Meal Prep: High Fiber Lunch

This harvest bowl is a great way to increase your fiber intake through whole foods to support a healthy weight, gut health, cholesterol, blood sugar & more! Whole grains like farro or bulgur wheat are a hearty base for roasted broccoli, cauliflower & sweet potatoes. Topped with a roasted & toasted bell pepper and sunflower seed “sauce” for an extra flavorful punch to satisfy your taste buds. Bonus points for being an easy meal prep for your lunches this week!

Tip from a nutritionist: I bring this to work with a protein source like yogurt or a protein shake for a satiating and nutrient-dense meal.

Meal prep tips:

1 - Double the bell pepper sauce and freeze half so you can thaw it and have it ready for next week
2 - You can choose to portion out individual meals for grab-and-go lunches or you can keep each component separate in the fridge. I choose the latter and create a quick bowl in the morning to take to work. Reheat in the microwave when ready!
3 - Play around with different spice combinations on the veggies to suit your taste buds
4 - Roast veggies in stages if you don’t have enough large sheet pans or space in your oven for everything at once

Ingredients:

• 5 sweet potatoes, cubed

• 6 cups broccoli (about 3 heads) chopped into bite sized florets 

• 1 large head cauliflower, chopped into bite sized florets

• 2 red bell pepper, halved

• 2 garlic cloves, whole

• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds

• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, divided

• salt & fresh cracked black pepper

• spices - your choice! options: smoked paprika, chili powder, curry powder, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne 

• 2 cups farro or bulgur wheat, cooked according to package

• Nutritional yeast (optional) 

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 425°F. 

• Make the bell pepper sauce: place bell pepper halves on a sheet pan and drizzle lightly with olive oil, sprinkle with salt & pepper. Add garlic cloves to sheet pan & roast until fragrant and tops of peppers are lightly browned, about 20 - 25 minutes. Meanwhile, toast sunflower seeds on another sheet pan, about 5 minutes. 

• Add roasted bell peppers, garlic and toasted sunflower seeds to a blender or food processor and blend until combined  (it should have a similar texture to tomato paste). Add a little olive oil if necessary during the blending process.

• Prepare 3 large sheet pans with parchment paper, if using. Add sweet potatoes, broccoli and cauliflower to individual sheet pans. Drizzle with olive oil and season with whatever spices you'd like - I enjoy adding cayenne & garlic powder to the broccoli, chili powder & smoked paprika to the sweet potatoes, and curry powder and hot chili powder to the cauliflower, as well as giving them all a healthy dose of fresh cracked pepper and some salt. Roast for about 30 minutes. Note  that the potatoes may take a bit longer than the cauliflower & broccoli.

• Assemble the bowls: add a scoop of farro and top with broccoli, cauliflower, sweet potatoes and a dollop of bell pepper sauce. I enjoy adding a sprinkle of nutritional yeast over the top when reheating. Enjoy! 
  

A note on whole grains: I choose Bob’s Red Mill organic whole grains