Vibrant roasted winter vegetable bowls with black rice, roasted yams, turnips, carrots, beets, and warmly-spiced nutmeg tahini dressing. – A clean, nutrient-rich, filling meal perfect for weeknight meals and holiday entertaining.
This post is sponsored by Love Beets.
Hey-o! It’s the last big push before Christmas, how are we spending our weekend? Last-minute Christmas shopping and baking up as many gluten-free christmas cookies as we can muster? Slippering up, hunkering down, and avoiding the crowds?
It’s supposed to be CHILL-AAAY here, so my only plan is to attend sweaty spin and yoga classes in pursuit of warmth, and enjoy my indoor twinkle lights with an everlasting supply of coffee. This evening, a Christmas movie marathon with festive holiday cocktails is losely penciled in. Actually, one of my friends suggested we watch the Christmas movies on fast-forward and hit play during the “good” parts. Does anyone do this? Watch movies on fast-forward? Is that a thing I’m 18 trillion years late to, like bellinis, Breaking Bad, and lululemon? If you’re in the habit of watching movies on fast forward, or have done so at least one time in your life, hit.this.girl.UP! <- that’s an expression in case you’re 18 trillion years late to it. Please don’t actually hit me.
Food. DO we dare step away from holiday treats long enough to take in some vitamins? Actually, I’ve been doing pretty well avoiding most of the holiday treat offerings that have surrounded me, save for eating my weight in these gluten-free brownies, and this insane in the membrane fudge. So basically, I’m the one who could use a hiatus from sugar.
If you remember the Roasted Root Vegetable Buddha Bowls with Maple Cinnamon Tahini I posted a few years ago, the concept for this recipe is pretty similar. We’re roasting up a few varieties of hearty winter vegetables for these bowls, serving them atop black (forbidden) rice with fresh baby arugula, and drizzling this super flavorful nutmeg tahini dressing on top to bring it all together. Plus, we sprinkle with pomegranate seeds for a little pomp and circumstance.
Rainbow carrots, turnip, yams, and beets make this meal super hearty and nutritious. For the beet portion of the recipe, I used Love Beets Organic Cooked Beets, which helped cut out a substantial amount of time and prep. Beets require more time than most vegetables to roast (45 to 90 minutes), so eliminating the chopping and roasting of the beets helps cut down on the preparation time of the recipe, since the other vegetables only need about 20 to 25 minutes of bake time.
I’ve been working with Love Beets for a number of years as one of their recipe developers, and absolutely love the convenience of simply opening up the package, chopping, and serving the beets to make healthy meal prep a breeze. Eliminating the substantial amount of cook time, not to mention avoiding the imminent dying of hands, clothes, kitchen floor, etc. with beet juice that comes with handling raw beets, means I consume beets much more frequently than I would otherwise, in so many different ways. While I used the original unflavored cooked beets for these bowls, any of their marinated beets would be a stellar addition!
Meals and shared dishes during the holidays needn’t be complicated, so being able to cut corners while still keeping food healthful is a major win. I’ve used Love Beets Cooked beets in a number of my family’s traditional Thanksgiving and Christmas side dishes, as well as countless non-traditional holiday meals, just like these roasted winter vegetable rice bowls. For those of you who will be taking a less traditional approach to holiday meals, this recipe is a great option for serving to guests, or simply enjoying throughout the winter months. You can find Love Beets products in the produce section of your grocery store. Use Love Beets Store Locator  to check them out at a store near you.
Let’s talk tahini. I love the stuff. If you haven’t tried using tahini in a homemade sauce or dressing, I highly recommend! Tahini is packed with nutrients and when added to some sort of sauce/spread/dip situation, it yields creamy consistency without the need for less healthful ingredients, such as heavy cream or mayonnaise. My number one choice for enjoying veggie-packed bowls, this particular tahini dressing adventure includes freshly grated nutmeg (you can also use store-bought), cinnamon, and pure maple syrup, creating a warm and inviting meal.
And that’s it! You can modify these bowls to include any of your favorite seasonal vegetables, and play around the the tahini dressing flavor to your heart’s delight. Whatever your approach, I wish you health and happiness throughout the holiday season and beyond!
Roasted Winter Vegetable Bowls with Nutmeg Tahini
Ingredients
For the Rice Bowls:
- 1-1/2 cups black rice uncooked
- 1 bunch rainbow carrots peeled and chopped
- 1 large turnip peeled and chopped
- 1 large sweet potato sliced into ¼-inch rounds
- 1 8.8-ounce package Love Beets cooked beets, chopped
- 5 ounces baby arugula
- 1/3 cup pomegranate arils
Nutmeg Tahini Dressing:
- 3 tablespoons tahini
- 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- Pinch sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 415 degrees F.
- Spread the sweet potato rounds in an even layer on a large baking sheet, and spread the carrots and turnips over a separate baking sheet. Drizzle all of the veggies with olive oil and use your hands to coat the full surface of the veggies. Sprinkle with salt and place both baking sheets in the oven. Roast for 20 minutes, then remove the carrots and turnips. Flip the sweet potatoes and roast an additional 5 to 10 minutes, until golden-brown and cooked through.
- While the vegetables are roasting, cook the rice according to package instructions.
- Add all the ingredients for the tahini sauce to a small blender and blend until smooth. Taste for flavor and add more sea salt, maple syrup, or nutmeg to taste.
- Divide the rice among 3 to 4 bowls, then add heaping handfuls of arugula to each bowl, along with desired amount of roasted carrots, turnips, sweet potato, and beets. Sprinkle with pomegranate seeds and drizzle with nutmeg tahini dressing. Serve and enjoy!
These big bowls of goodness are gorgeous! I also adore the convenience of Love Beets–anytime I can enjoy beets without having to stain my whole kitchen red and trying to peel hot veggies is a major win. The sauce sounds amazing, too! Nutmeg is so perfect this time of year.
BTW I’ve never fast-forwarded through the bad parts of a movie, but with my short attention span, I should probably try it!
Yaaaass Love Beets is definitely a win..super accessible, no fuss, and of course jam packed with nutrients. Beet lovers unite!
We need to get our vegy’s on tonight. This recipe will be perfect. It’s my own little tradition to put on a Christmas movie and wrap presents. By Sunday night, I will be ready! If I have the movies on fast forward, I may be able to watch them all! Great idea!
Sounds like a great plan! No need to miss out on any of the classic Christmas movies any more with this new technique we have 😉
This looks so hearty and delicious. We are on veggie month before the avalanche of meats coming in one week and I am definitely going to try this one! Thanks for sharing.
So healthy and hearty! This looks like a great dinner after all these Christmas cookies I’ve been eating. 🙂
This is spectacular. I did farro instead of rice, skipped turnip, and added some shredded chicken breast I needed to use, and the bowl turned out beyond delicious. Thank you, Julia!
I’m so happy to hear it, Barbara! Your changes sound marvelous! I’ll have to make the bowls with farro and chicken as well! 😀
That looks absolutely amazing!
Thanks, Rhonda! Let me know if you give it a go!
this looks amazing. where did you buy your tahini? I tried to make the dressing and it came out very bitter.