynn Carreño. Copyright © 2017 by Carolynn Carreño. Reprinted with permission of Grand Central Life & Style. All rights reserved. Photograph above by Beatriz da Costa.
Cover image courtesy of Grand Central Life & Style
