happy bowls

with a completely addictive cashew sauce

When George and I touched down from our Patagonia trip earlier this week, I was craving one thing: vegetables.

Chilean-inspired recipes are coming soon! But I only had 48 hours at home this week before I flew out again — I am in North Carolina for the weekend to celebrate the life of someone I loved very much, then am heading straight to NYC for a few days of very fun work stuff (and, more importantly, to see Lily and my newest godson!). So I knew I needed to get my fill of nutrient-rich home-cooked fare while I could.

Whenever I get home from a vacation, I try to eat a ton of fiber-rich vegetables, nuts, leafy greens, and whole grains to recalibrate my gut. The benefits of these nutrient-rich foods (all of which this recipe contains!) extend far past gut health though. They — along with fermented foods like the apple cider vinegar we’re using in today’s cashew sauce — are all excellent for mental health, and support the production of mood-boosting neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine. Hence the name happy bowls!

These are basically choose-your-own-adventure veggie grain bowls. They’re vegan and totally delicious.

We’re seasoning sweet potato, beet, cauliflower, and red onion with EVOO (another good mood food) and some spices you probably already own, but you could even just season them with kosher salt and pepper, if that’s all you’ve got! While those roast to perfection, we’re going to make a very tasty cashew sauce, prep whatever grain you want, and wash and chop some greens. As soon as the veggies are done, you’ll assemble your happy bowls, drizzle them with cashew sauce, and dig in!

This recipe gives you a few chances to cook with your intuition. You are going to drizzle your veggies with EVOO and season them to taste (meaning, with as much or as little of each spice as you want). I didn’t include measurements because the time it would take you to measure the oil and seasonings far outweighs the importance of those measurements being perfect. Do. Your. Thing. This is a great opportunity to use oil and seasonings by sight — we want all vegetables covered in a light coating of oil, then sprinkled in a fine dusting of seasonings.

You are also going to open your fridge and pantry and see what greens and grains you already own. Quinoa, farro, brown rice, white rice, barley… take whatever dried grain you’ve got and/or want, and cook it per package directions (unless it’s quinoa, then cook it like I taught you!). Same thing with the greens. Spinach, arugula, kale, romaine, collards, Bibb lettuce… take however much of whatever green you have or want, wash and finely chop it (if needed), and add it to your bowls. In the recipe you’ll see optional topping ideas listed too. You don’t have to use any of them, or you can make a full toppings bar!

There are a few more ways to modify your grain bowls to suit your taste and what you have in the fridge…

This recipe offers plant-based protein via cashews, veggies, grains, and greens. If you want to add even more plant or animal protein to the mix, here are some ideas:

• To keep the meal vegan but maximize the protein, opt for a high-protein grain like bulgar, spelt, quinoa, or farro — they offer more protein than, say, white rice would.

• You could also use a can of rinsed, drained, and dried chickpeas (or another white bean like cannellini or navy beans). Add it to the sheet pan with the cauliflower if there’s room, or whip out another sheet pan. Season those like the rest of the veggies.

• Or, add some meat. Chicken, shrimp, salmon, or sausage would all be great. Toss your protein of choice in the same oil + seasonings and roast it on the same sheet pan as the cauliflower — you should be able to squish everything on. If it’s not fitting, just use another sheet pan or baking dish for the meat. Here’s the timing if you’re adding an animal protein:

  • Roast boneless, skinless chicken thighs with the veggies the entire time.

  • Roast boneless, skinless chicken breasts for the final 20 minutes of cook time.

  • Roast shrimp for the final 3 to 5 minutes, until opaque, firm, and curled into a C but not an O.

  • Roast salmon for the final 15 minutes.

  • Roast Italian chicken sausage (or another sausage you love), sliced, for the final 10 minutes

  • If you have another meat that you want to use, just Google the cook time for it at 425°F! It’ll be great, you’ve got this!

This recipe makes a lot of cashew sauce, but that’s a good thing! Here are ideas for using up your leftover sauce:

• Toss it with angel hair pasta and a little pasta water to thin it out for a creamy vegan pasta. Grilled shrimp or scallops on top would be excellent.

• Freeze it in 1/3-cup portions. Defrost and serve with roasted veggies or meat another night. I’d thaw it in the fridge overnight then warm it in the microwave or in a saucepan over low heat. Add more water if needed to make it drizzle-able again.

• Pour out half of the sauce before adding the herbs to the blender (you’d halve those too), and save it to make curry cashew dressing for thai chicken chop salads later that week. Actually, even if you’ve blended in the herbs, you can still make this dressing, it’ll just be more herbaceous!

• Sauté leftover rice + veggies in oil, and season with a splash of soy sauce and rice vinegar. Plate and drizzle the sauce over top.

The cashew sauce is absolutely delicious as written, but I also have riff ideas should you want to mix up the flavor profile one day. If you’re feeling ambitious, you can blend the sauce without the herbs in it, then pour 1/3 into one bowl, 1/3 into another bowl, and keep 1/3 in the blender — make 3 different sauces, blending them one at a time! In my photos, I made one bowl of sauce with no herbs, and the rest with.

• Dilly lemon sauce: Use 1 cup dill for your herb and lemon juice instead of vinegar

• Cilantro cashew chutney: Use 1 cup cilantro for your herb, plus 1/4 teaspoon each of ground turmeric, cumin, and garam masala

• Creamy curry sauce: Omit the herbs, add 1 tablespoon curry paste or 2 teaspoons curry powder, 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin, 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric, and a tiny pinch of sugar

• Cashew harissa sauce: Omit the herbs, add 1 to 2 teaspoons harissa (start with 1 and add more based on spice preference)

• Bitchin’ Sauce: To recreate a similar vibe as my fave Chipotle Bitchin’ Sauce (have you ever had it? so good), omit the herbs and add 1/4 cup nutritional yeast and 1 canned chipotle en adobo (like 1 pepper, not the whole can). Remove the seeds from the pepper first, they can be really spicy.

Any other ideas?! Tell us your riff!

Here are a few more delicious vegetarian meals we’ve made in the past (from left to right): market plates (I’m realizing we’re cooking the same veggies in a different (speedier) format here, it happens lol), sheet-pan roasted sweet potatoes and chickpeas with whipped feta, and crispy white bean & cauliflower tahini bowls (this is vegan too and an all-time fave of mine). PS, if you can’t get enough of this recipe’s cashew sauce, you’ll love the thai chicken chop I mentioned above!

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Serves 4-6 (see note below recipe for more info on this)

Cook time: 45 minutes to 1 hour

Tools:

• Chef’s knife

• Cutting board

• 2 sheet pans

• Parchment paper

• Blender

Ingredients:

Cashew sauce:

• 2 cups roasted cashews (cashew allergy sub: 1 can cannellini beans plus 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil)

• 1 cup fresh soft green herbs (such as basil leaves, cilantro, or dill)

• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

• 1/2 cup hot water, plus more as needed

• 1 small garlic clove or 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

• Option to choose your adventure! See the “sauce riffs” section above the recipe for additional flavor options

The roasted veg:

• 1 extra large sweet potato, 1-inch cubed

• 1 large beet, 1-inch cubed

• 1 head of cauliflower, trimmed and cut into thin florets

• 1 small red onion, thinly sliced

• Extra-virgin olive oil

• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

• A few shakes of garlic powder, onion powder, and smoked paprika

The base and extras:

• Any cooked grain you like/have lurking in the cabinet (I really love farro in a grain bowl!) (if you’re cooking it from dry, I’d do 1 to 1 1/2 cups dry grain, cooked per package instructions)

• However much of any greens you like/have lurking in the fridge (I like a few handfuls of fresh spinach, finely chopped!)

• Optional toppings: crumbled feta, hard-boiled eggs, cubed avocado, pickled red onions, roasted chopped nuts or seeds, extra fresh green herbs

Preheat oven to 425°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Add 2 cups of roasted cashews to a blender and cover with hot water (as hot as your sink will go). Set aside, so the cashews can soak and soften while we prep the veggies.

Scrub 1 extra large sweet potato and 1 large beet under running water until clean. Peel them if you aren’t into skins (I keep them on!), then chop into 1-inch cubes. Place on separate halves of one baking sheet.

Wash and dry 1 head of cauliflower. Slice it into thin florets like so: Cut off the leaves and the very bottom of the cauliflower stem. Now slice the head of cauliflower in half, through the stem. Place the two halves cut-side down, then slice them into 1/2-inch thick planks. Cut apart the individual florets. There will be little bits of cauliflower everywhere, that’s fine! Add them to the sheet pan too, they crisp up wonderfully.

Place the cauliflower on one side of the second baking sheet. Thinly slice 1 small red onion and add it to the other side of the baking sheet.

Drizzle all of the veggies with enough extra-virgin olive oil to lightly coat them. Sprinkle each sheet pan of veg with a big pinch of kosher salt, a smaller pinch of black pepper, and a couple shakes of garlic powder, onion powder, and smoked paprika. Use your hands to toss and evenly coat the veg, keeping each in its separate section on the sheet pan.

Roast everything for 30 to 40 minutes, until golden-brown and fork-tender. The beets will be on the firmer side and the sweet potatoes will be more tender, that’s good! We want a variety of textures!

Meanwhile, cook your grains, wash and chop your greens if necessary, and make the cashew sauce.

To make the cashew sauce: Drain the water out of the blender. Add all of the other cashew sauce ingredients (1 cup of soft green herbs, 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar, 1/2 cup hot water, 1 small garlic clove, and 1 teaspoon kosher salt). Blend until completely smooth. If needed, add 1 tablespoon more warm water at a time until you achieve a thick, drizzle-able sauce. Taste and add more salt if desired.

Scoop some grains and greens into the bottom of your bowl. Add the roasted veggies. Drizzle a big scoop of sauce over top and add any other toppings you’re into. Dig in!!!!

happy bowls

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• How many people does this serve? The veggies and sauce by itself could feed 4 people. If you add grains, greens, and extra toppings, you can stretch this meal to feed 6.

• Meal prep/cooking for 1 or 2: I wouldn’t halve the veggies or sauce if you’re cooking for 1 or 2 people — it’s such a great meal prep recipe for the week! Make salads, serve it with meat, make more grain bowls, etc.

• Love your leftovers: I eat leftovers of this meal for up to 5 days. It’s the perfect meal prep. The cashew sauce will stay good even longer, up to a full week. You can also freeze extra cashew sauce or cooked grains to use in future grain bowls.

  

  my meal-prepped veggies for the (half) week!

• Prep ahead: Chop your vegetables up to a day ahead of time and store them raw in airtight containers in the fridge. Or, as I’ve said, prep the whole thing ahead of time!

• Feeding kids: I like to serve this one family style Put all of the grains, veggies, sauces, and toppings on the table (even if that’s just putting the sheet-pans and cutting boards on the table!!) and let your kids serve themselves! They might only eat rice and avocado. But they might feel empowered to try new things since you’re giving them choices. It works really well in my house.

• Vegetarian/dairy-free/gluten-free: This meal is already vegetarian and dairy-free. If you want it to be gluten free, opt for rice or another GF grain.

• Must have meat: See the “add more protein” note above the recipe for ideas.

• A note about oven temps: Remember that oven temperatures can sometimes vary a little — or a lot! If you smell any veggies crisping too much in the oven, lower the heat to closer to 400°F, or pull them out early. If you ever suspect that your oven’s temp might be off — maybe you’re consistently needing to cook meat longer than a recipe says to, or your roasted veggies are always getting charred — you can buy an in-oven thermometer to check, then adjust your cooking temp accordingly.

• 💩⚠️: If you’re new to beets, your poop may be red after eating them. You’re fine :)

• Cashews: Swap the cashews for pepitas, sunflower seeds, peanuts, or almonds. Peanuts or almonds will be the best — the others will be great if you’re allergic to those. You can also use peanut butter or almond butter here (or any seed butter), just use 1/2 to 3/4 cup if using a butter. If you need a nut- and seed-free sub, use 1 can cannellini beans plus 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil.

• Soft green herbs: Any soft green herb you love like basil (that’s what I used), cilantro, or dill would be great — or a mix of a few. See the “sauce riffs” section for sauce ideas that don’t use herbs if you have none.

• Apple cider vinegar: Another light-colored vinegar like white or red wine vinegar, or lemon juice

• Garlic clove: 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder (or onion powder) or 1 cube of frozen crushed garlic (thawed)

• Vegetable subs: You can cut one and increase the others, or pull in different vegetables. Brussels sprouts, broccoli, carrots, asparagus, or winter squash would all be great. Just chop them to be the same size as the other vegetables you’re roasting. If you’re cooking this in the summer months, you can swap them out for zucchini, eggplant, and/or squash (though these would cook faster, so check them at 25 minutes).

• EVOO: Olive oil, avocado oil, or another neutral cooking oil

• Garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika: These are optional! Even just seasoning your veg with kosher salt and pepper would be great. Cumin would be a good sub for smoked paprika. Or an “everyday” spice blend or lemon pepper would be lovely.

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Editor: Molly Ramsey