With a little meal prep this colourful bowl can be assembled and served within minutes. The roasted capsicum sauce is the perfect balance of sweet and salty, adding a kick of flavour and colour to these delicious middle eastern inspired bowls.
This Week
2 Dec - 8 Dec
Middle Eastern-Inspired Buddha bowl with Tabouli, Halloumi and Roast Capsicum Sauce
- under 1 hour
- 4
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Meal Prep Guide
Make the roasted capsicum sauce (store in an airtight container in the fridge)
Ingredients
- 1 red capsicum (deseeded and cut into quarters)
- ½ cup walnuts (toasted)
- 4 Tbsp tahini
- 2-4 Tbsp water
- 1-2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
- 2 tsp maple syrup
- ½ tsp paprika
- ½ tsp chilli flakes
Method
- Start by preheating the oven to 200 degrees celsius, fan bake.
- Add the capsicum to a large baking tray, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt. Pop into the oven and roast until soft and slightly charred, around 15 minutes.
- Add the roasted capsicum to a blender along with the remaining capsicum sauce ingredients. Blend until smooth and creamy and a similar consistency to hummus.
Cook ¾ cup quinoa, we used tri-coloured (store in an airtight container in the fridge)
Tips
- If you would like to add some extra vegetables to the bowl, like roasted eggplant or cauliflower, pop it into the oven while the capsicum is roasting.
- The seeds/centre of tomatoes and cucumbers have a high water content – to prevent a soggy, water-logged tabouli, we like to remove these seeds.
Shortcuts
- Swap our roasted capsicum sauce for a store brought hummus or tzatziki.
- Or alternatively you could serve the bowl with roasted sweet capsicum and good drizzle of tahini (we like to use ceres hulled tahini).
Shortcuts
Vegetables
- Add extra roast vegetables to the bowl, eggplant and cauliflower would be delicious.
- Add finely diced capsicum to the tabouli.
- Add spring onion to the tabouli.
Protein
- Swap halloumi for meat of choice, our oregano baked chicken thighs would be perfect with this dish.
- Add falafels – try our best baked falafel recipe or use store-bought.
Other
- We used tri-colour quinoa but white or red would also work well or swap for another grain such as cracked bulgur wheat or freekah.
Ingredients
Roasted capsicum sauce
- 1 red capsicum (deseeded and cut into quarters)
- ½ cup walnuts (toasted)
- 4 Tbsp tahini
- 2-4 Tbsp water
- 1-2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
- 2 tsp maple syrup
- ½ tsp paprika
- ½ tsp chilli flakes
Tabouli
- ¾ cup quinoa (we used tri-coloured)
- 1 garlic clove (crushed)
- 1 lemon (juice and zest)
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 punnet cherry tomatoes (diced)
- 1 mini cucumber (deseeded and finely diced)
- ½ cup mint (finely chopped)
- ½ cup parsley (finely chopped)
- Salt and pepper
Halloumi
- 190g halloumi
- Butter / olive oil
- 1 head petite cos (finely sliced)
- ¼ cup olives
- Pita bread (optional)
Method
- Start by preheating the oven to 200 degrees celsius, fan bake.
- Add the capsicum to a large baking tray, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt. Pop into the oven and roast until soft and slightly charred, around 15 minutes.
- Cook the quinoa as per packet instructions. Once cooked, allow to cool before assembling the tabouli.
- Add the roasted capsicum to a blender along with the remaining capsicum sauce ingredients. Blend until smooth and creamy and a similar consistency to hummus.
- To make the tabouli, start by grabbing a large mixing bowl and add the garlic, lemon juice and zest, olive oil, salt and pepper; mix well to combine. Add the cooled quinoa and remaining tabouli ingredients into the bowl and toss to combine.
- To cook the halloumi, add a little butter to a large pan. Once hot, add the halloumi and cook for a couple of minutes on each side until golden brown.
- Time to assemble your bowl. Add some tabouli to each bowl, followed by lettuce, olives, pita and halloumi. We like to do this in little sections. Then top with a generous dollop of the roasted capsicum sauce.
Variations
Vegetables
- Add extra roast vegetables to the bowl, eggplant and cauliflower would be delicious.
- Add finely diced capsicum to the tabouli.
- Add spring onion to the tabouli.
Protein
- Swap halloumi for meat of choice, our oregano baked chicken thighs would be perfect with this dish.
- Add falafels – try our best baked falafel recipe or use store-bought.
Other
- We used tri-colour quinoa but white or red would also work well or swap for another grain such as cracked bulgur wheat or freekah.
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