Buddha Bowl With Mango Chilli Salsa Recipe

A simple, sacred bowl of nature’s goodness is what the soul calls out for from time to time. Tasty, clean wholesome food tastes so nourishing and enriching. I love to eat like this all the time, creating favourite little dishes or elements and placing each one into a bowl and eating together.

Start by baking something like pumpkin or sweet potato in this recipe, or try beetroot, red onion or parsnip. Add something fresh like avocado, or try some sauerkraut for a little tang. Always include a little green something for the soul – steamed broccoli, green beans, snow peas, kale or spinach. for flavour and contrasting texture, try sautéed mushrooms. Add a grain – quinoa, brown rice or noodles – if you wish. bring together whatever you have in your fridge in a buddha bowl.

If you don’t have any mango, use my Green tahini dipping sauce or my Smoky tomato sauce and serve with that instead.

Ingredients

½ cup Australian quinoa (see Note)

1 cup filtered water

½ large pumpkin, cut into 1cm-thick wedges

2 medium sweet potatoes, sliced

Cold-pressed olive oil, for baking and sautéing

Quality salt & cracked black pepper, to season

1 medium head broccoli, cut into florets

4 large kale leaves, shredded or 1 bunch baby kale, leaves whole

2 large field mushrooms, thinly sliced

1 small garlic clove, cut into thin slivers

1-2 tablespoons tamari (gluten-free soy sauce)

2 medium avocados, halved or sliced

Torn flat-leaf parsley, to serve

Mango chilli salsa

1 medium red (or green) chilli, seeded, or to taste

¼ cup cold-pressed olive oil

1 teaspoon quality salt

1 small garlic clove

½ cup chopped fresh or frozen mango

1 tablespoon maple syrup or 1 fresh medjool date

½ dried or fresh red chilli, to serve

Method

Preheat oven to 200°C fan forced.
Place quinoa and filtered water in a small saucepan and bring to the boil on a medium- to-high heat. Reduce heat and simmer for 8-10 minutes or until quinoa is just cooked and all the water has been absorbed. Drain in a fine mesh sieve, then rinse under cold running water to stop it cooking further. Drain well and place in a large bowl.
Meanwhile, place the pumpkin wedges and sweet potato slices on a baking tray. Toss with oil, salt and pepper to coat. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown and soft. Set aside.
Lightly blanch broccoli florets and kale together for just 1 minute to retain their bright green colour and crunch. Set aside.
Heat a little olive oil in a small frying pan on medium-to-high heat and sauté the mushrooms and garlic for 1-2 minutes. Add tamari and cook for a further 1 minute. Set aside.
Make the mango chilli salsa.
Divide quinoa equally into 4 serving bowls. Top each bowl with all the vegetables and avocado halves or slices, then scatter with torn parsley.
Serve with mango chilli salsa on the side, then find somewhere quiet to sit and eat and feel your body being nourished and at peace with everything.
Mango chilli salsa

Place all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Scrape the salsa into a bowl and garnish with dried or fresh chilli slices.
Note Wash all Australian quinoa to remove the saponin, the naturally formed bitter coating on the outside. Soak for 5 minutes in filtered water. Then drain and rinse under cold running water for a few minutes.

This is an edited recipe extract from Anthea Amore’s new book Hungry. http://organicpassioncatering.com