Trendy + delicious + healthy = Winter Grain bowl. It’s just the right time of the year to crank up the oven and whip up a batch of sweet roasted veggie, chewy whole grains for those icy-cold night-long wintery nights. This Winter grain bowl is delicious, hearty & ready in 30 minutes.
There's nothing better than cozying up with This Winter grain bowl is the perfect winter night dinner with chewy bulgur, caramelized roasted spiced cauliflower, creamy butternut squash, and then topped with creamy sumac dressing, toasted chopped almonds and tart pomegranate seed to bring everything together.
This winter bowl of bliss is the perfect solution to HOW DO I EAT HEALTHY DURING WINTER while NOT eat a big bowl of leafy greens every night? That's not to say I don't loooovvve a good bowl of leafy greens cause that couldn't be farther from the truth. But friend. Have you been to Canada Lately? It's full-blown Tundra season here! Mountains of clean fluffy snow, quiet streets and dare I say it romantic, but its cold and only warm slightly indulgent food is on the must-have list.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Cauliflower & Butternut Squash: Don't feel limited by these veggies. You can also swap them for carrots and potatoes or any root veggie you have on hand.
- Bulgur: if you don't have bulgur, that ok. Use brown rice, freekeh, farro, or wheat berries instead.
- Almonds: You can use any nut or seed in place of the almonds.
- Spices; turmeric, cinnamon and chilli are the spices I used in the recipe. However, If you're going to switch the spices, stick to using warming spices like ginger, allspice, cumin and cardamon
- pomegranate seeds; this ingredient is completely optional; if you omit it, try adding cranberries for a sweet-tart flavour.
- Parsley: this simply for a garnish. However, adding extra greens is never a bad idea; try adding rocket or finely sliced kale for a different taste and texture.
- Olive oil: The oil is mainly used for roasting vegetables. Avocado oil is an adequate substitution.
- Yogurt Sumac Dressing: A delicious mixture of yogurt, tahini, sumac, garlic, lemon, and salt. You can also swap the creamy yogurt dressing for a vignette-style dressing for the salad. There are links in the recipe card for two other dressing you can use instead.
How To Make This Winter Bowl of Goodness?
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Prepare two small baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Bake the butternut squash and spiced cauliflower. I've found baking the vegetables on separate baking sheets yielded the best results. However, they can be baked at the same time.
- Well, the Veggies are baking it's a good time to cook the bulgur and whip up the yogurt sumac dressing.
- Once you're finished with the veggies, bulgur, and dressing it's a good time to get your garnishes in order and have them ready to go.
- Assemble the bowls by mixing the bulgur, chickpeas, and veggies together. Then drizzle with dressing and sprinkle on the garnishes.
For More Bowl Inspiration
- roasted cauliflower with Sweet Tahini Dressing
- Roasted beets and lentils
- Winter Kale & Rice Salad
- Roasted butternut squash salad
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Winter Grain Bowl
Ingredients
- 1 small whole head of cauliflower, chopped into florets
- ½ butternut squash chopped into 1" cubes
- ½ tsp turmeric, ground
- ½ tsp cinnamon, ground
- ½ tsp chilli flakes
- 1 tsp cumin, ground
- 2½ tbsp olive oil
- 1½ cup coarse bulgar, cooked
- 1½ cup chickpeas, cooked
- ¼ cup roasted almonds slices
- ½ cup pomegranate seeds
- 2 tbsp parsley
- ½ tsp salt and pepper
Creamy Sumac Dressing
- ½ cup Greek yogurt
- ⅛ cup water
- 1 tablespoon tahini
- 1 large garlic clove mashed into a paste
- 1 lemon juiced
- 1 tablespoon sumac
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven 425ºF. Prepare 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Bake Butternut Squash. Add the butternut squash to a prepared baking sheet, drizzle with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Baked for 25 minutes, then flip the squash and continue for 20 minutes more or until softened with a slight crisp.
- Season the Cauliflower. In a large bowl, add the cauliflower, turmeric, cinnamon, chilli flakes, cumin and 11/2 tablespoon of olive oil. Mix well. Add to a prepared baking sheet, bake for 30 minutes.
- Mix the Dressing. In a small bowl, add all of the dressing ingredients. Add water and mix. The dressing should be the constancy of a ranch dressing; if you find the dressing is thick, add 1 tablespoon of water until a thinner constancy is achieved.
- Assembling the Salad. In a large serving bowl, add the roasted cauliflower, butternut, bulgar and chickpeas. Gently mix everything.
- Serve. Drizzle the dressing on the bulgur bowl. Then top with almonds and pomegranates. Serve at room temperature.
Notes
- 3 tablespoon raw apple cider vinegar
- 4 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoon honey
- ¼ teaspoon coriander seeds, lightly ground
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- 1 small garlic, finely diced or grated
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ⅛ cup tahini
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- 2 tbsp honey
- 3 tbsp red wine vinegar or white balsamic
- 1 small garlic clove grated or pressed
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
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