Honeycrisp Apple Harvest Bowls with Roasted Sweet Potato, Farro and Maple Balsamic

I love that this is an awesome vegetarian meal. The bit of sweetness from the apple and the dressing, plus roasted veggies, goat cheese, toasted pecans… If I added all the yummy ingredients I wanted to add in the title, it would have gone on forever. It's so delicious!

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Bowls – a party for our taste buds. Who’s with me?! If you don’t like bowls, you probably just haven’t discovered the one for you yet. I love an Asian style bowl, a Mediterranean bowl, but this one is an all-timer. I just keep coming back and making it again. The bit of sweetness from the apple and the dressing, plus roasted veggies, goat cheese, toasted pecans… If I added all the yummy ingredients I wanted to add in the title, it would have gone on forever. There are a lot of delicious things in this bowl!

I love that this is an awesome vegetarian meal, but I still get my protein in from the farro. A bit about farro. You could definitely add chicken or something in here if you wanted, but I try to eat vegetarian a few days a week, and this is a meal that gets me super excited about eating veggie. Farro is such a yummy grain, and includes a lot of protein you would be missing from meat. I topped this off with my favourite Pistachio and Herb falafels, for even more protein. I would 100% recommend adding those too! However, I would recommend trying to make the falafels beforehand if you want to keep this feeling easy. I’ll do it all at once, cuz I love to spend time in the kitchen, but this will already require making the dressing and a fair bit of chopping. It’s nice if the falafels are already made and you can just throw them on top! I just keep a bag of these falafels in the freezer, like I explain in that blog post, so they’re easily accessible for bowls like this or wraps for any lunch or dinner.

Here's how to make it

I start by getting the sweet potatoes and brussels sprouts roasting. Then, put your farro on the stove to boil, because it will take about 30 minutes.

Then, I mix up my dressing. It’s super easy! Just put the olive oil, maple syrup, balsamic and Dijon in a jar, and give it a shake!

After that, I like to just pile all the ingredients I want to add on my countertop, and go ahead prepping them. I toast some pecans, grate my beets, slice my apple and avocado, and massage some kale. Once the farro and roasted veggies are done, pile it all in a giant bowl! About the sauerkraut… TRUST ME. Everyone I serve this to loves that addition. It counters the sweetness from the apple and dressing perfectly, and goes so well with the roasted veggies! This will 100% make leftovers, which is fine for me because I’ll just take it for lunch the next day. It requires some time when you make it, but talk about meal prep made simple for the next few days. If I have a really hard workout, it’s so nice just to come home and pull this out of the fridge!

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Honeycrisp Apple Harvest Bowls with Roasted Sweet Potato and Brussels Sprouts, Farro, Goat Cheese and Maple Balsamic Vinaigrette

Servings: 4

Prep time: 30 minutes

Cook time: 30 minutes

Total time: 1 hour

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INGREDIENTS

• about 10 brussels sprouts

• 2 small or 1 large sweet potato or delicata squash

• 2 tbsp olive oil

• ¾ cup farro (dry)

• 1/2 cup pecans, chopped and toasted

• avocado

• 1 large beet, grated

• ½ cup dried cranberries, optional

• 1 honeycrisp apple

• Pistachio and herb falafels (optional)

• Sauerkraut – (optional, but TRUST ME. Everyone I serve this to loves that addition. It counters the sweetness from the apple and dressing perfectly, and goes so well with the roasted veggies! Of course, you can omit this, but my recommendation is include it!)

• Kale, massaged (or arugula)

• Goat cheese

• Crispy onions (optional)

Maple Balsamic Vinaigrette

• ¼ cup olive oil

• ¼ cup balsamic vinegar

• 2 tbsp maple syrup

• 2tsp Dijon mustard

• 1tsp salt

• ½ tsp pepper

• Sprig of thyme

INSTRUCTIONS

Start by getting your veggies roasting. Preheat your oven to 400°F. Cut your brussels sprouts in to quarters, and your sweet potatoes in to 3/4 inch chunks. Drizzle on some olive oil, salt and pepper to each. Put your sweet potatoes in the oven first, and set a timer for 10 minutes.

While you wait, you get get your farro on the stove. Put your 3/4 cup of dry farro in a pot with 1.5 cups of water, and 1/2 tsp of salt. This will boil for 30mins.

Now you can mix up your maple balsamic vinaigrette. Put all the ingredients for it together in a clean jar, screw the lid on tightly, and give it a really good shake. Done!

Your ten minute timer for the sweet potatoes should be going off about now. Take them out and give them a stir. Add your brussels, and roast it all for another 15-20mins. Stirring it part way through the cooking time helps to brown them nicely on all sides.

While you wait for your veggies to finish roasting, prep the rest of your bowl ingredients! If you're including my pistachio and herb falafels (so good!) I recommended to make them on a different day and store them in the freezer. This just keeps the workload easy! Take them out of the freezer and stick them in the microwave to defrost. Chop and toast your pecans. I always say this, but trust me - toasting nuts adds SO much flavour and is such a key flavour in this bowl! Just put them in a dry pan on the stove, on medium heat, stirring them every minute or so. You'll know they're done when you can smell the nuttiness and they start to look a bit shiny. Set them aside, and grate your beet. Cut your avocado up however you want, slice your apple, and prep your kale. I feel like many people know the trick about massaging kale at this point, but if you don't, I'll share! Kale is really tough if it's not massaged. Cut it in to bite sized pieces, removing the ribs, and then literally massage it for about three minutes, squeezing it in your hands. You'll see it decrease in size and become a darker green colour. It is so much more tender and edible this way! Of course, you can use arugula or spinach if you're not a kale fan.

The veggies and farro should finish around the same time! Drain any excess water from the farro, and take the veggies out of the oven. Now it's bowl building time! Find yourself a great big bowl or plate, and start piling on ingredients. Roasted veggies, honeycrisp apple slices, farro, toasted pecans, avocado, grated beet, dried cranberries, falafels, kale, sauerkraut (still recommended, trust me!), goat cheese, and crispy onions. YUM! This is so fun to make with friends, and it's a crowd pleaser because people can just have fun piling whatever they want on a plate. I could eat this bowl every day of the week and be so happy!

Did you make this recipe? Tag @thefittestfoodie_ on Instagram so I can share it!