There are days when my body doesn’t feel like eating a single meal, but rather many things at once.

When this happens I always make myself a nice and nourishing Buddha bowl. Buddha bowls are a great way of putting all the necessary ingredients in your system and they satisfy every craving you might have—in addition, they are wonderful for meal prep as well.

I had some leftover tahini so I decided to use it as a base for the beans stew and over the salad as a sauce. Tahini is a paste made from ground, toasted sesame seeds. The seed butter is a staple in many cuisines and has a distinctive nutty taste that is sometimes described as acidic or bitter. Since sesame seeds pack a lot of nutritional value into their very small size, tahini can also be a healthy addition to your diet.

Ingredients:

For the Tahini Beans Stew:

1 can quail beans

1 tbsp tahini

2 tbsp tomato purée

1 clove garlic, crushed

1/ 2 tsp cayenne

1/ 2 tsp chili powder

pinch of sea salt

For the Citrus Avocado Salad:

6 cups mixed greens (I used lettuce and Chinese cabbage)

1+1/2 oranges, sliced

1 medium avocado, sliced

2 green onions, sliced

flaky salt, freshly ground lemon pepper to taste

For the tahini sauce:

2 tbsp tahini

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

1-2 tbsp lemon juice

juice of 1/2 orange

1/4 cup water

1 tbsp maple syrup

For the roasted broccoli:

1 cup broccoli

1 tbsp olive oil

sesame seeds

Method:

For the Tahini Beans Stew:

Rinse and drain the canned beans and place them in a frying pan. Add cayenne pepper, chili powder, crushed garlic, and a healthy pinch of salt. Sauté the beans for 3-4 minutes. Add tiny bits of water if needed. Add tomato puree and tahini. Combine all the ingredients together until everything is well coated and warm.

For the Citrus Avocado Salad:

Chop lettuce, Chinese cabbage, and green onion into bite-sized pieces, and add them to a large salad bowl. Slice one half of the avocado into strips and the other half into small cubes. Add to the salad. Cut thin slices of the oranges, and chop off the peel. I left some rounds as they were and shred the rest. Sprinkle a dash of red wine vinegar, and a few drops of lemon and orange juice on top. Mix it well.

For the tahini sauce:

In a blender combine the tahini, red wine vinegar, lemon and orange juice, water, and maple syrup and blend until smooth. Add a splash of more water if the sauce looks too thick. Season with salt and a few cracks of black pepper.

For the roasted broccoli:

In a bowl toss the broccoli in olive oil until well coated. Heat a grill pan on medium-high heat and spread the broccoli out evenly. Allow them to cook for approximately 6 minutes, turning them halfway through cooking to ensure they brown and slightly charred on both sides.

Place the broccoli, salad, and beans on a serving platter, drizzle with the tahini sauce and sprinkle generously sesame seeds. I had some leftover rice on the side with it but it’s also wonderful with roasted turmeric potato, mashed cauliflower, or sweet potatoes.

~

Please consider Boosting our authors’ articles in their first week to help them win Elephant’s Ecosystem so they can get paid and write more.