This is a super yummy protein packed bowl that’s great for lunch or dinner (or as leftovers) on a busy day! You could even wrap it up in a tortilla for a great meal on the go! You could also sub a lot of the ingredients for something else if you don’t have everything on hand, however, these flavors work pretty great together!  Enjoy!

Mexicali Sweet Potato Bowl: Makes 4 very hearty portions, or 6 smaller portions

Here’s what you’ll need:

1 cup uncooked quinoa, 1 can of corn, 1 can black beans, 3 sweet potatoes (peeled and cubed), 2 blocks of tempeh, fresh cilantro, 1-2 avocados, 1 onion, 4-5 cloves garlic, 2/3 C vegan mayo, 1-2 tsp sriracha, 4-5 green onions (scallions), 1 tsp chili powder, himalayan pink salt, pepper, olive oil.

Here’s the plan:

-Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees, toss peeled and cubed sweet potatoes in a large bowl with about 3 TBSP olive oil and salt and pepper. Spread out evenly on a baking sheet (lined with foil and sprayed with a non-stick cooking spray) and bake in oven for about 25-30 minutes, or until tender.

-Meanwhile…while the potatoes are cooking- cook your quinoa according to package directions.

-While quinoa is cooking… dice an onion and saute with 4-5 cloves of minced garlic in a pan with about 1-2 TBSP of oil.  Cook for about 4-5 minutes until garlic and onion are soft and translucent.

– Cube tempeh and add to onion mixture.

-Saute tempeh and onions together for about ten minutes until tempeh begins to brown a bit- stir and toss occasionally while it cooks.  Season mixture with salt, pepper and 1 tsp chili powder. Add juice from 1 lime.

-Transfer tempeh mixture into a smaller bowl.

-In small saute pan, add 1 TBSP of oil and the cooked quinoa.

-Rinse your cans of corn and black beans. Add to the quinoa in the pan. Season with salt, pepper, and the juice of the second lime.

-Add sliced green onions to quinoa mixture. (I like to use kitchen shears to cut green onions, it’s super quick and you can do it right over the pan.)

-To make the sriracha mayo, mix 2/3 C of vegan mayo with 2 tsp (more or less depending on how spicy you like it) of sriracha. Stir well to incorporate.

-Chop cilantro. Slice avocado, season avocado with a sprinkle of salt over top.

-Assemble your bowl! I split my bowl into 3 sections- 1 with sweet potatoes, 1 with the tempeh, and the last with the quinoa. Then top with the sliced avocado and a dollop of mayo in the center, sprinkle with cilantro. Enjoy!

And just for fun- here’s a comparison shot of my bowl versus Steve’s. (below) Steve thinks his major styling issue was the cilantro..what do you think?

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