Lately, I’ve been obsessed with inspired food bowls—it probably began with this festive little zoodle bowl. I’ll share something else with you: I can put away a lot of food—especially for my small frame. And by “a lot,” I mean, I once ate an entire raw head of cabbage in one sitting.* Okay, it wasn’t a huge cabbage, but I was still pretty impressed with myself. You can understand why a large bowl of my favorite veggies puts me in dinnertime heaven.

Served with modest portions of red-pepper cashew dip and millet (or whole grain of your choice), this vegan veggie bowl is a healthy way to satisfy any voracious appetite. But be prepared, people might think you’re a secret food vacuum alien.

Vegan Veggie Bowl with Red Pepper Cashew Dip

Ingredients for Veggie Bowl:

(Serves 2-3)

2 cups cooked millet (at 1 cup dry)

½ cup grape tomatoes

1 avocado, thinly sliced

1 cup shredded purple cabbage

1 tsp. olive oil

2 gloves garlic

1 cup sliced baby bella mushrooms

½ onion sliced in thin rounds

½ tsp. black pepper corns

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

1/2 cup water

½ tsp. ground cumin

½ tsp. ground mustard seed

1 tsp. stevia

a few generous scoops of red-pepper cashew dip (see below)

sea salt

Ingredients for Red-Pepper Cashew Dip:

(There will probably be leftovers–makes a great snack when paired with veggie sticks and crackers!)

2 red bell peppers

½ raw cup cashews

2 tbsp. nutritional yeast

juice of one lime

½ tsp. sea salt

Directions:

1. In a small container, whisk together black pepper corns, ground cumin, ground mustard seed, stevia, water, and red wine vinegar. Combine with onion in a small sauce pan on a burner. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for five minutes. Set aside.

2. To cook millet: in a medium sauce pan, bring two cups water to a boil. Add 1/4 teaspoon salt. Add 1 cup millet. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat. Fluff with a fork after millet cools slightly. Set aside.

3. Core red bell peppers and thoroughly blend dip ingredients. If necessary, add a few spoonfuls of water to aid the blending process.

4. In a small pan at medium-low heat, warm olive oil. Add mushrooms and toss with a dash of sea salt. Sauté for about seven minutes. Add garlic at the last minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and set aside.

5. Arrange cooked millet, tomatoes, avocado and purple cabbage in good-sized salad bowl. Top with pickled onions and sautéed mushrooms. (Leave out the pepper corns from the onion mix!) Finally, put a few scoops of red-pepper cashew dip in the center. Serve and enjoy.

*You might be a little freaked out right now, but let me explain. We were leaving town for several days, and we would have needed to chuck the cabbage otherwise (and that would have made me sad), so I chopped it up and dressed it with lemon juice, tamari, and cumin, and enjoyed an unusual dinner 🙂

Also see: Savory Red Quinoa Lunch Bowl

Cumin Basil Soba Noodles

Vegan Thai Green Curry from Scratch!

Photos: Mary Hood