This Vegan Pesto Chickpea Bowl is the perfect easy, nutritious plant-based dinner! The chickpeas are spicy, savory, and totally addicting!
This Vegan Pesto Chickpea Bowl is one of my favorite dinners to make on a weeknight. My fiancé absolutely loves pesto, so I’m always thinking of new ways I can include pesto in our meal rotations. For this recipe I used a variation of my Best Vegan Kale Pesto recipe, but you can use any type of pesto you like here (I also really like the Trader Joe’s Vegan Cashew Kale Pesto!).
I’m really glad to be posting a recipe like this, because when I announced that my blog was going vegan AND vegetarian, I was nervous that people would think I’d only post vegetarian recipes. But I eat a lot of vegan meals, and I would never stop posting vegan recipes here on the blog. :) I really hope you love this pesto chickpea bowl!
I wanted to share an update on some of my gardening activities! Right now my next big project is to create a butterfly garden. I recently read an article about how butterfly populations have been alarmingly decreasing since the 1980s. Butterflies, and other pollinators, are crucial for maintaining balance in the plant ecosystem. Without pollinators, we wouldn’t have almonds, avocados, COFFEE, peaches, strawberries, apples, or bananas. So suffice to say, pollinators are really important!!
I have a particular affinity for monarch butterflies. When I was in first grade, my class actually grew three monarch butterflies from pupae! Being able to watch the butterflies emerge from their cocoons was such a beautiful experience for me, one that has stayed with me over the years. So for my butterfly garden, I plan to grow a lot of milkweed, which is the sole food source for monarchs in their larval phase. Other flowers that attract butterflies and provide food include lilacs, dahlias, lantanas, marigolds, aster, and goldenrod. I’ll definitely be writing a blog post with my best tips to create a butterfly garden! :)
P.S.! It was my FOUR year blog anniversary yesterday. If you’re reading this, I just wanted to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading and supporting this blog. Having you along for the ride means the world to me!!
Vegan Pesto Chickpea Bowl
Ingredients
Pesto Pasta
- 8 oz Pasta
- 1/3 Cup Pesto
Spicy Chickpeas
- 1 15 oz Can Chickpeas
- Drizzle Neutral Vegetable Oil
- 1/2 Tsp Salt
- 1/2 Tsp Paprika
- 1/4 Tsp Garlic Powder
- 1/4 Tsp Cayenne optional
- Black Pepper to taste
The Rest of the Bowl
- Kale or Spinach
- Sprouts or Microgreens
- Pumpkin Seeds
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
- Rinse and drain your can of chickpeas, then dry them until they’re completely dry. Discard any loose skins.
- Toss the chickpeas with the oil and spices, then bake them in the oven for about 25-30 minutes. When done, remove from the oven and let cool slightly.
- While the chickpeas are cooking, boil 8 oz of your favorite pasta in salted water until al dente. When done, drain the water, and mix in about 1/3 cup of pesto (but feel free to add more or less as you like).
- Set up your bowls – add on a layer of spinach or kale, then top with the pesto pasta and chickpeas. Add on some sprouts and pumpkin seeds, if you’d like.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- For this recipe, use any kind of pesto you like! I recommend my Best Vegan Kale Pesto recipe :)
P.S.
If you make this vegan pesto chickpea bowl and post it on Instagram, be sure to tag me @wellandfull and #wellandfull so I can see! I love seeing your takes on my recipes :)
Leave a Reply