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Gluten-Free Freezer Blondie Bars

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We are just going nuts over these gluten free freezer blondie bars and we know you will too!!  After you read the recipe, you’ll see how funny the nuts comment is too!  ha ha  Anyway, this recipe was a very fun creation that morphed into an awesome and totally delicious treat!  The family freaked out over these bars and we didn’t even tell them that there are garbanzo beans in the recipe.  Shhhh. Can we offer you some advise?  Great…here it is….don’t ever tell the people that there are garbanzo beans in any dessert because they will instantly freak out but if you keep it on the down low, they will literally have NO idea!!  We promise, when the beans are combined with all of the other sweet ingredients, they literally disappear!  It’s like bean magic!  Yes, beans are the magical fruit!  ha  I’m sure you actually don’t need me to go on and on about the health benefits of our little friends, the chick peas but let’s just go with the fact that they are little nutritious powerhouses and that’s a good thing.  Sooo, a somewhat healthy dessert anyone??  Cool.  Here’s the scoop….

Start by mixing up peanuts and cashews in the food processor until they are a nice creamy nut butter consistency.  Then  just add the chickpeas, maple syrup and vanilla and mix them up until combined.  Add the salt to taste and make sure it’s mixed in.  Press the nut mixture into an 8×8 pan and get going on the yummy chocolate topper!  Melt the chocolate and coconut oil in the microwave or a double boiler if you so desire.  Spread the chocolate over the top of the nut mixture and pop it into the freezer to set up for at least 2 hours but overnight will be best!  Just try to hold out that long…we dare you!!

If you love this dessert then we insist that you try these no bake chocolate coconut date bars 


Gluten-Free Freezer Blondie Bars
 
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Serves: 16
Ingredients
  • 1 C raw peanuts
  • 1 C raw cashews
  • 1 C chickpeas (garbanzo beans) drained
  • 2 Tbsp pure maple syrup
  • ½ tsp vanilla
  • pinch of kosher salt
  • 1 C dark chocolate chips
  • 2 tsp coconut oil
Instructions
  1. In a food processor add peanuts and cashews and run until smooth and it begins to turn into nut butter. Add chickpeas, maple syrup and vanilla, process until completely broken down and combined. Add kosher salt to taste and pulse again until mixed.
  2. Press mixture into the bottom of an 8X8 inch baking pan.
  3. Melt chocolate and coconut oil in the microwave. Spread evenly over the top of the nut mixture. Place pan in the freezer for at least 2 hours until set. Cut into equal squares. Store bars in the freezer in an airtight container with wax paper between each layer so they don’t freeze together.

Spicy Eggplant Pasta with Fresh Mozzarella

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This spicy eggplant pasta with fresh mozzarella is literally a must on a busy weeknight.  So I’m not going to lie, the hubby and kids all used to say that they were not fans of eggplant but I never let that stop me from making it and guess what?  They actually really do like it.  I started small and would make eggplant parmesan and just not tell anyone that it had eggplant in it and they really never knew.  Then slowly, they were eating it more and more and I had this massive feeling of accomplishment.  It really doesn’t take much to make me happy.  Anyway, this recipe is a must and don’t let the “non-eggplant” people turn their nose up at you.  Just forge ahead with confidence and they will see the light!!  Check out how easy this dish is to make.

Very simple cast of characters here.  You just need an eggplant, your favorite pasta (we went for this gluten free brown rice penne), your favorite marinara, fresh mozzarella, basil and some red chili flakes.

You’ll want to start by salting the eggplant to let it sweat.  This gets rid of any potential bitterness that it may have.  Rinse it well after it hangs out with the salt and pat it dry.

Then dice it up into pretty little cubes and cook it in a skillet over medium high heat.  Let it cook for about 15 minutes until the edges are a nice golden brown then add the marinara.  While this is happening, cook the pasta according to the package directions.  Then to serve, spoon the pasta into a bowl and top with the eggplant marinara mixture, some fresh mozzarella, red pepper flakes (to your desired heat) and some fresh basil.  Yum!  This dish is a total win!!


Spicy Eggplant Pasta with Fresh Mozzarella
 
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Serves: 6
Ingredients
  • 1 medium eggplant
  • kosher salt
  • 1 Tbsp good quality olive oil
  • 12 oz brown rice gluten free pasta
  • 1 C fresh mozzarella, chopped
  • red pepper flakes - to taste
  • ¼ C fresh basil, chiffonade
  • 1 jar marinara sauce (we used Mezzetta brand caramelized onion and butter)
Instructions
  1. Cut the ends off of each side of the eggplant and slice eggplant into ½ inch slices. Place a generous amount of salt on each side of eggplant and allow to “sweat” for 30-60 minutes. Rinse eggplant thoroughly and pat dry. Chop slices into ½ inch squares.
  2. Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add eggplant, cook for approx 15 minutes until all sides of eggplant are golden brown and completely cooked though. Reduce heat to low and add marinara sauce.
  3. While the eggplant is cooking boil pasta noodles to cook, drain and return to the pan. Add a few large spoonfuls of eggplant/marinara sauce to the pasta and mix to incorporate.
  4. Dish pasta evenly into bowls. Top with eggplant/marinara sauce, fresh mozzarella, desired amount of red pepper flakes and fresh basil. Serve immediately.

Green Chile Cilantro Chicken & Pineapple Skewers

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We know how much you love a delicious, easy weeknight dinner so in your honor, we’ve created these green chile cilantro chicken and pineapple skewers just for you!  You are going to love how simple this recipe is to make.  And really, who doesn’t love food on a stick?  It’s grilling season now so basically it’s time to start thinking about some fun new ideas to get outside and cook dinner in the comfort of your own backyard.  In Arizona, we only have a short amount of time to do this comfortably however, because in about another month, it’s going to be an absolute inferno in our backyards and that’s without the grill even being turned on.  But the diehards don’t let a little heat stop them and we could very well fall into that category.  But I digress…back to the skewers.  You only need a small amount of ingredients for this recipe.

The sauce is literally a can of diced green chilis, fresh cilantro, garlic and lime juice.  Blend it up and voila!  Sauce is ready.  See, I told you this is an easy one.  Now you just cube up the chicken and place it into a bowl.

Pour the yummy sauce over the chicken and toss to make sure it’s all coated evenly.  Let it hang out in the fridge for at least an hour.  Longer if you can make that happen only because we are working with boneless, skinless chicken and it loves to marinate to soak up flavor!

Once you are ready to start cooking dinner, preheat the grill and start the food on a stick process.  We are all about pretty bright colors so we chose a vibrant red bell pepper and some bright sweet pineapple.  If you’ve never had pineapple on the grill before, you are gonna freak out!  Oh my yum!  It’s fantastic.  Who knew pineapple could actually get sweeter?  Anyway, thread the skewers with the chicken, peppers and pineapple and drizzle with some more sauce before you put them on the grill.  Cook for about 5 minutes on one side, then flip and cook for another 5 on the other side and your skewers should be good to go!  We like to serve over cauliflower rice but you can certainly serve them whatever your heart desires.  See, I told you this was an easy weeknight meal.  Hope you love it as much as my family did!

If you really want to impress the people, serve up these totally off the hook cast iron maple sautéed apples for dessert!!

Green Chile Cilantro Chicken & Pineapple Skewers
 
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Serves: Makes 10-12 skewers
Ingredients
  • 8 oz diced green chili peppers
  • juice of 1 lime
  • ½ C cilantro
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1.5 lbs chicken tenders, trimmed and cut into large cubes
  • ½ pineapple, cut into bite sized cubes
  • ½ red bell pepper, seeded and cut into large squares
  • ½ yellow bell pepper, seeded and cut into large squares
Instructions
  1. Using a small blender or immersion blender add green chilis, lime juice, cilantro and garlic. Blend until completely broken down and mixed.
  2. Add cubed chicken to a low bowl or gallon ziploc freezer bag, season with S&P. Pour half of green chili marinade over the chicken and mix until coated. Marinade in the fridge for at least 1 hour, preferrably longer.
  3. Heat bbq. Thread chicken, pineapple and bell peppers equally onto metal or wood skewers.
  4. Grill for 5 minutes, flip skewer over and continue to cook until chicken is cooked through for another 5 minutes.
  5. Serve over cauliflower rice, grain rice or on its own with the additional marinade on the side.

Yogurt Berry Cups

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These yogurt berry cups are everything!!  If you are looking for the world’s most delicious, healthy and beyond easy dessert, well, look no further because we literally have it for you today!  I seem a little overly fired up about these guys, however, if you take the time to make them, then you will understand why.  Seriously though, we are always working on coming up with fun new ideas so that you will have fun in the kitchen and make recipes that are totally worth repeating.  Well…we’ve got a repeater!  There are very few ingredients in these yogurt berry cups and they are also quite versatile.  We used strawberries and blueberries for this one but there’s no reason you couldn’t enjoy them with your other favorite fruits. Peach or mango would be awesome too.  Oh no, it’s happening again, the wheels are spinning!!

The other great news about this fun recipe is that the crust is made with bran.  We are on a serious fiber kick right now given all of the health benefits of incorporating fiber into your diet so…well, why not?  If it tastes good and it’s good for us, we are all in.

Using a food processor for the crust mixture, you will pulse some bran cereal, almonds, dates, coconut, coconut oil, vanilla, cinnamon and maple syrup until nicely incorporated.  Then press the mixture into your muffin tins and pop them into the freezer  to set while you work on part two.  

For part two, you will simply mix the Greek yogurt, fresh strawberries and honey in a bowl with an immersion blender.  You can also do this in a blender however, we are obsessed with our immersion blender and believe that everyone should have one in their kitchen.  Anywho, after you’ve blended up the strawberry yogurt mixture, pour it evenly into the muffin tins and top with a few fresh blueberries.

Pop it into the freezer and allow the yogurt the set up.  Once they are frozen, you can take them out and gobble them up. These guys are like popsicles so make sure you store them in the freezer.  An airtight container is perfect!  How pretty are they?? We just love when something like this happens!!


Yogurt Berry Cups
 
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Serves: 12
Ingredients
  • 1 C All-Bran original cereal
  • ½ C raw almonds
  • ¼ C unsweetened coconut flakes
  • 4 medjool dates, pitted
  • 1 Tbsp coconut oil
  • 1 Tbsp pure maple syrup
  • ¼ tsp vanilla
  • ¼ tsp cinnamon
  • 1 C 0% greek yogurt
  • 1 C strawberries, sliced
  • 1 Tbsp raw honey
  • ½ C blueberries
Instructions
  1. Using a food processor add All Bran and pulse until broken down. Add almonds and coconut flakes and continue to pulse until broken down. Add dates, coconut oil, maple syrup, vanilla and cinnamon and pulse until completely incorporated and broken down.
  2. Place 12 muffin liners in a muffin tin. Add approx 2 Tbsp of mixture to each liner, press firmly into the liner. Place in the freezer.
  3. Add yogurt, strawberries and honey to a medium bowl. Use an immersion blender to mix yogurt into strawberries. Distribute strawberry yogurt mixture evenly into each cup. Top each yogurt cup with blueberries and transfer to the freezer to set. Once frozen move yogurt cups to an airtight tupperware container to store.

Cauliflower Rice, Crispy Kale, Garbanzos and Feta with Simple Lemon Dressing

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Cauliflower rice is all the rage and for good reason, because it’s the bomb!  Not only is it a great way to add move veggies into your diet and skip the carbs but it actually tastes amazing too.  You can rice your own by adding cauliflower florets in a food processor and pulsing until it becomes the size of grain rice, or you can purchased it already riced…take your pick. Some ways to use cauliflower rice is to make pizza crust, under a protein like chicken or fish or in a rice bowl like this.

cauliflowerkale

Why did it take so long for Betty Crocker or whoever to come up with this amazing concept?  Obviously it wasn’t Betty Crocker who came up with cauliflower rice but for whatever reason her name comes to mind…probably a sign of my age! Anyways, we would like to give a shout out to the cauliflower rice inventor because it’s a game changer.

For this quick and healthy dinner we paired the cauliflower rice with some sautéed kale and threw in some garbanzo beans and feta….because everything is better with feta, duh!  The lemon dressing is a staple for us that we use on everything.  It pairs perfectly with the flavors going on in this bowl.  Avocado would be heavenly on this dish as well, we would’ve added it ourselves but we were out so we missed out on the avocado.  Major bummer!  If you have avocado, do yourself a favor and add it to this dish.  We hope you like this quick and easy meal as much as we do!

cauliflowerkale2

Cauliflower Rice, Crispy Kale, Garbanzos and Feta with Preserved Lemon Dressing
 
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Serves: 2
Ingredients
  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • 2 C loosely packed kale, chopped
  • 1½ C cauliflower rice (cut florets off of cauliflower and pulse in food processor until it becomes the texture of rice. Can also buy already "riced" at many grocery stores)
  • ½ C garbanzo beans, cooked
  • ¼ C feta cheese, cut into cubes
For the Simple Lemon Dressing:
  • juice and zest of 1 medium lemon
  • 2 Tbsp Fage 0% greek yogurt
  • 1 Tbsp dijon mustard
  • 1 Tbsp honey
  • 1 clove garlic, chopped
  • ⅓ C good quality olive oil
  • kosher salt
Instructions
For the Simple Lemon Dressing:
  1. In a blender or using an immersion blender, blend all ingredients except for olive oil. Slowly pour in olive oil while blending. Season with kosher salt to taste. Set aside
For the bowl:
  1. In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium high heat. Add kale and saute for approx 3-5 minutes until it becomes slightly crispy, set aside. Reheat skillet over medium heat and add cauliflower, cook for approx 3 minutes until cauliflower begins to soften. In a serving bowl add cauliflower, kale, garbanzos and feta. Drizzle desired amount of dressing over top.
Good Thyme Tip - There are a lot of other veggies that would be great in this bowl such as asparagus, bell peppers or avocado. Grilled chicken or a hard boiled egg would be a great addition for a protien as well.

Lemon Pesto Capunti Pasta with Asparagus

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Tonight’s dinner was literally the easiest meal ever!!  Lemon pesto capunti pasta with asparagus.  First of all, lemon pesto anything is freaking amazing!!  I mean, don’t you agree? We just love this capunti pasta because of it’s light texture and of course it’s pretty ruffled edges.  It’s always fun to mix it up when serving something simple like this dish.  You guys are going to love this one and we know you are also really going to love how easy it is to make.  This dish is perfect for a crazy busy weeknight but it’s also pretty and delicious enough to serve to guests for dinner or a fun lunch.  The ingredients are really simple…we like to use homemade pesto but there are lots of delicious one’s you can buy in the stores so you could even shave off more time on the prep and buy some pesto if you are short on time.  Our recipe is really very simple though so we’d like to encourage you to give it a shot!  You can also substitute your favorite pasta if you are not able to find capunti.  Don’t stress, it’s just pasta!  Okay, check out how easy this dish is to master….

Here’s your line up or cast of characters!  Pesto, pasta, fresh asparagus and lemon!  If you are a regular here at GTK, you are aware of our obsession with lemons.  They can do wonders to just about any dish!  For this one, we use the zest and the juice.  Winning!!

So you are just going to start by cooking the pasta according to the package directions. After it’s cooked, don’t just dump it into a strainer, be sure to reserve a cup of the boiling water and set it aside.  You are going to use it to thin out the pesto so just hang tight.  After you drain the rest of the pasta water, add the pasta back to the pot and toss in the asparagus and the pesto.  Stir to combine, adding small amounts of the reserved pasta water to thin out the pesto.  Add in the fresh lemon juice and zest and top with freshly grated pecorino romano or parmesan.  Serve it up and watch how fast this one goes!!


Lemon Pesto Capunti Pasta with Asparagus
 
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Serves: 6
Ingredients
For the Pesto:
  • 2 C packed fresh basil leaves
  • ¼ C toasted pine nuts
  • 1 cloved garlic, chopped
  • ½ C grated parmesan cheese
  • ½ C good quality olive oil
  • kosher salt
For the Pasta:
  • 1 lb capunti or like pasta
  • 1 bunch asparagus
  • ¾ - 1 C prepared pesto
  • ¼ - ½ C reserved pasta water
  • zest and juice of 1 medium lemon
  • grated pecorino romano or parmesan to top
Instructions
For the Pesto:
  1. In a food processor combine basil, cheese, garlic, pine nuts and ¼ C olive oil. Slowly drizzle in the remaining ¼ C olive oil while the food processor is running. Season with kosher salt to taste.
For the Pasta:
  1. Cook pasta according to package ingredients.
  2. Cut tough ends off of asparagus. Cut asparagus into thirds at an angle.
  3. When pasta is cooked, use a label to remove 1 cup of boiling pasta water, set aside. Drain pasta and return to pot. Add asparagus and ¾ C pesto. Stir to incorporate, thin out with ¼ - ½ C reserved pasta water. Add more pesto/water if needed. Add the juice of 1 lemon, season with S&P. Top with lemon zest and grated cheese. Serve immediately.

Healthy Chocolate Banana Blender Waffles

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Healthy chocolate banana blender waffles…um, yes please!  Talk about an easy and oh so delicious breakfast.  We recipe tested these guys just in time for Mother’s Day!! That might have been planned. ha!  Any batter that you can make in the blender is a total win because the “other people” in the family can totally handle it even if they aren’t cooks!  No excuses!  These waffles are exactly what you need for a lazy weekend morning or for entertaining because everyone is sure to love them.  There is just something so perfect about the combo of chocolate, bananas, cinnamon and maple syrup.  I’m thinking that I’m actually going to print a copy of this recipe and put it out on the counter to put in my request for Mother’s Day.  You know, like a subtle hint but more obvious!

All you need to do is add all of the ingredients into the blender and mix until it’s nicely incorporated.  Get your waffle iron nice and hot and pour the batter onto the iron and close the lid until they are done.  Remove the waffle with a fork or tongs and set aside on a plate.

Serve them up with some warm maple syrup and fresh berries of your choice!

Healthy Chocolate Banana Blender Waffles
 
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Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 1 C whole wheat flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • ¼ tsp cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp kosher salt
  • ¼ C cacao powder
  • 1 banana, peeled
  • ¼ C coconut oil, melted in liquid form
  • ½ tsp vanilla
  • 2 medium eggs
  • 1 C almond milk
  • Fresh strawberries
  • pure maple syrup, warmed
Instructions
  1. Add all ingredients to a blender, blend on high for 1 minute.
  2. Heat waffle iron, pour batter onto waffle iron and close lid. Remove from iron once done and transfer to a plate.
  3. Top with maple syrup and strawberries.

Mediterranean White Bean & Tuna Salad

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This simple Mediterranean white bean and tuna salad is pretty much a staple lunch in my house.  Not gonna lie, if you told me I had to live on a Mediterranean diet for every meal, for the rest of my life, I’d be totally cool with it.  There is just something to be said for eating fresh vegetables, legumes, whole grains, fruit, nuts, seafood and using lots of fresh herbs and spices to season your food.  The Mediterranean diet is actually considered one of the world’s healthiest ways to eat.  Ummm, okay.  Sign me up!  So this super simple salad is really easy to whip up and is also loaded with delicious lemony fresh flavor.

In true typical GTK fashion, we are not using a ton of ingredients for this recipe but that doesn’t mean it’s short on flavor.  We’ve just got some great northern white beans, kalamata olives, tuna packed in oil, fresh rosemary and lemon.  Yum!

Just toss all of the ingredients together in a bowl and squeeze the fresh lemon juice over the top.  Season with salt and pepper and then it’s time eat!!  If you are making it for later, or have some leftovers, just store it in the fridge in an airtight container.


Mediterranean White Bean & Tuna Salad
 
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Serves: 2-4
Ingredients
  • 15 oz great northern or white beans, drained and rinsed
  • 4 oz tuna, packed in oil
  • ⅓ C kalamata olives, pitted and quartered
  • 1 Tbsp fresh rosemary, minced
  • zest and juice of 1 medium lemon
  • kosher salt and cracked pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Add beans to a medium bowl. Add tuna with oil, olives and rosemary. Zest and juice a lemon and stir to mix. Season with S&P to taste.
  2. Serve immediately or store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Sheet Pan Balsamic Roasted Chicken with Green Beans & Tomatoes

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Once again, we bring you yet another super easy dinner!  This sheet pan balsamic roasted chicken with green beans and tomatoes is an absolute must for a busy weeknight.  Is there anything better than placing all of your ingredients on one pan and tossing it into the oven, only to have it all come out at the same time and ready to eat?  Well, no.  There really is nothing better!  If you are anything like us, you have a lot of stuff going on during the week…I won’t bore you with the details but we’ll just say “mom taxi” and that should sum it up.  Anyway, sheet pan dinners are where it’s at so let us just take a quick minute to share with you how simple this recipe is to make.

Start by making the delicious balsamic marinade.  We use this on pretty much everything…once you try it, you will know why.  It might be the easiest marinade to make but it’s also the most flavorful.  It’s literally dijon mustard, balsamic vinegar, garlic and olive oil.  I like to make mine in the blender but you could just whisk it up or use an immersion blender too.  I always make extra and use it throughout the week for green salads or a yummy quinoa salad.  Yum!

You’ll want to marinate the chicken in the fridge for at least 4 hours so it has time to become one with the delicious flavors.  We suggest doing this part in the morning before you head out for the day.  Then, when you get home and it’s time to make dinner, the chicken is ready to go.

Just pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment.  Place the chicken breasts, tomatoes and kalamata olives on the sheet pan.  You will be adding the green beans a little later as they don’t need as long to cook so make sure you leave some space for them on the pan. Pour the remaining marinade over the tomatoes and olives and season with salt and pepper.

While the chicken is cooking, toss the green beans in a bowl with a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  After 20 minutes, place the green beans on the sheet pan and let everything cook for another 10 minutes.  Then remove the pan from the oven and serve up your super simple, one pan dinner!  Total WIN!!!


Sheet Pan Balsamic Roasted Chicken with Green Beans & Tomatoes
 
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Serves: 4
Ingredients
For the Balsamic Marinade:
  • ¼ C balsamic vinegar
  • 3 Tbsp dijon mustard
  • 2 Tbsp good quality olive oil
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 4 chicken breasts, trimmed
  • cherry tomatoes or strawberry tomatoes on the vine
  • ½ C kalamata olives, pitted
  • 12 oz green beans, trimmed
  • 2 Tbsp good quality olive oil
  • kosher salt
  • cracked pepper
  • *Optional - mozarella or burrata cheese, ciabatta bread, balsamic glaze
Instructions
  1. In a small bowl whisk all ingredients together for the balsamic marinade.
  2. Add chicken to a large ziploc freezer bag. Pour balsamic marinade into bag and massage into chicken. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
  3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a large sheet pan with parchment paper. Arrange chicken on pan and place tomatoes and olives around pan (leave room for green beans, they will be added later). Pour remaining marinade over tomatoes and olives. Season with S&P.
  4. Set timer for 20 minutes.
  5. While chicken is cooking toss green beans with olive oil, season with S&P. After 20 minutes add the green beans to the sheet pan, set the timer for an additional 10 minutes.
  6. Remove from oven, slice chicken and serve.
*Optional - serve with sliced ciabatta bread, fresh mozarella or burrata and drizzle with balsamic glaze.

Southwest Chicken Quinoa Bowl with Creamy Avocado Dressing

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*Featured in the May Issue of Scottsdale Health Magazine*

Say hello to your next totally delicious and really easy weeknight meal that’s packed with all the right ingredients!  We are huge fans of all things bowls.  Why is it so much more fun to deconstruct the meal and put it all in a bowl first?  The typical bowl will have some type of grain or noodle as the base with your choice of veggies, meat or fish on top along with a delicious dressing.  Our bowl creations are endless and this Southwest Chicken Quinoa bowl with Creamy Avocado Dressing is one of our absolute favorites.  Check out how easy this deliciousness is to create.

You can even make the chicken and the quinoa for this recipe ahead of time and then all you need to do is assemble.  How simple is that?  So, we started with marinating the chicken breasts in lime juice, garlic, honey and some olive oil.  Let it hang out in the fridge for at least an hour or even overnight.  Heat a grill pan or bbq to medium-high heat and cook the chicken for 3 to 5 minutes on each side or until cooked through.

Set the chicken aside to cool and start on the creamy avocado dressing.  Now you can start assembling the bowl with all of the remaining ingredients.  Divide the quinoa evenly between the bowls and begin adding the purple cabbage, black beans, diced tomatoes, corn, avocado, sliced jalapeño and fresh cilantro.  Drizzle the avocado dressing over the top and you are good to go!  You can even squeeze some fresh lime juice over the top as well.  Fresh citrus is always a game changer!  We are sure you will love this recipe as much as we do.

Check out this recipe for chili lime chicken which would be perfect served in a bowl like this too!

 

Southwest Chicken Quinoa Bowl with Creamy Avocado Dressing
 
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Serves: 2
Ingredients
  • 1 medium chicken breast
  • 2 limes
  • 1 clove garlic, pressed
  • 1 tsp honey
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 3 C quinoa, cooked according to package instructions
  • ¼ C purple cabbage, chopped
  • 1 roma tomato, chopped
  • ¼ C black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 jalapeno, thinly sliced
  • ½ avocado, sliced
  • 2 Tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
For the Creamy Avocado Dressing:
  • ⅔ C 0% Greek yogurt
  • ½ medium lime, juiced
  • ¼ avocado
  • 1 tsp honey
  • kosher salt to taste
Instructions
  1. Rinse and trim chicken breast, pat dry. Add chicken breast to a large ziploc bag. Add juice of 1 lime, garlic, honey and olive oil to the bag. Allow to marinade in the fridge for at least 1 hour or overnight.
  2. Heat an indoor grill pan or bbq to medium-high heat. Cook chicken for 3-5 minutes per side, depending on thickness.
  3. While chicken is cooling add ingredients together for the creamy avocado dressing. In a small food processor or blender add all dressing ingredients except for salt. Blend until incorporated, season with salt to taste.
  4. Divide quinoa evenly between two serving bowls. Top with purple cabbage, tomatoes, black beans, jalapeno, avocado and cilantro. Slice chicken and divide between the two bowls. Serve with remaining lime wedge and creamy avocado lime dressing.