Power bowls are the bee’s knees. They’re easy to prep ahead of time or for “Sunday meal prep” to use as lunches and dinners throughout the week. This vegan and gluten free protein power bowl is one of my favorites for Summer! But obviously delicious all year long.
Think roasted mini peppers, crispy chickpeas, cool cucumber and creamy avocado. And an amazing sweet mustard vinaigrette that’s super simple to whisk up to finish this vegan power bowl off.
Not only is the power bowl vegan, but it’s also gluten free, soy free, and nut free, while still full of flavor. In less than 30 minutes, you can cook up a delicious summery dish to enjoy hot or cold!
Vegan + Gluten Free Chickpea + Rice Protein Power Bowl
An easy 30 minute recipe, that is vegan, gluten free, soy free, and nut free. Perfect for meal prepping, lunch, and dinner!
Total time: 25 minutes.
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes (depending on your rice)
Serves: 2-3 (I usually double this power bowl recipe so there’s enough for everyone and some leftovers for the next day)
Ingredients needed for power bowl:
- 1 c brown rice
- 1 ½ cooked / canned chickpeas
- 1 lg avocado
- ½ cucumber (English or other edible skin variety)
- 8-10 mini sweet peppers (lunch box peppers)
- 2 tbspl olive oil, divided
- ¼ tsp ground coriander
- ¼ tsp ground cumin
- ¼ tsp sea salt
Ingredients for dressing:
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 2 tsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- ¼ tsp ground pepper
Directions:
- Turn broiler on high and line a tray with aluminum foil.
- Cook your rice according to package direction (note – I like to do half vegetable broth and half water to really punch up the flavor profile).
- Rinse and drain chickpeas and pat dry with paper towels.
- Combine dried chickpeas with 1 tbsp olive oil, coriander, cumin, and ¼ tsp sea salt. Toss together to coat chickpeas.
- Wash and dry mini peppers and toss with remaining tablespoon of olive oil until coated.
- Spread coated chickpeas and mini peppers on baking tray. *tip*: arrange the tray in a way that the mini peppers will be closest to heating element (as shown in photos). This means placing the coated mini peppers in the middle and coated chickpeas on either side.
- Broil for 4 minutes. After 4 minutes, shake / stir chickpeas to rotate, and broil for another 3 minutes before flipping peppers and stirring chickpeas again.
- Broil for a final 3-4 minutes until chickpeas are golden and peppers have slight charring on both sides. Remove from broiler and let cool slightly.
- While broiling, wash cucumber and slice into thin (1/4″ or so) circles.
- Cut avocado in half and remove pit. Slice lengthwise into thin slices before scooping from shell (if you’re not worried about presentation, feel free to cut / dice avocado as you so desire).
- Combine all dressing ingredients and whisk (I like to make sure it’s fully combined and smooth).
- Cut stems off of roasted peppers. Scrape with a knife to remove seeds and slice lengthwise into ¼”/6mm strips (again, if presentation isn’t a thing for you, cut however you’d like).
Assemble your vegan chickpea + rice power bowl:
- Divide the rice between bowls or plates and top with prepared vegetables.
- Sprinkle with roasted chickpeas and drizzle dressing evenly over plates/bowls.
Meal prep note:
Making your vegan power bowls in advance and won’t be eating until later? Put your dressing on the side / leave the dressing out until ready to eat.
And if you slice and add your avocados in advance – squeeze a slice of lemon or lime and it will prevent your avocado from browning.
[…] use chickpeas in an assortment of meals like chickpea “tuna style” salad, chickpea protein bowl, and even edible chickpea cookie dough. A great assortment of my own recipe book recipes are meals […]