Roasted Beet and Spicy Lentil Bowl

Roasted Beet and Spicy Lentil Bowl

Recipe from “Plant Power Bowls” by Sapana Chandra¹

 

 

Ingredients: 

Beets: 

2 medium beets, peeled and quartered

1 tbsp olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

¼ tsp sea salt

1 tbsp lemon juice

 

Spicy Lentils:

1 tbsp olive oil

1/4 c diced yellow onion

1 clove garlic, minced

½ tsp ground cumin

½ tsp ground sweet paprika

½ tsp chili powder

½ tsp ground turmeric

½ tsp sea salt

¼ tsp black pepper

2 c cooked lentils

¼ c water

 

For each serving:

1 c cooked millet

1 medium avocado

½ c diced carrot

12 c chopped fresh cilantro

½ med lemon

 

Instructions:

Prepare the beets.  Preheat oven to 400.  In a medium bowl, toss the beets, oil, garlic and salt.  Place on a baking sheet and roast for 30-40 minutes.

Prepare the lentils.  In a medium pot over medium heat, warm the oil.  Add the onion and stir.  Cook for 5 minutes until the onion is clear.  Add the garlic, cumin, paprika, chili powder, turmeric, salt, and pepper.  Cook for a minute, then add lentils and water.  Simmer 15 minutes.

Assemble each bowl with half of the  roasted beets, lentils, millet, avocado, carrot, and cilantro.  Garnish with a lemon wedge and serve with a Creamy Tahini Dressing if desired.

 

Nutrition:

One of the nutrients in this meal is choline.  The power bowl provides nearly 20% of the daily requirements of choline, an excellent nutrient for diabetics.²

This is a great meal for the condition of obesity.  It’s filling, flavorful and satisfying without making one feel lacking. It can provide energy and protein while at the same time being void of trans-fats, fried fats, or processed ingredients.  The avocado provides an excellent source of quality nutritious fats, with the carrots, beets, cilantro and onion providing vegetable carbs.  The lentils provide a filling fiber without being a cause for bloat.  This is a nutrient dense, calorie friendly meal that is just the ticket for health promoting and weight rebalancing.

Diabetic patients will also find this a hearty and blood sugar friendly meal that brings some variety to the salad bowl, and at 507 calories per bowl, it’s a meal all in one.²  This meal follows the Mediterranean diet standards, which is known to be a quality, effective diet for diabetics.³  Fiber is also known to coincide with balancing and stabilizing blood sugar,⁴ and lentils in the recipe are rich in fiber.  Studies have shown that fiber is related to obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease⁵, and so observance of dietary intake of fiber becomes quite relevant.  Along with the protein coming from the quinoa it’s a great source of protein, energy to meet the goal of regulating blood sugar.

 

1. Chandra S. Plant Power Bowls. (Roxborough S, ed.). Sasquatch Books; 2019.
2. Nutrition facts for “Lentil Quinoa Power Bowl.” Accessed September 4, 2021. https://cronometer.com/printfood.html?name=Lentil%2BQuinoa%2BPower%2BBowl&food=16801957&measure=46393746&amount=1
3. Venter C, Eyerich S, Sarin T, Klatt KC. Nutrition and the Immune System: A Complicated Tango. Nutr 2020, Vol 12, Page 818. 2020;12(3):818. doi:10.3390/NU12030818
4. Kadar GE, Thompson G, Abusamra Y. NUTM 5105 Macronutrients : Fiber and Plants. :1-18.
5. JM L, MD H. Effects of dietary fiber and its components on metabolic health. Nutrients. 2010;2(12):1266-1289. doi:10.3390/NU2121266