During the fall and winter, sweet potatoes are my favorite vegetables to spiralize. This starchy, sweet-tasting root veggie adds so much flavor and color to any dish, it’s a great base for a noodle bowl.
Today, I’ve made a very simple dish: quinoa, roasted onions, sweet potato noodles and a tahini-maple dressing.
Yes, you could eat this dish as is – it has everything: protein, sweet, savory, texture, color and nutrients. However, the point of today’s post is to talk about making sweet potato “noodle bowls.”
If you’ve ever fallen victim to the following dinner, you’re not alone: roasted chicken, cubed roasted sweet potatoes and steamed broccoli.
Simply, if you’ve ever made a dinner with sweet potatoes that are diced, cubed, or thinly sliced into rounds, you’re not alone. But now, time’s are a-ch-ch-changing and we’re going to set the knife down and bring on the spiralizer.
By spiralizing the sweet potatoes and transforming them into noodles, you suddenly have a totally different meal. The best part about eating noodles is that you can throw anything on top, pour over a healthy dressing or sauce, mix everything altogether and each bite is much more powerful than that dreaded protein-veggie-starch divided plate.
Whenever I don’t have something on-hand to spiralize (which is very very rare), I’ll make salmon, sweet potatoes and brussels sprouts. It’s almost painstakingly difficult to eat those cubed sweet potatoes, because I know how much more enjoyable the meal would be if I was eating a big fluffy bowl of noodles.
Noodles last longer (you just get more noodles than cubes), they’re more enjoyable to eat, and who doesn’t love a Chipotle-style meal? If you’ve never been to Chipotle, it’s just like a salad bar for Mexican food, so you pick your base and start loading up on toppings.
Today’s dish is simple – it’s vegan, it’s dairy free and it’s intensely savory with a beautiful sweetness from the natural sugars in the sweet potatoes. Some other toppings that would work in this particular tahini-maple dressed sweet potato noodle bowl are:
– Roasted chicken
– Toasted almonds or pepitas
– Avocado
– Goat cheese or feta
– Slow roasted cherry tomatoes
– Dried cranberries or golden raisins
See how quickly you can build upon this basic noodle bowl? It’s that easy! Take today’s simple recipe as inspiration for your own sweet potato noodle bowl and hashtag #inspiralized next time on Instagram so I can see your creation!
What toppings would you add to this sweet potato noodle bowl?
Nutritional Information & Recipe
Sweet Potato, Roasted Onion and Quinoa Bowl with Tahini-Maple Dressing
Ingredients
- 1 small red onion cut into 1” cube pieces
- 1 + 1/2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil divided
- salt and pepper
- 3/4 cup dry quinoa rinsed
- 2 cups water
- 1 large sweet potato peeled, Blade C
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- For the dressing:
- 1.5 tablespoons tahini
- 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon water + more if needed to thin
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Place the onions a nonstick baking tray and drizzle with ½ tablespoon of the olive oil. Toss with hands to fully coat and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 20-25 minutes, tossing once.
- While the onions are roasting, place the quinoa in a small saucepan with the water, cover, bring to a boil and then uncover and lower heat and let simmer for 15-20 minutes or until quinoa is fluffy.
- Once you place quinoa on the stovetop, place a large skillet over medium heat and add in the rest of the olive oil. Once oil heats, add in the sweet potato noodles and season with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Cover and cook for 5-7 minutes, uncovering to toss occasionally, until sweet potatoes are cooked through.
- While the sweet potatoes are cooking, combine all of the ingredients for the dressing into a bowl and whisk until combined. Add more water if needed to thin the dressing out to your preference.
- Once onions, sweet potatoes and quinoa are done cooking, combine the quinoa, sweet potatoes and onions in a bowl and top with a drizzle of the dressing.
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