Harvest Vegetable Rice Bowls (with a fried egg)

Harvest Vegetable Rice Bowls maximize the use of fresh fall produce, in a happy vegetarian mish-mash of a recipe!

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Did you ever impulse buy an acorn squash in the fall because they are just so gosh darn cute, or because they just scream autumn to you? Did you ever then leave that acorn squash sitting around for a little too long, while trying to decide what you should actually make with it? If so, then you might enjoy today’s Harvest Vegetable Rice Bowls (with a fried egg) mish-mash of a recipe — which I threw together with an impulse-buy squash, some of the last of my garden kale & green onions, and a few other ingredients I already had in the house.

The happy result: Filling & flavorful vegetarian comfort food in a bowl, with a lovely interplay of textures, colors, and flavors. I just enjoyed a heaping serving of this harvest veggie rice bowls recipe for lunch (and am saving the rest for future lunches and dinners), but as written this recipe makes enough to serve dinner for four.

And, these harvest veggie rice bowls pack in just about everything you could ask for in a single dish! You get your protein from the eggs and chickpeas, umami savory flavor from the mushrooms and soy sauce, a healthy dose of veggies from the kale and squash, filling carbs from the rice, sweetness from the squash, and spice from the Sriracha and pepper.

Looking for more vegetarian recipe ideas? Take a few minutes to browse through the Meatless Monday category for additional dinner options — or, check out fifteen favorite meatless meals to jump start your vegetarian cooking.

Harvest Vegetable Rice Bowls (with a fried egg)

Ingredients

– for the roasted veggies

1 small acorn squash, washed and sliced
8 oz white or baby bella mushrooms, thickly sliced
1 medium red onion, cut into 16ths
1 can chickpeas, rinsed and patted dry (discard any skins that slough off)
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp smoked paprika (substitute regular if you don’t have smoked)
1 tsp garlic powder
Dash of cayenne (optional)
Sea salt, to taste

– for the sauteed garlicky kale

1 tsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
6 cups torn or chopped kale leaves (about six ounces)
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper

– for the eggs

Olive oil
4 eggs

– for the bowls

2 cups coooked rice (brown, white, a blend, whatever you enjoy or have on hand)
Soy sauce, to taste
Sriracha (optional)
Chopped green onion (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees and spray a rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray. Meanwhile, start your rice cooking according to package directions.

Slice acorn squash in half width-wise with a sharp chef’s knife, then scoop out and discard the seeds and membranes. Slice each half of the squash lengthwise. Slice into half moons, then cut each of those pieces in half width-wise (leave the skin on!), discarding the squash ends.

Wash and slice mushrooms; peel and cut the onion. Rinse and drain the chickpeas, then place them on a paper towel and rub dry with a second paper towel (discarding any of the skins that slough off).

Add sliced squash, mushrooms, onion, and chickpeas to prepared baking sheet in as close to a single layer as possible. Drizzle the veggies with olive oil, then season with smoked paprika, sea salt, garlic powder, and cayenne. Roast at 425 degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until squash is tender and chickpeas are nicely roasted.

About ten minutes before removing the veggies from the oven, heat 1 tsp olive oil until shimmering in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds, then stir in kale and crushed red pepper. Saute kale over medium heat until wilted and bright green, stirring occasionally, then move it to a separate bowl.

Add a little more olive oil to the same pan in which you cooked the kale. Fry four eggs, sunny side up.

Divide your cooked rice equally among four bowls. Stir a little soy sauce into the rice to taste, then top each bowl with cooked kale, squash, chickpeas, mushrooms, and onion. Add a fried egg to each, then (optionally) drizzle with Sriracha and throw on some chopped green onion.

Mix everything up, and enjoy!

Notes: You can choose either to eat the cooked skin of the acorn squash, or to peel it off and discard. Either way, be sure to break up the pieces of squash to mix in with the rest of the harvest veggie rice bowl ingredients — the sweetness of the squash is important to play off of the salty/spicy flavors of the rest of the ingredients. (I left the larger pieces in the photos here to show you how pretty the squash looks in the finished dish, but go ahead and break those pieces up smaller when you’re actually eating your harvest vegetable bowl. 🙂 )

Also be sure to taste your rice bowl before adding Sriracha if you are sensitive to heat; you may wish to omit since you already have a little heat in the veggies.

Who else is going to impulse buy an acorn squash now?

Doesn’t this recipe just scream autumn to you? Happy fall! Make it your own, too: You could make the finished bowl lower carb by swapping in riced cauliflower for the rice; you could keep it gluten free by substituting GF tamari for the soy sauce; you could pack in extra protein by changing out rice for quinoa.

You can also substitute spinach for the kale if you’re not a fan, and/or use yellow onion if you don’t have a red one in the house — it won’t be as pretty, but don’t sweat the small stuff, right?

Harvest Vegetable Rice Bowls (with a fried egg), printable recipe

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Harvest Vegetable Rice Bowls (with a fried egg)

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Filling & flavorful vegetarian comfort food in a bowl, with a lovely interplay of textures, colors, and flavors.

Course dinner

Cuisine vegetarian

Keyword acorn squash, harvest veggies, meatless monday, rice bowls, vegetarian

Total Time 1 hour hour

Servings 4

Author Rachel Singer

Ingredients

– for the roasted veggies

• 1 small acorn squash washed and sliced
• 8 oz white or baby bella mushrooms thickly sliced
• 1 medium red onion cut into 16ths
• 1 can chickpeas rinsed and patted dry (discard any skins that slough off)
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp smoked paprika (substitute regular if you don't have smoked)
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• Dash of cayenne optional
• Sea salt to taste

– for the sauteed garlicky kale

• 1 tsp olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 6 cups torn or chopped kale leaves (about six ounces)
• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper

– for the eggs

• Olive oil
• 4 eggs

– for the bowls

• 2 cups coooked rice (brown, white, a blend, whatever you enjoy or have on hand)
• Soy sauce to taste
• Sriracha optional
• Chopped green onion optional

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees and spray a rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray. Meanwhile, start your rice cooking according to package directions.
• Slice acorn squash in half width-wise with a sharp chef’s knife, then scoop out and discard the seeds and membranes. Slice each half of the squash lengthwise. Slice into half moons, then cut each of those pieces in half width-wise (leave the skin on!), discarding the squash ends.
• Wash and slice mushrooms; peel and cut the onion. Rinse and drain the chickpeas, then place them on a paper towel and rub dry with a second paper towel (discarding any of the skins that slough off).
• Add sliced squash, mushrooms, onion, and chickpeas to prepared baking sheet in as close to a single layer as possible. Drizzle the veggies with olive oil, then season with smoked paprika, sea salt, garlic powder, and cayenne. Roast at 425 degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until squash is tender and chickpeas are nicely roasted.
• About ten minutes before removing the veggies from the oven, heat 1 tsp olive oil until shimmering in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds, then stir in kale and crushed red pepper. Saute kale over medium heat until wilted and bright green, stirring occasionally, then move it to a separate bowl.
• Add a little more olive oil to the same pan in which you cooked the kale. Fry four eggs, sunny side up.
• Divide your cooked rice equally among four bowls. Stir a little soy sauce into the rice to taste, then top each bowl with cooked kale, squash, chickpeas, mushrooms, and onion. Add a fried egg to each, then (optionally) drizzle with Sriracha and throw on some chopped green onion.
• Mix everything up, and enjoy!

Notes

You can choose either to eat the cooked skin of the acorn squash, or to peel it off and discard. Either way, be sure to break up the pieces of squash to mix in with the rest of the harvest veggie rice bowl ingredients — the sweetness of the squash is important to play off of the salty/spicy flavors of the rest of the ingredients. (I left the larger pieces in the photos here to show you how pretty the squash looks in the finished dish, but go ahead and break those pieces up smaller when you’re actually eating your harvest vegetable bowl. 🙂 )

Also be sure to taste your rice bowl before adding Sriracha if you are sensitive to heat; you may wish to omit since you already have a little heat in the veggies.

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