Greek Buddha Bowl with Chickpeas and Squash

Healthy, yummy, vegetarian main dishes which are full of flavor are one of my favorite sorts of recipes to develop! We eat vegetarian a couple of time a week (or more) so I’m always looking for more ‘go-to’ vegetarian dinners, and I think I have a winner in this Greek Buddha Bowl. Spiced, roasted chickpeas and butternut squash. Chewy and hearty Savoy spinach. Sharp and salty toppings. Tender Israeli couscous. And a creamy, yogurt dressing to drizzle over the top.

As I write this, my husband is installing my new kitchen sink and kitchen faucet! He’s not an expert, but he knows his way around a lot of home improvement projects. Which is good, because I can cook all the things, but I’m not so great with plumbing.

I’ve always wanted a heavier, more solid sink with a prep bowl near my prep area and now I have one. 🙂 Along with a great, swoopy faucet!

It’s been quite the year for replacing things in my kitchen. First my dishwasher died. (That was fun.) Then my fridge died. (That was even more fun – we could wash dishes by hand, but we couldn’t exactly keep things cool on our own.) And now a sink. At least the previous sink didn’t die. It’s nice to make a change because you want to and not because you have to.

Once he’s done, I’m going to be working on a chickpea soup! This is one of our favorite soup recipes and I’m excited to share it with y’all.

Because chickpeas are awesome. I love them in Chickpea Fritters, in soup, roasted to make Spiced Chickpeas, and today, I have a great chickpea and butternut squash Greek Buddha bowl.

A few months ago I shared my Grilled Chicken Caesar Bowl, and that got me thinking about other bowls to share. I toyed with various ideas, and jotted them down for future development, and circled the Greek bowl to do first.

It all started with a hearty green. Savoy spinach is a great, crinkly, chewy spinach green, and it’s my favorite for the recipe. If you can’t find it, baby kale or the more standard, flat baby spinach would provide a great base. Or a combo of the two! That would provide a balance of heartier greens and thinner greens.

Onto the protein, I knew chickpeas would be great for that and a slightly modified version of my roasted chickpeas would be perfect. Along with the chickpeas came some roasted squash. I needed a yummy, orange vegetable and winter squash for a winter salad seemed obvious to me. A little spicing to offset the sweetness and we were happily digging in!

What to be the grain, though? I started with bulgur, since…Greek. But it didn’t do it for me with the rest of the ingredients. I just so happened to have some Israeli couscous in my pantry, so I pulled it out and that was perfect! As soon as I added it to the salad, I knew. That was the grain.

All that was left was to decide on the fun extras! Olives – yes. Feta – YES. A few slices of roasted red onions – very nice. And a yogurt, tahini dressing to finish it off.

Now that’s what I call a Greek Buddha bowl. 🙂

– Happy Munching, Annemarie

Print Recipe

5 from 2 votes

Greek Buddha Bowl with Chickpeas and Squash

Turn Greek salad into a satisfying one bowl dinner with this Greek Buddha Bowl! It's full of chickpeas, roasted squash, pearl couscous, feta, and olives all over a bed of spinach and drizzled with a yogurt, tahini dressing.

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time30 mins

Total Time40 mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Greek

Servings: 4 servings

Calories: 750kcal

Author: Just a Little Bit of Bacon

Ingredients

Roasted Chickpeas

• 1 14 oz can chickpeas: drained, rinsed, and blotted dry
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/4 tsp ground corriander
• dash cayenne and garlic powder

Roasted Butternut Squash and Onion

• 4 cups diced butternut squash, cut into ~1 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 medium red onion, cut into wedges
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 tsp ground corriander
• 1/4 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• dash cayenne and allspice

Yogurt Tahini Dressing

• 1 small clove garlic, finely minced
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 2 tbsp tahini paste
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 4 tbsp plain Greek yogurt
• 2 tbsp water, plus more if needed

Greek Salad

• 1 1/2 cups pearl (or Israeli) couscous
• 8 cups baby savoy spinach
• 6 oz feta cheese, crumbled
• 1/2 cup kalamata olives, halved

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400F.
  
• For the roasted chickpeas - In a large bowl mix together the chickpeas, olive oil, and spices. Spread them in a roasting pan and roast for 10 minutes.
  
• For the roasted squash and onions - Using the same bowl, mix together the squash, onions, olive oil, and spices. Push the chickpeas to one side of the roasting pan and spread out the squash and onions on the other side. Roast for 20-25 minutes. Stir everything after 10 minutes.
  
• For the dressing - Mix together all dressing ingredients in a medium bowl until well combined.
  
• For the salad - While the vegetables are roasting, add the couscous to a medium saucepan and toast it over medium high heat for 2-3 minutes. Cover the couscous with a couple of inches of water, add kosher salt, and bring to a boil over high heat. Cook the couscous until al dente, according to the package. My couscous takes 10 minutes to cook. When done, drain the couscous. Toss with 1-2 tablespoons of the dressing.
  
• Divide the spinach among 4 large salad bowls. Top each with equal amounts of chickpeas, squash, onions, and couscous. Then add the feta and olives. Drizzle with the yogurt tahini dressing.
  

Notes

• Don't be afraid of the ingredients list. It's mostly spices! And a number of ingredients are listed more than once.
• If you are a fan of dressing on your salad, you may need to increase the amount of dressing in the recipe. The recipe makes a moderate amount of dressing.
• Fun additions to the salad include: toasted pine nuts, chopped fresh parsley or oregano, or diced hard boiled eggs.
• Israeli couscous is a large form of couscous. If you don't have any/can't find any, substitute orzo pasta.
• The dressing should be thick, but pourable.

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