Butter Chickpea Buddha Bowl

I love how buddha bowls are a perfect balance meal. Salads, starches and proteins all in a tasty bowl. This dish has an Indian twist, butter chicken was my favourite growing up. So adding a plant-based version to my new ebook was a must.

Since my new ebook is now available to purchase I thought I would create a recipe within a recipe. In the ebook Healing Healthy the recipe Murgh Makhani (butter chicken) I recreated the dish with chickpeas. Chickpeas are a great plant-based protein and packed with fibre and other amazing nutrients. Very versatile and my favourite legume to have in my pantry.

I will be posting new recipes to go along with the recipes in the ebook, so you can get the most out of your money. For the Butter Chickpea recipe find it on page 108.

In this recipe I have added a new salad dressing that isn't in the ebook. It is a orange based dressing, Oranges are a great way to get vitamin C in your diet. Vitamin C is such a magical micronutrient that is necessary for repair of all body tissues.

Vitamin C has major benefits in lowering our cortisol levels when we are highly stressed. Our adrenal glands produce cortisol a stress hormone when we are triggered by daily stressors.

You can be triggered by so many things including being stimulated by caffeine, and our bodies can't differentiate whether you are being chased by a lion or if you are stuck in traffic and are late to work, our bodies naturally return back to homeostasis; however if we are continually in flight or fight we produce to much cortisol. Vitamin C along with magnesium and omega 3s can reduce levels of cortisol especially during high stress.

I have added a few stress relieving ingredients to this buddha bowl.

Vitamin C-

Purple cabbage

Oranges

Kale

Capsicum (bell peppers)

Omega 3

Hemp seeds

Magnesium

Kale

You can either make these buddha bowls from the leftovers of the butter chickpea or you can make them for the whole family the recipe below serves 4.

You will need

• 4/3 cup brown rice, cooked (1/3 cup per bowl)

• 1 avocado, sliced

• 1 red capsicum cheek, diced

• 1 cucumber, peeled into ribbons

• 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, chopped

• 1/4 purple cabbage, shredded

• 2 kale leaves, spines removed, washed and dried with a clean tea towel

• 1 handful sprouts

• 1 tbsp sunflower seeds

• 1 tbsp hemp seeds

• 1 tbsp pepita seeds

Dressing

• 1/2 orange juiced

• 1 tsp lime juice

• 1 tsp dijon mustard

• 1 tsp honey or maple syrup

How to make:

Firstly you will need to follow the recipe in the ebook to make the butter chickpea, or if you are using leftovers, re-heat the mixture.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F; line a baking tray with parchment paper.

Place kale and olive oil in a small bowl and massage till completely covered; Place kale on the baking tray and spread it out evenly over the tray, sprinkle salt and pepper and bake for 20 minutes.

To make the buddha bowl, Add rice to one side of the bowl, then place the salad mixture on the other side. Add the butter chickpea mixture on the same side as the rice and place the avocado, seeds, and kale chips on top.

Make the dressing and drizzle over the salad.

You can also watch on my YouTube video on how to plate a buddha bowl.

And if you would like to know more about what foods to eat and self care practices to help with stress comment below.