In the height of summer, the last thing I want to do is cook. Generally, the easier, the better. This recipe breaks that rule. We’ll need to make a sauce from scratch, boil quinoa, pickle red onions and grill (or roast) veggies. Is that without labor? Nope. But that’s what it means to make a bowl. And I hope that you find this vegan chimichurri bowl recipe with black beans, zucchini, sweet potatoes and portobello mushrooms is worth the effort.
This recipe makes 2-4 bowls, depending on how generously you distribute the ingredients.
A few things…
- To make the chimichurri sauce, you’ll need to follow this recipe. For the vinegar requirement, I like to add 2 Tbsp of the red wine vinegar the onions were pickling in. It adds a little more flavor and it’s less wasteful.
- Do you have to use quinoa? Of course not. Use brown rice or another grain that you enjoy. Or maybe go with a bed of salad greens and turn this chimichurri bowl into a warm salad? I haven’t tried that, but it feels like it would be super nice.
- This might seem like a little too Type A for you, but I’m going to highly recommend making an effort to cut the sweet potatoes into uniform ¼” thick rectangles. The rest of the veggies, I try to slice ½” thick. It helps with timing the cook. If you go rouge, you might end up with some thinner pieces burning and the thicker pieces still being raw.
Let’s get after all the things for this tasty vegan chimichurri bowl! And make sure to browse other UVK recipes, like Chimichurri Chickpea Potato Salad, Grilled Portobello Mushroom Sandwich with Kalamata Olive Tapenade, Avocado, Tomato and Arugula, Zucchini Basil Soup, Vegan Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms with Lentils and Breadcrumbs, Vegan California Benedict with Portobello Mushroom and more.
Chimichurri Bowl with Black Beans, Zucchini, Sweet Potatoes and Portobello Mushrooms
½ cup thinly sliced red onions
Red wine vinegar
1 cup quinoa, thoroughly rinsed
2 cups broth
2 cups sweet potatoes diced into 2″ x ½” rectangles (OR ~1 medium sweet potato chopped into rectangles) – (see notes above)
2 cups sliced zucchini moons (OR ~1 medium zucchini sliced into moons) – (see notes above)
2½ cups sliced portobello mushrooms (OR 2 large portobello mushrooms, sliced) – (see notes above)
Olive oil, to drizzle
Salt, to taste
15.25 ounce can of no salt black beans, drained and rinsed
1. First, you’ll pickle the onions for the chimichurri bowl.Add the red onion to a small bowl. Add enough red wine vinegar to submerge the onions. Set aside for 15 minutes.
2. While you wait on onions to pickle, add the rinsed quinoa and broth to a pot. Bring to a boil, and then, lower the heat. Cover and gently simmer for ~15 minutes. Remove from heat. And leave covered until ready to use.
3. Make the chimichurri sauce for the bowls by following this recipe.
4. Preheat the grill (or oven) to 400º F. Line a grill-proof sheet pan with non-stick aluminum foil. Spread the sweet potatoes, zucchini and mushrooms in an even layer. Drizzle with olive oil and move the veggies around to coat. Then spread them back out and season with salt.
5. Grill (or bake) at 400º F for ~10 minutes. Flip. Then, grill (or bake) until cooked through. If you’re grilling, be prepared to remove veggies to a plate as they cook through and are grilled enough for you. Keep a close eye on it throughout the entire process to make sure nothing burns. Remove from grill (or the oven).
6. Now, it’s time to assemble the chimichurri bowls. Place a scoop of quinoa in your bowl. Top with black beans, the grilled veggies and pickled red onion. Drizzle with chimichurri sauce. Serve.