The Purple Barley Cajun Bowl (The Tiger Bowl)

This mouthwatering plant based grain bowl is just as delicious as it is drop dead gorgeous. Heritage purple barley, and a garden full of purple and yellow veggies are drizzled with a delicious vegan cajun sauce for a little Baton Rouge flavor. This Tiger Bowl gets it's name from the purple and yellow colors of the LSU Tigers. Our amazing Foodocracy intern from the summer is graduating from LSU this year so we created this bowl just for him. Go Tigers! 

(Don't worry if you can't find purple cauliflower, carrots or sweet potatoes, the regular colors taste just as good.)

Makes 2 Bowls

Ingredients

1 cup dry Hayden Mills Heritage Tibetan Purple Barley

• 2 purple and/or yellow carrots sliced
• 1/2 head purple cabbage cut into large cubes
• 3-4 golden beets peeled
• 1 yellow bell pepper diced to 1" cubes
• 1 purple sweet potato diced to 1" cubes
• Purple or Orange Cauliflower
• Olive Oil
• Salt and Pepper
• Sliced radish for garnish (optional)
• Chopped Cilantro for garnish

Vegan Cajun Sauce

• 1 cup cashews
• 2/3 cup water
• 1 lemon juiced
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons Smoked Paprika
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon Purple Striped Garlic Powder
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon Toasted Onion Powder
• 1/8 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• pinch of dried thyme

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 425
2. Put the cashews in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Set aside to soak.
3. If cooking the barley on the stovetop start now. Simmer the barley on the stovetop in a pot with a good fitting lid for 40 minutes in 3 inches of water.  Alternatively you can cook the barley with 1.5 cups of water in a pressure cooker for 15 minutes on high. If you use the pressure cooker, don't start the barley until you've put the veggies in the oven.
4. Prepare 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Peel the beets, cut off the tops and wrap them in foil, drizzling with a bit of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt. Place the foil packets on a baking sheet. Toss the carrots in olive oil and put on the tray leaving room for some other veggies to join them. Sprinkle with salt and peper. Put the tray with the carrots and beets in the oven for 10 minutes.
5. Meanwhile toss the other cut veggies (except the radish and cilantro) in olive oil to coat, spreading out on sheet pans according to color. Keep the purple veggies away from yellow veggies or the colors will bleed together. You can use foil to keep them separate if you run out of room. 
6. After the beets and carrots have roasted for 10 minutes take the tray out and carefully add veggies. Put both baking trays in the oven and roast for another 15-20 minutes until everything is roasted to perfection. Keep an eye on the oven towards the end, you might need to pull things like the cabbage if they are getting overdone.
7. While the veggies are roasting make the cajun sauce. Drain and rinse the cashews and put in a blender with all of the other ingredients. Blend on high until it forms a thick sauce. Add more water if it's too thick. Taste and adjust seasonings to your preference. 
8. When the vegetables are done roasting, take them out to cool a bit and unwrap the beets from the foil, cutting them in wedges.
9. Assemble the bowls with the barley on the bottom and placing the veggies around the sides. Drizzle with cajun sauce and top with cilantro and radish. This recipe makes way more sauce than you need for 2 bowls but it's so good I serve it alongside for extra dipping. It keeps in the fridge for 3-5 days and is delicious on a baked potato. Enjoy!