#157 Tomato Pesto Quinoa Bowl

This is another copycat meal. If you've ever been to Kind Kreme, you know that their raw, vegan ice cream is delicious! But have you ever tried their food? It's just as healthy and delicious as their sweet treats. It's a little pricey though. I decided that I needed to duplicate my favorite quinoa bowl so I can enjoy it more often. There's raw kale, cooked quinoa (that I soaked/sprouted overnight before cooking), sun dried tomato sauce, pignoli (aka pine nut) ricotta, walnut pesto, sauerkraut, cucumber, carrot, tamari almonds, and hemp seeds. Phew! Have you noticed my love for salads with a ton of components? While they can be a bit of work, once all of the ingredients are made, the salads can be easily assembled multiple times throughout the week. Totally worth it for such a filling, nutrient dense meal. The tomato sauce and ricotta recipes came from Raw Food real world by the former partner owners of Pure Food and Wine in New York. The walnut pesto is from The Saucy Vegetarian by Joanne Stephaniak. Making sauerkraut has been on my to-do list for some time but for now, I buy Bubbies brand. The tamari almonds are from Trader Joe's. This was a close match for my first try, but I will be making some changes next time. I'll try Sun-Dried Tomato and Spinach Pesto instead of the 2 separate sauces. It will save some prep time and is way better as far as calories are concerned. I'm also going to substitute a different sauce for the ricotta. It's good, just not worth the fat and calories for this salad. Now I just need to figure out how to make Kind Kreme's Wake and Shake. My favorite!