Sweet Potato Buddha Bowl With Creamy Cilantro Dressing

Hello, friends! Welcome back to another delicious recipe. Today we are going to be combining many of my favorite ingredients to make a Sweet Potato Buddha Bowl With Cashew Lime Sauce! My mouth is already watering.

By now you all probably know that I love a good Buddha Bowl. You know what else I love? Simple recipes that pack in lots of flavor! This one definitely checks both of those boxes.

The star of this show is definitely our roasted sweet potato - naturally sweet with some delicious seasonings! It pairs so well with our black beans and rice, and we of course have to top this beauty with a delicious Creamy Cilantro Dressing and some fun toppings.

The Creamy Cilantro Dressing that we will be using today can also be found in my FREE ebook, Joyful Creations: Your Plant-Based Guide to a Better Buddha Bowl. If you like throwing yummy things together in Buddha Bowl form and want to check out 8 other delicious sauce recipes, be sure to sign up for my email list so that you can get a free copy of the ebook yourself!

Now, onto some TASTY FOOD.

Ingredients

• Sweet potatoes (and a bunch of seasonings) - to make our roasted sweet potatoes! Honestly, when I was recipe testing the potatoes for this bowl my husband and I loved to eat them on their own as a snack. So simple and so good!
• Black beans (and a bunch of seasonings) - our black beans are seasoned very similarly to our sweet potatoes, but have a different overall flavor profile since they aren't sweet like the sweet potatoes are. I tried cooking the black beans with the sweet potatoes in one of my tests, but much preferred the stovetop version - so that's what we are going with!
• Cashews, lime juice, cilantro, and seasonings - to blend up into our creamy cilantro dressing! The cashews give us a creamy consistency, and the rest is for a bright and flavorful taste!
• Pumpkin seeds - we toast these up to provide a nice little crunch on our bowl!
• Spinach - every good Buddha Bowl needs some greens! This is an easy way to pack in some extra nutrients AND add to the overall flavor combo of our dish.
• Brown rice - this will make our bowl more filling, give us some wholesome grains, and serve as one of the major ingredients of our bowl's base.
• Avocado and optional lime wedge - some fun toppings to round things out! 

How to Make Sweet Potato Buddha Bowl With Creamy Cilantro Dressing

This recipe may look long, but it's really not very complicated! It only looks complicated because we have to prepare the sweet potatoes, the beans, AND the dressing before assembling our bowl. But they're all pretty straight forward. You got this!

1. Toss your sweet potatoes in some seasonings and roast
2. Heat up your black beans with some seasonings 
3. Blend together your dressing ingredients
4. Toast your pumpkin seeds on the stovetop
5. Saute your spinach
6. Assemble everything together in your bowls!

Tips & Tricks

Some final thoughts for you:

• Brown rice is the official grain for this recipe, but use any grain you'd like! I've also made a version with quinoa and enjoyed that as well. 
• Cook your brown rice (or other grain) in the instant pot if you'd like! I love doing this because I don't feel like I have to constantly check on it. I've included a note at the bottom of the recipe to explain how I cook brown rice in my instant pot. You can also check out my ebook for a nifty "Instant Pot Cheat Sheet" where I explain how to cook other grains as well!
• Adjust the lime juice or water in your dressing to reach your desired consistency. The thickness of your dressing may vary a bit based on your blender. If you want to thin it out more, add some extra water or lime juice. If you like a thick sauce, use less! Some people like thick sauces that they can dollop on, while others like something they can slowly drizzle. You do you!
• Switch out the greens if spinach isn't your thing. I think that Kale would also be really yummy here! Keep in mind though that a tougher green like Kale will take longer to sauté.
• Loving the roasted sweet potatoes? They also pair great with my cowboy caviar if you want to make another batch!
• Check out my ebook for other buddha bowls like this one!

Sweet Potato Buddha Bowl With Creamy Cilantro Dressing

Recipe by Delaney Romero - Joyful BalanceCourse: Lunch, DinnerCuisine: American, Mexican-Inspired

Servings

3-4

servings

Prep time

45

minutes

Recipe time

35

minutes

This Buddha Bowl is the best of all worlds! Sweetness from the sweet potatoes, savory seasoned black beans, and a bright cilantro flavor from the sauce. It all goes together beautifully. The ingredients list for this one may look long, but a lot of the ingredients are just our seasonings, so don't let it scare you away!

Note: Prep time includes 45 minutes for brown rice to cook (my method can be found in the notes below), 30 minutes for cashews to soak, and time to preheat your oven and dice your potatoes. Prep time assumes that you will allow your rice to cook, cashews to soak, and oven to preheat simultaneously while you dice your potatoes.

Ingredients

• Roasted Sweet Potatoes:

• 2 medium sweet potatoes, diced (around 4 cups diced)

• 4 teaspoon lime juice

• 2 teaspoon paprika

• 1.5 teaspoon cumin

• 1.5 teaspoon garlic powder

• A few sprinkles of salt and pepper

• Seasoned Black Beans:

• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

• 1 tablespoon lime juice

• ½ teaspoon cumin

• ½ teaspoon chili powder

• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder

• Sprinkle of salt

• Creamy Cilantro Dressing:

• ¼ cup cashews, soaked in very hot water for 20-30 minutes

• ⅓ cup cilantro, roughly chopped

• 2 Tbsp lime juice

• 1 Tbsp rice vinegar

• ½ teaspoon garlic salt

• 3 tablespoon water

• Buddha Bowl:

• ¼ cup pumpkin seeds

• 6 cups spinach

• 2 cups cooked brown rice (or other grain of choice)*

• 1 avocado, diced

• 1-2 limes, cut into wedges (optional)

Directions

• Prepare the Roasted Sweet Potatoes:
• Preheat oven to 425
• Toss your diced sweet potatoes with your lime juice. Add in your paprika, cumin, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Toss to coat all potatoes evenly.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread diced potatoes evenly on the baking sheet.
• Roast in the preheated oven for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and flip the potatoes. Return potatoes to the oven and cook for another 10-15 minutes, or until potatoes are fork tender. (While the potatoes are cooking, feel free to prepare the seasoned black beans and the creamy cilantro dressing!)
• Remove from oven and set aside.
• Prepare the Seasoned Black Beans:
• Heat a medium pan over medium heat. Toss your black beans and lime juice in the pan. Add a bit more lime juice, or water, to prevent sticking if needed. Cook for 1 minute.
• Add your cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, and salt. Cook for 1 more minute.
• Adjust seasonings if needed, and remove from pan once everything is thoroughly warmed.
• Prepare the Creamy Cilantro Dressing:
• Drain your soaked cashews
• Add all dressing ingredients to a high powered blender and blend until very smooth. Add more lime juice or water if you'd like, to reach desired consistency.
• Assemble your Buddha Bowls:
• Toast your pumpkin seeds by heating a medium pan over medium heat. Add pumpkin seeds and stir occasionally as you allow them to toast for about 4 minutes, or until they start to get golden and/or start to pop. Remove pumpkin seeds from the pan and set aside. Keep pan on the stove top (you'll use it in the next step).
• Sautee your spinach by tossing about half of it into your heated pan. Using tongs (or another large utensil), continue tossing it as it cooks down. This shouldn't take long. As it cooks down and there is more room in the pan, add in the rest of your spinach. Once all of your spinach is bright green, remove from heat immediately. This entire process should take 1-2 minutes.
• Assemble your bowls! To each bowl add your roasted sweet potatoes, seasoned black beans, brown rice, and sauteed spinach. Top each bowl with pumpkin seeds, avocado, creamy cilantro dressing, and an optional lime wedge. Enjoy!

Notes

• *brown rice: You can of course cook your brown rice on the stove top according to package directions, but I like to cook my brown rice in the instant pot! I do 1 cup of dry brown rice to 1.25 cups of water, set my instant pot to 15 minutes at high pressure, and let it naturally release.

Happy cooking, friends! If you made this recipe don’t forget to tag me (@joyfulbalanceofficial) on facebook or instagram so I can cheer you on for your bowl-making ways!

Stay Joyfully Balanced!