Kale, Chickpea and Sweet Potato Bowls

Another Sunday night. It's the moment where I reflect on all the great things I did this weekend and the think about the things I never got around to doing.

I never did fit in a workout. Time just flew by! And that fog and rain sure didn't make me want to get up and go. I know, excuses, excuses.

That said, I did get some long overdue chores done, like finally take that pile of stuff in the living room corner out to Goodwill. I did get up early yesterday for some grocery shopping too!

Ricky and Melissa's housewarming was a success. And I can't help but mention the incredible spread they had - Vegan Spinach Dip (non-dairy sour cream and mayo, veggie soup mix and spinach), all kinds of hummus and crackers to dip, pita chips (pita bread cut into squares and covered in olive oil, garlic powder and oregano, then baked for 15 minutes), delicious vegan & gluten-free mini doughnuts (made by Megan, and this was definitely my favourite snack of the night), fresh baked cookies, classic chips and salsa and pizza roll-ups made by yours truly. It was difficult to stay away from the food table!

So after gorging last night today was a little less food focused. A banana with toast and peanut butter for breakfast, a small salad with tomato and green peppers for lunch and a rice bowl with kale, chickpeas, sweet potato, avocado and a peanut sauce for dinner.

Thank you to Candice for this delicious recipe! As I was making it I was wondering how it would all come together. As soon as I took the first bite I wondered what I was so worried about! It's so simple, so easy and so satisfying.

It's a great quick meal on week nights and I will be making this again!

Kale, Chickpea and Sweet Potato Bowls

Ingredients:

1 cup uncooked brown rice (I also threw in some quinoa for fun)

1 bunch of fresh kale, cleaned and de-stemmed

1 can of chickpeas

2 medium sweet potatoes, cut into bite size chunks

salt, to taste

avocado, optional

creamy peanut sauce, recipe below

Directions

Preheat oven to 400F and grease a baking sheet or line with parchment paper.

Chop sweet potatoes into 1/4 inch chunks, sprinkle with salt and bake for 30 minutes.

While sweet potatoes are baking, cook brown rice according to the instructions on the package.

Blanch kale in boiling water for 3 minutes, remove kale from water with tongs and place kale in an ice water bath so it stops cooking. Drain and squeeze the water out, chop and set the kale aside.

Prepare creamy peanut butter sauce.

Once the rice and sweet potatoes are done cooking dish out your bowls. Give yourself a heaping spoonful of rice and top with chickpeas, kale, sweet potato and avocado then top with the creamy peanut butter sauce and enjoy!

Creamy Peanut Sauce

Ingredients

1/2 cup natural peanut butter

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

1/2 tbsp. fresh ginger, chopped

2T rice vinegar

2T soy sauce

2T honey

a pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)

water, to thin

Directions

Put all the ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend. Then add as much water as necessary to make the consistency that you like. It makes quite a bit so store any leftovers in the fridge for later. (It tastes good on everything!).