Quinoa, kale, sweet potato, avocado bowl recipe
After a long day of adventuring in the outdoors, nothing satisfies quite like a filling and nutritious meal. But oftentimes, because you’re tired and hungry, the idea of having to cook can force you to settle for unsatisfying and unhealthy options. But preparing a meal that will help your body recover properly doesn’t have be hard or take forever.
Related: Nutrition Tips: Fueling for Optimal Climbing Performance
That’s why we’re big fans of bowl recipes, which are simple, adaptable, and quick. They essentially incorporate a healthy grain, plenty of veggies, and some sort of protein. Overall, these take no more than 35 minutes of your time, from prep to plate. It’s worth it!
Here’s a simple, nutritious, and delicious recipe to try out after a day of climbing:
Recipe ingredients
As with many recipes, you can make this one your own. If you’re vegan, leave the eggs out, if you’re allergic to nuts, avoid the cashews, and if the idea of nutritional yeast freaks you out, use cheese instead! Otherwise, this recipe is vegetarian and gluten-free.
Ingredient list:
- 1/2 to 1 cup quinoa
- 1 sweet potato
- 1 onion
- 1 tomato
- 1 avocado
- 1 jalapeño
- bunch o’ kale
- 2 eggs (optional)
- 2 handfuls of cashews
- 4 tablespoons of nutritional yeast (or substitute with cheese)
- 2 tablespoons of coconut oil (or cooking oil of your choice)
- 1-2 tablespoon of cumin
- 1-2 tablespoon of chili powder
- dash of cinnamon
- cayenne to heat tolerance level
- salt and pepper to taste
Recipe directions
Beginners do not fear: the actual cooking process doesn’t require much skill, either. If you can boil water, cut veggies, and throw things into a pan, you’re more than qualified to carry out this recipe.
Step-by-step recipe directions
- Get your quinoa cooking! Quinoa cooks at a 2:1 ratio of water to grain. Out of quinoa? No worries. Feel free to use rice, millet, couscous, or any other base that you prefer.
- Prep and cut your veggies. Again, use whatever vegetables you enjoy most or have on hand.
- Over medium heat, start sautéing the sweet potato in coconut oil—you’ll want to get this cooking first as they take a bit more time than the others. After two minutes, gradually add in the chopped onion and jalapeno.
- When veggies are about 3/4 of the way cooked, add the raw cashews (or nuts of your choice) so that they begin to roast slightly. This is where the tasty flavor comes into your dish!
- Add coconut oil to a pan and fry your eggs.
- Meanwhile, combine the cooked quinoa, kale, tomatoes, avocado, and nutritional yeast (NOOCH!) to the rest of your veggies.
- Add spices and mix together. You may need to add more or less than described above, per your taste preferences.
- 7Add fried egg, and top with black pepper, hot sauces, or whatever you prefer. Then feast!
