Spring Quinoa Bowl with Vegan Pesto

With all the fresh produce in season this spring, it was time to present you all with a healthy quinoa bowl dressed with my ultimate favorite vegan pesto. This bowl features all the spring favorites including green and purple asparagus, corn, mushrooms, and microgreens. Not only is this dish incredibly tasty, but it also happens to be filled with a boat-load of greens, making it one of the healthiest recipes on the blog to date!

Okay, I’m ready for that epic pesto and those roasted veggies now: Jump to Recipe

So here’s a fun fact about me: I actually hate most condiments (gasp!).  Ketchup? That’s going to be a no. Mayonnaise? See ya never. Mustard, relish, bbq sauce, ranch- hard pass from this girl! However, when it comes to pesto, I literally can’t get enough. I’m not even just talking about pesto as a pasta sauce. I’m talking about adding pesto to grain bowls, veggie burgers, every type of sandwich, and dipping my veggies straight into it as a snack. Yep that’s right! I’m a PESTO ADDICT.  As I began my journey to eat more mindfully, and therefore less cheese, I knew making a vegan pesto just as good as the parmesan filled version would be crucial to my success. Luckily, some of the ingredients that make pesto so good are still vegan including pine nuts, garlic, and basil. However, to make this the best pesto ever, I decided to amp up those traditional flavors with a few new and more interesting ingredients. Spinach, arugula, pepitas, cashews, and nutritional yeast all play a crucial role in making this pesto the green glory you see above!

It also amazes me that this is my first quinoa bowl recipe on SGTO because I am legit SOO in love with quinoa! Believe it or not, I actually eat quinoa salads/grain bowls at least 2-3 times a week as I feel they fill me up in a way other vegan meals cannot. Not only is quinoa high in protein, but it also contains a good amount of nutrients lacking in most modern American diets including iron, zinc, and magnesium. P.S- it’s also naturally gluten free! Funny enough, quinoa is actually a seed, but acts a lot like a grain when cooked. It truly soaks up all the goodness of whatever sauce you put it in!

Now, just one more thought before we get to the recipe. Even though I included very specific vegetables here, I want to stress that this recipe is flexible. It’s been really interesting to enter into the food blogging world and witness more tenured bloggers complain about people asking them for substitutes and suggestions. While I can’t recommend replacements off the top of my head and guarantee they will work, the beauty of cooking is making meals that work for YOU. Which means, ultimately learning how to cook intuitively without a recipe and changing ingredients to suit your needs. As you may have read in my bio, I find writing recipes incredibly hard because I tend to cook by taste testing and adding ingredients along the way. Still, I view a written recipe as a great way to help others learn how to cook and discover the tastes they love by getting more creative in the kitchen. Lets be honest, I originally found my love of cooking by following recipes and, as time went on, adapting those recipes once I had a better understanding of the ingredients at my disposal.

Maybe some day I’ll write a blog post all about cooking intuitively without recipes, but for now I guess you will just have to do with this pesto filled spring vegetable quinoa bowl recipe! Go out, get cooking, and don’t forget to eat your greens!

-TSG

In case you are looking for some of the tools & ingredients used in this recipe, I’ve put a few of my favorites for you here:

1. Not stocked up on nutritional yeast? It’s definitely an ingredient you don’t want to skip in the pesto as it adds a really nice cheese-like flavor! Bragg Nutritional Yeast is what I use in all of my recipes.
2. If you’re looking to get the most bang for your buck, Kirkland Organic Quinoa is what I always get. I usually pick up at Costco directly and love getting my quinoa in bulk!

Print Recipe

Spring Vegetable Quinoa Bowl & Vegan Pesto Yum

Course

Dinner, Lunch

Cuisine

Comfort Food, Dinner

Servings

servings

Ingredients

Quinoa & Veggies

• 1 1/2 cups uncooked quinoa (any variety, just make sure it's rinsed!)
• 3 cups vegetable broth
• 4 loosely packed cups chopped asparagus cut into 2-3 inch pieces
• 1 14 oz can corn strained and rinsed
• 3 loosely packed cups button mushrooms quartered
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp red chili pepper flakes
• salt and petter to taste
• 1 cup microgreens (optional- to top the dish)

Vegan Pesto

• 1/2 cup raw cashews *soaked 4-8 hours in water
• 1 garlic clove
• 1/4 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
• 2 Tbsp pine nuts
• 1 Tbsp nutritional yeast
• 3 Tbsp water
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1/4 cup packed basil
• 2 cups loosely packed greens spinach and arugula are best, but you can also use kale
• 1/2-1 tsp salt

Course Dinner, Lunch Cuisine Comfort Food, Dinner Servings servings Ingredients Quinoa & Veggies 1 1/2 cups uncooked quinoa (any variety, just make sure it's rinsed!) 3 cups vegetable broth 4 loosely packed cups chopped asparagus cut into 2-3 inch pieces 1 14 oz can corn strained and rinsed 3 loosely packed cups button mushrooms quartered 2 Tbsp olive oil 1/2 tsp garlic powder 1/4 tsp red chili pepper flakes salt and petter to taste 1 cup microgreens (optional- to top the dish) Vegan Pesto 1/2 cup raw cashews *soaked 4-8 hours in water 1 garlic clove 1/4 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds) 2 Tbsp pine nuts 1 Tbsp nutritional yeast 3 Tbsp water 2 Tbsp olive oil 2 tsp lemon juice 1/4 cup packed basil 2 cups loosely packed greens spinach and arugula are best, but you can also use kale 1/2-1 tsp salt

Instructions

Prep

1. Before making your dish, you must soak the cashews so they blend well. There are two ways to do this. The first is to soak the cashews in a container filled with room temperate water for 4-8 hours. This works if you remember to soak your cashews in the morning and make this dish at night. If for any reason you don't have the time for this, a trick is to boil some water and soak the cashews in boiling water. With boiling water, the cashews only need to soak 30 minutes before being ready to blend.
2. Prep your veggies before cooking. Cut your asparagus into 2-3 inch long pieces. Cut your button mushrooms into quarters. Strain and rinse your canned corn.

Quinoa & Veggies

1. Preheat your oven to 400F.
2. Add your quinoa and veggie broth to a saucepan and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook the quinoa until all the water is absorbed, 15 to 20 minutes. You will know your quinoa is done when you see the white ring( the germ) curling around the outside of the quinoa seeds. Once cooked, remove from the heat and set aside.
3. While the quinoa is cooking, season and cook your veggies. Add your asparagus, corn, and mushroom to a glass baking dish. Next, season with the olive oil, garlic powder, red chili pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Add to the oven and cook the veggies for 25-30 minutes. Once cooked, remove from the oven and set aside.

Vegan Pesto

1. Once the vegetables are in the oven, it's time to prep your pesto! Add your cashews, garlic, pine nuts, nutritional yeast, and pepitas to a blender and blend for 1 minute to break up the hard ingredients first. Next, add in your water, olive oil, and lemon juice and blend until a smooth mixture is formed. Finally, add in your basil, greens, and salt and blend 1-2 more minutes more ,stopping to scrape down the sides as need be. Start with 1/2 tsp salt and add up to 1 tsp depending on your taste preference.

The finale

1. Add your vegan pesto to the large pot containing your cooked quinoa. Mix together until quinoa is entirely coated. Top with the roasted veggies and microgreens to serve! Leftovers can be stored in a container in the fridge for 3-4 days.

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