Roasted Broccoli + Sweet Potato Black Rice Bowl with Sesame Miso Dressing { #VegFlavorBible Giveaway! }

Whether you’re a long-standing vegetarian (or vegan!), or just someone who loves cooking and hunting for the perfect flavors to accompany your colorful dinner table, you’re going to love the book I’m sharing with you all today. When Karen + Andrew reached out and asked if I wanted to use, review, and give away a copy of The Vegetarian Flavor Bible, I pounced on the opportunity like Simba nailed Zazu during that memorable scene from The Lion King.

Vegetarian? Flavors? The BIBLE of all things vegetarian flavored? COUNT ME IN.

Have you ever been stumped when it comes to cooking that ingredient you bought on a random whim–expecting to use it every single day of your glorious kitchen life–and have never even touched? (cough my former relationship to tahini cough) That’s me like, 99% of the time. I’m a total impulse shopper, so often I buy fabulous fresh produce from the farmer’s market, tuck it away in my fridge, and it never sees the light of day again until it’s on the point of going bad and I just steam the crap out of it. You can imagine how often I have guests over for dinner…

With Karen + Andrew’s new cookbook, though, I’ve been seriously whizzing through my produce this month. Not only am I inspired to cook more often–I’m also inspired to try out new (and guaranteed awesome) flavor profiles that help me take full advantage of my stocked (but usually untouched) pantry!

One of my favorite inspired dishes was this roasted broccoli + sweet potato black rice bowl with sesame miso dressing. It’s got to be one of the best vegetarian meals I have cooked up in a very long time, not least of all because the deep flavors of the black rice complement the nutty sesame, salty miso, and bright roasted broccoli so darn well. All I had to do was look up their “broccoli” entry, find the convenient list of Flavor Affinities, and pick from a plethora of beautiful combos:

If you’re thinking that this dish could really use some wine (and let’s face it, it’s Friday–who wouldn’t think that?), Karen + Andrew are one step ahead of you! The duo includes a list of pairings in their book, in case you decide to whip up this dish and kick back for the weekend:

BROCCOLI
Chardonnay, esp. New World
lemon-based drinks (e.g., lemonade, sparkling water with lemon, etc.)
Sauvignon Blanc

BROCCOLI RABE
Italian white wine, esp. Locorotondo
Riesling, off-dry
Sauvignon Blanc
AVOID” “red wine

Locorotondo is an Italian white wine, and if you taste it on its own, it’s a little hard to take. It’s a heavy, old-style wine that’s a little oily. With broccoli rabe, however, it becomes a wonderful combination. I served this pairing to a food society. When its members tasted the wine, they looked at me like I was crazy. But after they tasted it with the broccoli rabe, I heard a big “WOW!”
— CHARLES SCICOLONE, wine director, I Trulli and Enoteca (NYC)”

(Excerpt From: Andrew Dornenburg, Karen Page & Michael Sofronski. “What to Drink with What You Eat.” Little, Brown and Company, 2009-07-31. iBooks. This material may be protected by copyright. Check out this book on the iBooks Store: https://itun.es/us/nAyuv.l)

All being said and done, I am SO ready for this weekend. Who’s with me? As I mentioned earlier this week, I’m spending all day tomorrow at the California Strawberry Festival’s annual cooking competition finals–one of the local reporters even published an article today of me Instagramming my coconut strawberry cake at the semi-finals, LOL. Ummm, meta much?

Wish me luck!!!

And yo-ho, me hearties, I wish you a big hearty bowl of this broccoli-inspired awesomeness. And wine. Most definitely the wine. And enter this giveaway below, because honestly–who doesn’t love free awesome cookbooks?

What about you: what’s your favorite vegetarian flavor combo? Share your thoughts in the comments!

About the Authors of The Vegetarian Flavor Bible

Meet Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg, creators of the critically acclaimed book The Vegetarian Flavor Bible, which has been cited as one of the five best cookbooks of 2014 based on 300+ reviews in media including Bloomberg, The Chicago Tribune, Food & Wine, The Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post.

They are not only the two-time James Beard Award Winning authors of The Flavor Bible and Becoming a Chef, but also coauthored What to Drink with What You Eat, which was named the IACP Cookbook of the Year and the Georges Duboeuf Wine Book of the Year, while also winning a Gourmand World Cookbook Award.

It goes without saying that Karen’s credentials are exemplary. In addition to holding degrees from Northwestern and Harvard, she earned a Certificate in Plant-Based Nutrition from Cornell, so it is little wonder that critics are praising her invaluable knowledge and contribution to a healthier and more flavorful approach to food and nutrition!

Karen and Andrew are teaming up with 9 food bloggers to be able to reach out further and share their knowledge and talents with an even greater audience. They have offered to partner in a giveaway in order to educate and make accessible not only their latest creation, The Vegetarian Flavor Bible, but also copies of The Flavor Bible and What to Drink with What You Eat! ALL of these resources are treasures that would grace the presence of any home cook’s library, but already hold places of reverence within the commercial kitchens of many chefs.

This giveaway is sponsored by Karen & Andrew, as well as their publisher, Little Brown & Company. I received a free copy of this cookbook to use and review. As always, all opinions expressed in this post are 100% my own. 

Roasted Broccoli + Sweet Potato Black Rice Bowl with Sesame Miso Dressing { #VegFlavorBible Giveaway! }

Inspired by "The Vegetarian Flavor Bible," this veggie bowl just rocks! It's nutty, tangy, salty, and perfectly balanced with the flavors of roasted broccoli, sweet potato, miso, and sesame. Perfect for a filling but perfectly healthy lunch or dinner!

Print

Ingredients

For the bowl:

• 1 cup uncooked black rice (or rice of your choice)
• 1 head broccoli
• 2 medium sweet potatoes
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 2 tablespoons black and/or white sesame seeds, toasted

For the sesame miso dressing:

• 1/4 cup white miso
• 1/4 cup tahini
• 1 1/2 tablespoons honey
• 7 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 3 tablespoons sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Instructions

For the bowl:

1. Cook rice in rice cooker according to instructions. Continue preparing the rest of the bowl as you wait.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Wash and cut both your broccoli and sweet potatoes as you normally would, making sure to cut into bite-sized pieces. Place sweet potatoes only (not the broccoli) on a lightly greased baking sheet or pan and drizzle with olive oil, salt, and pepper (to taste).
3. Bake in oven for 20 minutes, flipping over with a spatula once at the halfway mark.
4. Add broccoli to the pan (drizzle with more oil, salt, and pepper if desired) and continue roasting the vegetables for another 30-40 minutes, until vegetables are tender but not mushy. Remove from oven.
5. Assemble your bowl: start with cooked rice, layer on vegetables, then sprinkle with sesame seeds and drizzle your dressing! (Instructions below.)

For the dressing:

1. Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl until smooth. Pour over vegetable bowl and enjoy right away!

Be sure to check out all the AWESOME vegetarian recipes my fellow bloggers are sharing today, inspired by The Vegetarian Flavor Bible!

• Farro “Risotto” with Cannellini Beans and Kale by Crazy Foodie Stunts
• Japanese Fried Eggplant 茄子の揚げだし by A Mama, Baby & Shar-pei in the Kitchen
• Orange Glazed Carrots by That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Roasted Asparagus with Parmesan Cream Sauce by Lifestyle Food Artistry
• Roasted Broccoli + Sweet Potato Black Rice Bowl with Sesame Miso Dressing by Wallflour Girl
• Roasted Lemon Garlic Parmesan Artichokes by Food Lust People Love
• Savory Brussels Sprouts with Zesty Goat Cheese by annaDishes
• Spiced Blueberry Peach Streusel Muffins by girlichef
• Spring Negroni by Confessions of a Culinary Diva

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