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    The Hangry Chickpea » Healthy » Vegan Burrito Bowl with Roasted Cauliflower

    Vegan Burrito Bowl with Roasted Cauliflower

    Published: May 18, 2019 · Modified: Jun 1, 2022 by Eliza

    Jump to Recipe·Print Recipe

    Better late than never! For the third installment of Mexican May, I made a vegan burrito bowl with roasted cauliflower. After eating quesadillas and tacos for the last couple weeks, we decided we needed something a little lighter (read: that doesn't include a tortilla...).

    Vegan Burrito Bowl with Roasted Cauliflower | The Hangry Chickpea

    I know it may not be popular, but I'm going to say it: I love Chipotle. When I was in college, I traveled nearly every weekend with my co-ed sailing team up and down the east coast for regattas. If you travel a lot, you know how difficult it is to make healthy choices on the road. Chipotle always had something to please everyone: the vegetarians, the carnivorous dudes, and health-conscious ladies like myself.

    Burrito bowls are crowd pleasers, plain and simple. And get this - I live in the buzzing metropolis of Miami, and there's not a Chipotle within a 15 mile radius of my place. Madness. Come to think of it, I can't think of any place where I can get nice hearty salad or bowl under $12. First world problems...

    Anyway, my vegan burrito bowl is packed with veggies, but isn't super expensive if you get a deal on staples like black beans, rice, Rotel etc.

    I think a great vegan burrito bowl needs to be:

    1. Filling (rice, black beans)
    2. Packed with veggies and color (onions, peppers, sauce, corn, cauliflower)
    3. Slathered in an awesome sauce (in this case, my Cilantro Lime Sauce from a few weeks ago)

    If you're teaching somebody how to cook, or have a couple of extra hands, this is because it covers a lot of simple techniques (roasting, sautéing, veggie chopping, sauce making). It's also super easy to hand off one of the components to somebody else!

    Print
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    Vegan Burrito Bowl with Roasted Cauliflower

    ★★★★★ 5 from 1 reviews
    • Author: The Hangry Chickpea
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    Ingredients

    Units Scale

    Basics:

    • Kale, or whatever green you like
    • 1 cauliflower head
    • 4 ears of corn, kernels off the cob or 2-3 cups frozen corn defrosted
    • ½ onion sliced
    • 2-3 bell peppers
    • 1-2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
    • 1-2 avocados for topping
    • Salt and Pepper (to taste)
    • Olive oil - for roasting and sautéing

    Mexican Rice

    • 2 cups uncooked brown rice, rinsed thoroughly (DON'T SKIP THIS STEP)
    • ½ onion chopped finely
    • 3-4 cloves garlic
    • 2 cans Rotel
    • 2-2.5 cups vegetable broth
    • Optional: taco seasoning, cumin, chili powder, fresh cilantro for topping

    Cilantro Lime Sauce: 

    • 1 cup cilantro leaves
    • ½ small avocado
    • Juice of ½ lime
    • ¼ cup light olive oil
    • ¼ cup water
    • 1 tsp salt

    Instructions

    Roasted Cauliflower

    1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Chop cauliflower into pieces a little smaller than a golf ball. Toss with olive oil, and a couple pinches of salt and pepper.
    2. Roast at 400 degrees F for 20 mins. Flip, and then roast for another 20 mins or until they start to brown and are fork tender.

    Mexican Rice: Inspired by the Pioneer Woman - I changed it slightly to work better with brown rice, and vegan-ized.

    1. Chop ½ onion - smaller pieces are better. Peel and mince 3 cloves of garlic (or if you’re lazy like me, peel and use a garlic press to mince).
    2. In a large sauce pan, sauté onion until soft (~3 mins)
    3. Then add 3-4 cloves minced garlic. Let cook until you can smell the garlic (1-2 mins).
    4. Add brown rice (which you should’ve rinsed thoroughly, DON’T SKIP THIS STEP) and sauté for 3-5 mins, stirring constantly.
    5. Add 2 cans Rotel (drain if you don’t like as spicy) and vegetable broth. For a little more ~spice~ add a couple T of taco seasoning, plus 1-2 tsp of salt. If you don’t have taco seasoning, add a tsp of cumin with the salt, and maybe a little chili powder. If you’re don’t like spicy, avoid chili powder.
    6. Bring liquid to a boil, then reduce heat to low and cover. Generally, brown rice needs to cook much longer than white, so I started with 40 mins. After 40 mins, I taste test. If still al-dente, then give it 5-10 more minutes. Repeat if not ready. If not enough liquid, add some.

    Sautéd Veggies

    1. Slice onion and pepper(s).
    2. Heat 1-2 T olive oil in a sauté pan, and add peppers first. Sauté for 3 mins, then add onions, and cook until onions start to brown slightly. They’ll be pretty soft when finished. Remove from pan and set aside

    Corn

    1. Defrost frozen corn, or remove kernels from cob if using fresh.
    2. Heat 1-2 T olive oil in a nonstick pan, and add corn to pan when hot plus 1-2 pinches of salt. Stir every 1-2 mins until they begin to brown (usually 5-7 mins). Remove from pan and set aside.

    Cilantro Lime Sauce

    1. Blend all ingredients until smooth!

    Assemble: 

    1. In a bowl, add some kale and rice. Then fill in with veggies, corn, black beans, cauliflower etc.
    2. Smash avocado with a pinch of salt, and maybe a splash of juice from a lime wedge. Add dollop to bowl. 
    3. Top with Cilantro Lime sauce. I like to mix mine up and then dig in! 

    How'd it go?

    Please rate this recipe and tag @thehangrychickpea on Instagram!

    Want more Tex-Mex? Check out the rest of my recipes from this month:

    Week 1 – Vegan Butternut Squash Quesadillas

    Week 2 - Vegan Brussel Sprout Tacos

    Week 4 – Martini Strength Margaritas

    « Roasted brussel sprout tacos with vegan chimichurri sauce
    Cucumber Basil Margarita Recipe »

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Susan Dillard

      May 18, 2019 at 5:05 pm

      I have enjoyed the lightness of the recipes. I feel satisfied without blimped

      ★★★★★

      Reply
      • The Hangry Chickpea

        May 22, 2019 at 10:44 pm

        So glad you liked it! That's usually my goal with bowls 🙂

        Reply

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    Hi, I'm Eliza! I'm here to make all your favorite foods vegan, minus the fuss. Want to make my day? Say "you wouldn't know this is vegan" or "these are the best cookies I've ever had."

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