Falafel Bowl with Spinach, Pomegranate & Mint

It’s November 2018. The weather is cold but I was looking for an alternative to a heavy, winter meal. Salad-like, but still substantial. Warm but fresh. Filling but light.

Something so full of vitamins and minerals that I could say – wow, Ana, you’ve outdone yourself again!

Get ready to seduce your taste buds with explosive flavours of:

*fresh mint
*sweet pomegranate and
*nutty hummus

Not unimportantly, I had a pretty good time preparing this meal since it was all easy to bake, cook and put together. Or, as I’ve illustrated in a graph:

You can make your own falafel by looking up a recipe online, but I just bought it ready-made.

Tried the recipe? Let me know how you liked it by leaving a comment here or posting a photo on Instagram with a tag to @anasbananasdotcom .

Print Recipe

Falafel Bowl with Spinach, Pomegranate & Mint

Seduce your taste buds with explosive flavours of fresh mint, sweet pomegranate and nutty hummus.

Course

Dinner, Main Dish

Prep Time

45 minutes

Servings

big portions

Ingredients

Falafel bowl

• 10 pieces falafel
• 2 handfuls fresh spinach
• 1 handful mixed lettuce leaves
• 3/4 cup quinoa
• 1.5 cup vegetable stock
• half handful fresh mint leaves
• 2 tablespoons pomegranate seeds
• 2 tablespoons hummus
• sprinkle extra virgin olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Roasted sweet potatoes & chickpeas

• 1 medium sweet potato
• 1 can cooked chickpeas rinse the chickpeas well until no longer foamy
• 1 tablespoon oil for cooking coconut oil or olive oil
• 2 teaspoons paprika powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin powder
• half teaspoon cinnamon powder

Course Dinner, Main Dish Prep Time 45 minutes Servings big portions Ingredients Falafel bowl 10 pieces falafel 2 handfuls fresh spinach 1 handful mixed lettuce leaves 3/4 cup quinoa 1.5 cup vegetable stock half handful fresh mint leaves 2 tablespoons pomegranate seeds 2 tablespoons hummus sprinkle extra virgin olive oil salt and pepper to taste Roasted sweet potatoes & chickpeas 1 medium sweet potato 1 can cooked chickpeas rinse the chickpeas well until no longer foamy 1 tablespoon oil for cooking coconut oil or olive oil 2 teaspoons paprika powder 1 teaspoon cumin powder half teaspoon cinnamon powder

Instructions

Roasted sweet potato & chickpeas

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Peel sweet potato and chop to bite-sized pieces, then use a big bowl to mix it together with chickpeas, the cooking oil and the spices. Make sure the spices and oil are spread out evenly, then toss the mix on parchment paper and bake for about 30 minutes until the chickpeas are crispy and the sweet potato is soft. Let cool slightly.

Falafel bowl

1. Cook 3/4 cup of quinoa in 1.5 cups vegetable stock (quarter of vegetable stock cube mixed with 1.5 cup boiling water) for 15-20 minutes, until quinoa is soft.
2. Wash and drain spinach and lettuce, then chop to bite-sized pieces. Wash and drain mint, then chop finely.
3. Bake falafel in the oven at 180 degrees C (the sweet potato and chickpeas should be done by now so you can just pop the falafel in), for about 8 minutes until hot and browned.
4. Grab two bowls and divide all the ingredients, starting with quinoa on the bottom, and then toppings of spinach/lettuce (drizzled with EVOO), sweet potato/chickpeas (sprinkled with salt/pepper), falafel, mint, pomegranate and a dollop of hummus.

Recipe Notes

I used coconut oil for roasting sweet potato and chickpeas. Because it's naturally in solid form (too cold in The Netherlands for it to be melted), I first put a spoonful of coconut oil into a heat resistant bowl and let it warm up in the pre-heating oven.