Sweet Potato and Broccoli Bowl

This afternoon, food correspondent Maple Trout Lilli emerged from her car bearing a platter heaped high with dinner. I might have written that she brought up a dish for our dinner, but it turns out it’s a bowl not a dish. We’re tired of dishes, right? Today is only the second time I’ve heard of bowls and my first to partake of one. I am guessing the term bowl refers to the manner of assembling the ingredients.  MTL presented her bowl on what looked to me like a plate.

She writes:

SWEET POTATO AND BROCCOLI BOWL WITH MAPLE-MISO DRESSING

It’s a mouthful of goodness.

FOR THE BOWL:

1 cup dried rice or another grain
1-2 sweet potatoes (1.5 lbs)
1 large bundle broccoli (1 lb)
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon white sesame seeds
1 teaspoon black sesame seeds

FOR THE MAPLE-MISO DRESSING;

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1 small clove minced garlic
2 tablespoons white miso
2 tablespoons tahini
1 tablespoon maple syrup
¼ cup rice vinegar
2 tablespoons roasted sesame oil
2 tablespoon olive oil

Heat oven to 400.  Cook rice in a rice cooker or on stove according to package directions.

Peel sweet potatoes and cut into 1-inch cubes.  Cut tops off broccoli and separate into florets.  If stems seems woody, peel and cut into ½ to 1 inch segments.

Coat a large tray (or 2 small trays) w/a slick of olive oil,  Layer sweet potatoes on tray and sprinkle w/s&p.  Roast for 20 min until browning underneath.  Flip and toss around then add broccoli to trays.  Re-season w/s&p and roast for another 10-20 minutes until broccoli is lightly charred at edges and sweet potato is tender.  Toss around one more time if it looks like they’re cooking unevenly.

While veggies roast, make dressing.  Combine everything in a blender and run until smooth, scraping down sides once.  Taste and adjust ingredients to your taste.

Assemble by scooping rice/grain or greens into each bowl, pile on roasted potatoes and broccoli.  Coat lightly w/sesame-miso dressing and finish w/sesame seeds.  Serve w/extra dressing on the side.

NOTES;  You can sub or add any vegetables for the broccoli, i.e. cauliflower, brussel sprouts.

No grains in your diet?  Serve over a couple cups of spinach or other salad greens.

-MTL

[POST-DINNER NOTE: “Delicious, delectable, heavenly, savoury, saporous, scrumptious,” say the six of us who feasted on this bowl. When all the crew had eaten, what manifested was a shallow square bowl of exquisite design – not a plate at all.  AC]