Roasted Veggie Bowl with Quinoa and Tahini Dressing

This Roasted Veggie Bowl with Quinoa and Tahini Dressing combines a bunch of veggies – sweet potatoes, onion, zucchini, spinach – with crunchy quinoa and an addictive Tahini Dressing to make a craveable and easily customizable dinner at home.

It seems like every restaurant is now serving some version of a grain bowl. And why not? They’ve got all the textures and layers of flavors. Somehow we can’t stop ordering them. Also, they’re really pretty.

Here is a veggie and grain bowl that is quick and satisfying, and tastes like something you’d order at a restaurant. The Roasted Veggie Bowl with Quinoa and Tahini Dressing combines a gaggle of veggies – sweet potatoes, onion (which turns sweet when roasted), zucchini, spinach – with crunchy quinoa and an addictive Tahini Dressing to make the kind of dinner at home that you will crave. Adding chicken is a bonus. 

If you don’t like quinoa, sub another grain, like farro or brown rice. Maybe you want to add extra spinach, or maybe you don’t want the chicken. It’s all good. This recipe is easy and customizable. The key is the mix of some kind of grain with some kind of veggie, topped off by the Tahini Dressing. An excellent dinner for early fall.

Roasted Veggie Bowl with Quinoa and Tahini Dressing

1 cup cooked* red quinoa (or white, or farro, or brown rice)
¾ cup water
1 sweet potato, unpeeled
1 red onion
1 zucchini
1 yellow squash
4 green onions
Olive oil
2 cups fresh spinach and/or kale
Salt and pepper
2 grilled chicken breasts, cut into ½-inch cubes

For the Tahini Dressing
¼ cup tahini
½ cup water
Juice from ½ lemon
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon soy sauce
½ teaspoon kosher salt

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. 

Chop the vegetables. Cut the sweet potato into 1-inch cubes. Cut the ends off the onion and remove the peel. Cut the onion in half, then in half again, then cut the quarters into 1-inch chunks. Cut the zucchini and squash in half lengthwise, then in half lengthwise again, then cut into 1-inch pieces. Cut the green onions into thirds.

Line two sheet pans with parchment paper. On one, put the sweet potato and onion, and on the other, put the zucchini, squash, and green onion. Toss each with a tablespoon of olive oil and a generous sprinkle of salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for about 20 minutes, until the vegetables are soft and just begin to brown. 

Warm another tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet, then add the spinach and/or kale, and a little salt and pepper. Sauté over medium-low heat for 3 to 4 minutes, until the greens begin to wilt.

For the dressing, whisk all the ingredients together in a small bowl. It will look lumpy, but just whisk through it until the dressing is smooth.

Toss all of the vegetables together in a large bowl along with the chicken. Serve in a bowl, with a scoop of quinoa, and a couple scoops of the roasted veggies and chicken. Drizzle with the Tahini Dressing.

To cook the quinoa: Rinse in quinoa in a fine-mesh strainer under running tap water for about 30 seconds. Put the quinoa, water, and a little salt in a medium saucepan, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover, and cook for another 12 minutes.