A delicious vegan dinner of buckwheat, roasted sweet potato and chickpeas, kale, and a vegan avocado cream sauce. Gluten free, healthy, and easy to make with lots of flavor and texture!
I’m no stranger to buckwheat, and I’m a HUGE lover using it in healthy vegetable bowls! I’m super excited to share with you another one of my favorite buckwheat bowl creations!
In my previous Buckwheat Bowl recipe, I used a variety of roasted vegetables and topped it with a tahini sauce. With this vegetable bowl, I am highlighting sweet potatoes, chickpeas, and a tasty vegan creamy avocado sauce!
Wait...what are buckwheat groats?
Buckwheat is a nutritional powerhouse plant. Buckwheat groats are the hulled seeds of this plant and used in place of many grains. It’s common in my home and most eastern European cuisine.
Don’t be fooled by the name. Buckwheat is unrelated to wheat as it is a seed, not a grain (it’s part of the pseudo-grain family much like quinoa). So it is entirely gluten-free.
If this is your first time hearing about buckwheat oat groats and you would like to dig deeper, check out my Buckwheat with Sauteed Mushrooms recipe, where I go into great detail about it.
Buckwheat groats make delicious bowls because you can use it as a substitute for rice, and they pair well with many vegetables. Buckwheat is high in fiber and packed with vitamins and minerals. To read more on why you should eat buckwheat groats, check out my Buckwheat Bowls with Roasted Vegetables and Tahini Sauce recipe!
What Makes this Buckwheat Bowl Quick and Easy
- Dried Spices. This recipe calls for dried spices to roast the vegetables to make it simple and easy, but don’t worry! By roasting your veggies in these spices, you will still get that caramelize impactful flavor! The most flavor from this dish comes from the cumin powder. Look for cumin powder that doesn't have any chemical additives or preservatives in it, such as this one.
- Buckwheat. Buckwheat only takes about 15 minutes to cook, unlike say, brown rice? Buckwheat is available in most supermarkets, but you can also order online here because it is usually not prominently displayed in stores and can be hard to find.
- Canned Chickpeas. Canned chickpeas are fantastic in a pinch and still provides excellent nutrition! Try to find canned chickpeas that are preserved in water and salt only, such as these from Whole Foods (available on Amazon).
Related recipe: Buckwheat Tea
Saving Time Assembling Your Buckwheat Bowl
Don’t be intimidated by the number of ingredients and steps in this recipe. It's actually super easy and quick to put together. Here’s how:
- Prep everything first by preheating your oven and measuring out all of your spices. Rinse all your chickpeas, sweet potatoes, and kale. Chop up your kale and sweet potatoes, and have them ready to go!
- Roast your veggies which only takes 15 minutes to cook and while those are roasting cook your buckwheat oat groats which only takes 10 minutes to prepare
- Once that is done, you are ready to make your kale, which only takes about 5 minutes to simmer down and make tender and tasty!
- You also make your avocado cream sauce by merely throwing all your ingredients in a small blender or food processor
There you have it! Easy and simple!
Avocado Cream Sauce
No bowl is complete without a drizzle of cream sauce on top! This Avocado cream sauce only requires avocados, oil, water, spices, lime juice, and your blender.
I used a Hass Avocado for this because it is the most common avocado on the market, and it has a lot of good healthy fats. Adding healthy fat to your buckwheat veggie bowl makes for a well-rounded dinner!
This sauce is also good on large green salads as well!
Make Your Own Buckwheat Bowl Creations!
This Buckwheat Bowl recipe is super versatile in that you can switch up the ingredients to fit your tastes. Maybe you don’t have sweet potatoes on hand, but you have some leftover butternut squash instead? Hey, go for it!
This recipe is vegan, but if you like, you can add some leftover grilled chicken to it!
Got leftover kale after making these bowls? Make Vegan White Bean and Kale Soup!
Try these reader favorites: Also vegan, or vegetarian if you want to add feta cheese.Looking for other comforting food-in-a-bowl recipes?
Buckwheat Bowls with Roasted Vegetables and Tahini Sauce
Vegan Buckwheat Bowls with Kale and Chickpeas
Ingredients
- 2 small sweet potatoes - (about 1 lb total)
- 1 14-oz can chickpeas - drained and rinsed
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ¼ teaspoon salt - or to taste
- Optional: ½ teaspoon chili powder or cayenne pepper, for spice
- 1.5 cups buckwheat groats - uncooked
- 3 cups water - (see notes)
- ½ teaspoon salt - or more to taste
- 1 bunch kale
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt - (or to taste)
- ¼ cup water
- ½ Hass avocado
- 1 tablespoon lime juice - (from ½ lime)
- ¼ cup water
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ⅛ teaspoon salt - (or to taste)
- 1 pinch garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons sliced almonds - toasted
- ¼ cup dried cranberries
- ½ Hass avocado - cubed or thinly sliced
- Optional garnish: fresh parsley leaves and Trader Joe's Everything but the Bagel seasoning
Special equipment
- small pot (2-3 quarts)
- small personal blender or food processor
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F. Spray a large baking sheet with non-stick spray or brush with olive oil.Clean the sweet potato (you can leave the skin on) and dice into ½ inch pieces.In a large bowl, combine the diced sweet potato and rinsed chickpeas with 1 tablespoon olive oil, ½ teaspoon each garlic powder, onion powder, and cumin, and about ¼ teaspoon salt (or to taste).
- Roast at 400F for 15 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes are easily pierced with a fork.
- While the sweet potatoes and chickpeas are roasting, cook the buckwheat according to the package instructions. Typically, 1.5 cups of uncooked buckwheat groats will need to be added to 3 cups of salted boiling water. Bring back up to a boil, cover, reduce heat, and simmer for about 10 minutes, or until the buckwheat is soft, but before it starts falling apart. If extra water is remaining, drain the buckwheat in a colander. If the water is absorbed before the buckwheat is cooked, add about ¼ cup water extra.
- Thoroughly rinse the kale and tear it into pieces (up to you whether to discard the stalks).
- In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add the kale, garlic powder, onion, powder, and salt (¼ teaspoon each). Stir, cover with a lid, and allow to cook for about 3 minutes, or until it reduces in size by about half.
- Uncover, add ¼ cup water, and saute for about 5 minutes, or until the kale is soft and the water evaporates.
- Combine all the ingredients (½ avocado, 1 tablespoon lime juice, 1 tablespoon olive oil, ¼ cup water, ⅛ teaspoon salt) in a personal blender or a small food processor. Process until smooth.
- Toast the sliced almonds in a dry skillet for about 3 minutes, or until they start to brown. Remove from heat so they don't burn.
- Divide the cooked buckwheat between four bowls. Top each bowl with ¼ of the sweet potatoes, chickpeas, sauteed kale, sliced almonds, dried cranberries, sliced avocado. Add a generous dollop of avocado cream to each bowl. Season with fresh parsley leaves and/or Everything but the Bagel seasoning.
Notes
- Cook the buckwheat according to the package instructions. Typically, it is a 2:1 water:buckwheat ratio
- If saving some of these for leftovers, store the sliced almonds, cranberries, and avocado cream separate from the buckwheat, sweet potato, chickpeas, and kale. Reheat the buckwheat, sweet potato, chickpeas, and kale, then top with all the toppings.
Nutrition
The nutritional information displayed is an estimate and not to be used as dietary or nutritional advice. Consult a nutritionist or dietician for nutritional info based on the exact ingredients you use.
Sasha
Monday 20th of November 2023
Delicious, simple, and so hearty! LOVED the avocado cream, what a brilliant idea. I never know what to do with buckwheat and this was a real treat :) thank you!
Renata
Wednesday 27th of May 2020
One of the best bowls I’ve come across while trying to transition to plant based!!
Kate
Thursday 28th of May 2020
So glad to hear!! Thanks so much for letting me know :)