Power packed lunch with loaded veggies and quinoa. This recipe is adapted from here. The original recipe calls for oven roasted chickpeas. As my oven was under repair I couldn’t follow that exactly. Would love to try the roasted version of chickpeas. This recipe has little bit of background 😉. In my hubby’s office they used to have potluck once in a month and most of the recipes would be Indian and non-vegetarian. We are vegetarian and don’t eat meat. My hubby always prefers making something different other than Indian cuisine as they have diverse people joining them for lunch. So, we used to browse a lot and adapt the recipes to only veggies. As my hubby used to take something different every time for the potluck there is a huge expectation from his colleagues as in what he is bringing for the potluck. This time we made Mediterranean Buddha Bowl. It turned out great and everyone in his office liked it and enjoyed the lunch. I guess the recipe would have stood out amongst all the Indian Cuisine 😊 I would be flying out in the sky when his colleague says the dish that I prepare for the potluck are so good 😊 Hope you also enjoy this recipe!! Do try it out and let me know your feedback in the comment section.

P.S. I din’t make a Buddha Bowl for the Potluck, but made a Buddha Tray 😛

Mediterranean Buddha Bowl

Prep Time: 15 mins | Cook Time: 40 mins | Serves: 2 – 4

Ingredients

Uncooked Quinoa – 1/2 cup
Chick Pea or Channa – 1/2 cup
Mini Cucumbers – 3 chopped
Yellow Bell Pepper – 1 Chopped
Cherry Tomatoes – 1/2 cup halved
Kalamata Olives – 1/2 cup
Lettuce – 1 cup chopped
Feta cheese – 1/2 cup
Hummus – 1/2 cup
Salt – as needed

For Dressing

Olive oil – 1 tsp
Dried Basil – 1 tsp
Garlic powder – 1 tsp
Pepper powder – 1/2 tsp

Method

1. Wash and soak Channa or Chickpeas overnight and pressure cook it for 3 whistles along with little salt.
2. Rinse quinoa and cook it with 1 cup of water and salt. The grains must be cooked well. Once cooked fluff it up with a fork.
3. Take a bowl and layer it with lettuce, cooked quinoa, cooked chickpea, halved cherry tomatoes, chopped cucumber, chopped bell pepper, kalamata olives. Mix everything well gently.
4. In a pan heat Olive oil, add dried basil, garlic powder and pepper powder. Give it a quick stir and pour it on to the mixture. Mix everything together.
5. Add crumbled feta cheese, mix it slightly and serve along with hummus.
6. Delicious and power pack lunch is ready to serve.

I served it with store-bought roasted garlic hummus. It was heavenly and wholesome.