Cinco de Mayo is one of my most favorite food-centric celebrations. Maybe it is the bright vibrant colors, the vast quantities of avocados, or the large amount of tequila? However you go about your festivities, be sure to make it healthful.
I have partnered with my friends at Whole Foods Market NYC to bring you The Crunchy Radish Cinco Series, a healthier take on a festive holiday. The fiesta bowl is the inaugural dish for the series! Over the next week, we will be providing you with healthful, nutritious Cinco de Mayo recipes that can take you to the 5th of May and beyond.
The fiesta bowl is bright, light, tasty, and fun and could be the ideal dish for a Cinco gathering. Make your guests build a bowl while testing their dexterity, a slightly challenging, albeit rewarding feat when balancing a tequila-spiked cocktail in one hand and a reclaimed wood serving spoon in the other.
Garlicky, mint-flecked herbed brown rice serves as the foundation for this bowl. It is then topped with zesty and colorful slaw, vibrant cinnamon roasted sweet potatoes, and obligatory avocado.
Fiesta Bowl
serves 4-6 mariachi
Herbed Brown Rice
- 2 cups cooked brown rice
- 5 ramps, chopped (if you can't find ramps, substitute 1 clove of garlic or 3 scallions, chopped)
- 1/4 cup mint leaves
- 1/4 cup cilantro
- 1/2 cup olive oil
Cinnamon Cumin Sweet Potatoes
- 1 large sweet potato, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
Purple Cabbage Slaw
- 1 tsp poppy seeds
- 1 shallot, minced
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1 tbsp organic lemon zest
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/2 of a medium sized purple cabbage, core removed and shredded
- 3 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced or grated
- 1 small red onion, quartered and thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup cilantro leaves
Garnishes
- Avocado
- Cilantro
- Hemp Seeds
- Pickled jalepeño
- Radish
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees
- For the herbed rice, place the ramps, mint, and cilantro into a high speed blender. With the motor running slowly, add the olive oil. Pulse until slightly chunky, not pureed. Place cooked rice into a bowl and pour in herbed oil. Using a fork, fluff herb oil throughout rice, evenly distributing.
- For the sweet potatoes, line a sheet tray with parchment paper and add potatoes. Toss potatoes with coconut oil and spices. Spread out evenly and bake for 40-50 minutes or until tender and slightly crispy. Toss half way through cooking.
- For the slaw, in a large bowl whisk together poppy seeds, shallot, lemon juice, lemon zest, red wine vinegar, dijon mustard, and olive oil. Add cabbage, carrots, red onion, and cilantro. Using your hands, toss to combine.
- To assemble the fiesta bowl, spoon 1/4-1/2 cup rice into a bowl, add sweet potatoes and slaw, top with selected garnishes. Olé!
All of these dishes can be made in advance and multiplied, making this a simplified Cinco supper. Manhattanites and Brooklynites, looking for an easy way to get your Whole Foods Market Cinco ingredients delivered straight to your door? Check out instacart to get your fiesta started.
Be sure to check back soon for the next installment of tcr x whole foods market Cinco series.