Pickled Carrot Noodle Bowl

A base of your favorite grains and a spinach sauté hold down this earthy and bright garden bowl. Spiralize and pickle your carrots to bring out their full sweet flavor in a zesty way. Don’t toss the tops—use them for a nutty pesto with a hint of mustard. Tie it all together with honey-mustard chickpeas.

Recipe by M. Wissler

January 09, 2019

Ingredients

For the pickled carrots

5 medium carrots, spiralized
3/4 apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup white distilled vinegar
1 teaspoon coconut sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 cups water

For the chickpeas

1 (15.5 oz) can chickpeas, drained
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
1 tablespoon honey
salt to taste

For the sautéed spinach

1 teaspoon coconut oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups baby bella mushrooms, sliced
3 cups fresh spinach leaves
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
salt to taste

For the Pesto

1/3 cup toasted pine nuts
3 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1 cup carrot tops, roughly chopped
1 cup fresh basil leaves
1/2 lemon, juiced
3 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

1 cup cooked grain (buckwheat, rice, barley)

Instructions

For the pickled carrot noodles

Place spiralized carrots into a quart-sized jar. In a medium bowl whisk together the vinegars, sugar, salt, and water until everything is dissolved. Pour the mixture over the carrots in the jar. Refrigerate and let sit for at least one hour.

For the chickpeas

Add chickpeas to a medium-sized bowl with dill, mustard and honey. Toss to coat chickpeas evenly. Taste and season with salt.

For the sautéed spinach

Heat a large frying pan on medium heat and add coconut oil. Add garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook 2-3 minutes. Add the spinach leaves and cook until slightly wilted. Add the cherry tomatoes, stir and cook another 1-2 minutes. Taste and season with salt.

For the pesto

In a food processor pulse the pine nuts and then add the garlic and pulse a few more times. Add the nutritional yeast, carrot tops, basil, and lemon juice. Blend until well combined and then add the olive oil and until combined. Taste and season with salt.

Bring it all together

Divide the carrot noodles into serving bowls and top with grains, spinach and tomato mixture, chickpeas and a drizzle of pesto. Enjoy!