Macro Bowls with Turmeric Tahini Sauce

I ate more turmeric in India than I had previously in my entire life – and loved it. If you have any sort of affinity for the spice, I’d suggest giving this filling, potent dish a try.

When we came across this recipe, we thought it looked healthy and delicious but looked for a few ways we could reduce prep time. For us, that meant ending the hunt for watermelon radishes (they’re beautiful but can easily be subbed with beets or, you know, just radishes) and replacing mung beans with chickpeas. For us, this is because we use chickpeas in a good number of dishes we make, so there’s none that go to waste with leftover portions. We love the combo we’ve achieved – I hope you’ll give it a try!

Serves: serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 watermelon radish (or plain ol’ radish or beet does the trick)
• squeeze of lemon
• 1 uncooked cup sprouted mung beans (or chickpeas)
• 6 small or 3 medium carrots, steamed
• 1 small head broccoli florets, steamed
• 8 kale leaves, chopped
• 2 cups cooked brown rice
• ¾ cup sauerkraut or other fermented veggie
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds or hemp seeds
• microgreens, optional
• Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper

Turmeric Tahini Sauce

• ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons tahini
• 4 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1½ teaspoons dried turmeric
• ¼ teaspoon sea salt, more to taste
• Freshly cracked black peppe

Instructions

1. Make the Turmeric Tahini Sauce: In a small bowl, combine the olive oil, tahini, lemon juice, garlic, water, turmeric, sea salt and several grinds of pepper. Set aside.
2. Thinly slice the watermelon radish (this is best done on a mandolin), and toss the slices with a squeeze of lemon. Set aside.
3. [Only if you’re using mung beans instead of chickpeas. We use chickpeas and this step marinate the chickpeas in lemon and tahini] Cook the mung beans in boiling salted water according to package directions, or until tender. Drain.
4. In a steamer basket over a pot of simmering water, steam the carrots, covered, until just tender, 7 to 10 minutes. Remove and set aside. Next steam the broccoli until tender but still bright green, 4 to 5 minutes. Lastly, steam the kale until just tender, 30 seconds to 1 minute.
5. Assemble individual bowls with the brown rice, mung beans (chickpeas), carrots, broccoli, kale, sauerkraut, sesame seeds and microgreens, if using. Season with salt and pepper and serve with the Turmeric Tahini Sauce.