Well, well, well… lookie what we have here: another bowl recipe!

Okay I’ll admit it, I’m going a little bowl crazy these days. It’s all I find myself eating and creating, and since they’re one of those meals that are just the simplest to throw together (which I know you and I both love), when I come up with a good combo, I’m gonna share it with you. Agreed? Agreed.

If you have yet to hop on the bowl bandwagon, here’s three more reasons why they’re the most perfect meal ever…

1) they’re simple. 2) they’re nutritious. and 3) eating food from bowls is F-U-N

And this one I have to say is particularly fun. Why? Because, instead of simple roasted squash/sweet potato (which tends to be my go-to), it’s got spiralized butternut squash. Yes, that means squash turned into noodles. So veggie noodles. So basically the best thing ever.

How you might wonder? One simple tool that I can’t imagine living without: my inspiralizer.

Now you’ve heard about my love for spiralizing, but it wasn’t until I got The Inspiralizer that I fully appreciated the world of veggie noodles. You see my old spiralizer (which was the Paderno one from Amazon) could only really handle the easy vegetables. Things like zucchini and cucumbers. Not hard ones like beets and butternut squash.

That’s why I love this tool. It can handle anything. Which means…more healthy noodles!

In addition to our lovely spiralized butternut squash, the other star of this dish is the harissa chickpeas.

Until this recipe I had never had harissa before and honestly didn’t know what to expect, but it caught my eye the other day when I was grocery shopping and I had to try it. I just love the name – it sounds so exotic and fun.

Well the flavor definitely didn’t disappoint either. It was spicy and bright, but wasn’t too overpowering that it took over the whole dish. I was contemplating putting it in the dressing, but I’m glad that I kept it on just the chickpeas. It gave the dish a nice zing, but didn’t cause your whole mouth to burn (yes, it’s certainly spicy!)

Plus since I was craving a warm bowl, I heated the chickpeas up in a skillet and tossed them in the harissa until they were a little crispy. It made the whole thing so much more cozy.

If you’re looking for a simple and delicious weeknight dinner, this is it my friends. The whole thing came together in about 40 minutes and makes for great leftovers. If you do end up wanting to save some for leftovers I would recommend storing the ingredients separately. It will help them keep their individual flavors and then once you’re ready to serve it pop it into your bowl and top it with the dressing.

One last thing about the dressing: it can be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge. I actually keep a jar of this on hand since I love it on bowls and even salads. The miso + tahini combo? Magical.

Your turn…

Have you ever tried spiralizing before? What is your favorite veggie? Would love to hear about your spiralizing adventures in the comments! AND if you haven’t tried it before and are in the market for a spiralizer, I highly HIGHLY recommend The Inspiralizer. I’ve tested a bunch of machines and this one is by far the best. It’s easy to use, easy to clean and can spiralize anything.

And my friend, if you end up creating this dish or any other recipes from the site, I’d love to see your creations. Make sure to use #simplyquinoa and share a pic on Instagram!

xx A

 

 

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