Find a Recipe!

Just a Little Bit of Bacon

where comfort food meets the farm stand

  • Home
  • Recipes
    • beverages
    • desserts
    • grilling and bbq
    • main courses
    • quick dinners
    • side dishes
    • soups and stews
  • mediterranean recipes
    • italian recipes
      • italian comfort food
      • italian antipasti
      • fundamentals of italian cooking
    • spanish recipes
      • spanish tapas
    • french recipes
      • french comfort food
    • greek recipes
  • holiday favorites
    • christmas
    • easter dinner
    • thanksgiving feast
  • resources
    • dinner and party menus
    • farmers’ market
      • ingredient spotlight
    • roundup post
  • About
    • Privacy Policy
  • Contact

Greek Buddha Bowl with Chickpeas and Squash

January 16, 2017 By justalittlebitofbacon 4 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. I receive a small commission at no cost to you when you make a purchase using my link. Click here for details.

  • Share
  • Tweet

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.

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. | justalittlebitofbacon.com

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.

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. | justalittlebitofbacon.com

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

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. | justalittlebitofbacon.com

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. | justalittlebitofbacon.com
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.
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. | justalittlebitofbacon.com
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. | justalittlebitofbacon.com

Save

Save

Related Posts:

  • Vegetarian Butternut Squash Tagine
    Vegetarian Butternut Squash Tagine
  • Kale, Chickpea and Roasted Delicata Squash Salad
    Kale, Chickpea and Roasted Delicata Squash Salad
  • Greek Farro Salad with Roasted Chickpeas
    Greek Farro Salad with Roasted Chickpeas
  • Kale, Radicchio and Freekeh Salad Buddha Bowl
    Kale, Radicchio and Freekeh Salad Buddha Bowl
  • Vegetarian Mediterranean Pasta with Feta and Artichokes
    Vegetarian Mediterranean Pasta with Feta and Artichokes
  • Spiced Dry Roasted Chickpeas
    Spiced Dry Roasted Chickpeas
  • Share
  • Tweet

Filed Under: greek recipes, main courses, recipe, rice & grains, salads, vegetable dishes, vegetarian, vegetarian mains Tagged With: chickpeas, feta, olives, spinach, winter squash, yogurt

« Ingredient Spotlight: What Are Meyer Lemons?
Italian Braised Pork Shoulder Ragu »

Follow me on:

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter

Don’t miss a post!

Get new recipes in your inbox every week!

Disclosure:

Justalittlebitofbacon is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

Comments

  1. Mary Pisarkiewicz says

    January 18, 2017 at 3:20 pm

    5 stars
    This is a must try! really sounds delicious!

    Reply
    • justalittlebitofbacon says

      January 26, 2017 at 10:56 pm

      Thank you! 🙂

      Reply
  2. Julia @ HappyFoods Tube says

    January 17, 2017 at 4:43 am

    5 stars
    Olives, Feta Cheese, chickpea – this is my kind of a buddha bowl! Healthy and delicious! I must try your version of roasted chickpeas with corriander and cayenne! 🙂

    Reply
    • justalittlebitofbacon says

      January 26, 2017 at 10:55 pm

      Thanks! I do love roasted chickpeas and those spices are a nice complement to the dressing.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Hello, I’m Annemarie

Welcome to my kitchen! I’m a Italian-American girl who loves fresh foods, local ingredients, and all sorts of comfort foods. Here you will find Mediterranean flavors and recipes from a New England perspective.

Don’t miss a post!

Sign up here to have new recipes delivered to your inbox every week.

Follow me on:

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Spring Flings

Strawberry Lime Vodka Collins - Throw away the collins mix! Homemade strawberry syrup is the secret to this seriously tasty and seriously refreshing strawberry collins. | justalittlebitofbacon.com

Strawberry Vodka Collins

Slow Roasted Pork Shoulder - This slow roasted pork shoulder has meltingly tender meat that pulls apart easily and wonderfully crisp skin. Perfect for a crowd! It's not a beautiful roast, but you can't beat the flavor or the simplicity of it. | justalittlebitofbacon.com

Slow Roasted Pork Shoulder

Toasted Corn and Edamame Salad - Quick, healthy and flavorful! Toasted corn, creamy cheese, spicy scallions, and yummy edamame all tossed with a honey lime dressing will have you going back for seconds. Perfect for a summer picnic or cookout. | justalittlebitofbacon.com

Toasted Corn and Edamame Salad

Wondering what to do with garlic scapes? Puree them into a quick and creamy, garlicky bean and garlic scape dip! Great as a healthy snack or for a party! | justalittlebitofbacon.com

White Bean and Garlic Scape Dip

Moist Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting - Grinding up the carrots packs more carrots into each cupcake and makes these cupcakes extra moist and delicious! Creaming the butter and sugar together provides an extra tender crumb and a mostly flat top which is perfect for the lightly sweetened cream cheese frosting. | justalittlebitofbacon.com

Moist Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Want some ideas for fresh strawberry desserts? I have six amazing recipes from simple to elegant and all are packed full of sweet, juicy strawberries. Berry crumble pie, rustic strawberry tart, shortcake with a twist, easy strawberry dip and more!

Fresh Strawberry Desserts for Spring

Reader Favorites

Deep fried Brussels sprouts served with a sweet and tangy sauce are a yummy snack, an addictive appetizer, and a fun Thanksgiving dish. Gluten free and simple to make! | justalittlebitofbacon.com

Deep Fried Brussels Sprouts

Chocolate Chip Butterscotch Bars - These one bowl bars have all the comfort of an old-fashioned butterscotch bar and the added pleasure of gooey chocolate chips in every bite. | justalittlebitofbacon.com

Chocolate Chip Butterscotch Bars

Grilled Butterflied Leg of Lamb - Butterflied lamb is rubbed overnight with a flavorful herb and garlic mixture and then quickly grilled for a perfect dinner. It takes just 15 minutes to bring this roast to a beautifully seared outside and medium rare inside. Great for Easter dinner or for any cookout get-together. | justalittlebitofbacon.com

Grilled Butterflied Leg of Lamb with a Herb Rub

Leftover Lamb Gyros with Tzatziki Sauce - What to do with leftover lamb roast? Make these incredibly yummy lamb gyros and top them with a 5 minute tzatziki sauce. | justalittlebitofbacon.com

Leftover Lamb Gyros with Tzatziki Sauce

Cold sweet potato salad is topped with dried cranberries and pecans, then tossed with a maple syrup and mustard dressing. Perfect for summertime picnics and for the Thanksgiving table. | justalittlebitofbacon.com

Cold Sweet Potato Salad with Cranberries and Pecans

Parmesan Truffle Fries - Use frozen, bagged fries to have tasty truffle fries, covered in truffle oil, parmesan, and parsley on the table in less than 15 minutes. | justalittlebitofbacon.com

Quick and Easy Parmesan Truffle Fries

Copyright © 2021 — Just a Little Bit of Bacon • All rights reserved. Privacy Policy • Disclaimer

Genesis Framework • Foodie Pro Theme • by Shay Bocks