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My Easy Pickled Vegetables require some advance planning, but they totally make the dish! Start by adding vinegar, water, peppercorns and salt to a medium saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes -- in the meantime, chopping your carrots and beet into matchsticks. After the pickling liquid has boiled for 5 minutes, remove it from heat and set aside to cool for 5 minutes. After slightly cooled, add vegetables to a resealable mason jar and pour pickling liquid over top. Seal the mason jar and allow it to cool for 2 hours before popping it into the fridge for up to 1 week (a light pickle is achieved after 4 hours, but ideally you would prepare the Easy Pickled Vegetables the night before you plan to serve the Mediterranean Rainbow Buddha Bowls).
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Prepare quinoa according to the package directions (typically, cooking time is about 20 minutes -- which gives us just enough time to prepare the Mediterranean Rainbow Buddha Bowl!).
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Let's get started on the Lemon Za'atar Vinaigrette. Mince your garlic, shallots and Italian parsley. Combine with the other vinaigrette ingredients in your Vitamix (or similar) and blend until smooth. Pour into a server and set aside.
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Prepare the rest of the Mediterranean Rainbow Buddha Bowl ingredients. Drain and rinse the chickpeas, then add them to a large mixing bowl and dress lightly with approximately 1 tbsp of Lemon Za'atar Vinaigrette. Chop cucumbers into matchsticks, chop medjool dates and pit olives if necessary. Chop mint for garnish.
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At this time, the quinoa should be finished cooking. Remove from heat and fluff lightly with a fork, then set aside to cool for 5 minutes.
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Begin assembling your Mediterranean Rainbow Buddha Bowls! I like to start with the quinoa first in the upper left hand corner, then work closewise adding my chickpeas, then cucumbers. Then sdd the Easy Pickled Vegetables on the other side of the quinoa and the olives below that. Add the dates between the olives and the Easy Pickled Vegetables. Pour the Lemon Za'atar Vinaigrette on top to dress each bowl. Then, add a big dollop of Sabra Greek Olive Hummus in the middle (seriously, don't be shy -- I like about 1/4 cup!).
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Garnish with chopped mint, a light sprinkling of za'atar, cumin and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.
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Serve immediately and enjoy!