We always seem to have leftover chicken because I often make up a big batch at the beginning of the week to toss into salads or whatever. This recipe came together very easily because it’s full of ingredients that were in my fridge and pantry at the time. Talk about a win!
The dressing is a cinch to make. Just whisk together the garlic, ginger, rice vinegar, canola and sesame oils, soy sauce and brown sugar in a small bowl.
Simply make up a batch of quinoa according to the package directions. In a large bowl, add the quinoa shredded carrots, purple cabbage, edamame, diced red bell pepper and green onion and toss with the dressing until it’s nicely combined.
Either enjoy it right away or let it hang in the fridge for up to five days. It probably won’t last that long though…you will eat it all!!
Enjoy!
- 1 C. uncooked quinoa - cooked according to package instructions
- 1 cooked chicken breast, sliced thin
- 1 medium carrot, grated
- ½ red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
- ½ C shelled endamame
- 2 C purple cabbage, sliced into thin strips
- ¼ C green onions, green tops only - chopped
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 tsp freshly grated ginger
- ½ C rice vinegar
- 2 Tbsp canola oil
- 1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp brown sugar
- For the dressing:
- In a small bowl whisk all ingedients together, set aside
- For the Salad:
- Add cooked and cooled quinoa, sliced chicken, grated carrots, red pepper, endamame, cabbage and green onions to a large bowl. Whisk dressing again before pouring over salad, toss to coat. Either serve immediately or chill, can store in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Chicken Caprese Quinoa Bowl
We also happen to have our creamy balsamic on hand, pretty much all the time as well. This is another staple that you won’t regret preparing. It’s like the easiest dressing ever and tastes so dang good! You could even save yourself lots of time and buy a rotisserie chicken for this recipe and you are good to go. Just cook up some quinoa according to the package directions, add in the chopped chicken, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil and the slow roasted tomatoes. Drizzle with the creamy balsamic and toss together in a bowl. You are gonna freak out! Yum.
- 2 C quinoa - cooked according to package instructions
- 1 C shredded chicken breast - we used rotisserie chicken
- ¼ C fresh mozzarella, chopped
- ½ C fresh basil, torn
- ½ C slow roasted tomatoes (see recipe)
- campari tomatoes, quartered
- good quality olive oil
- kosher salt
- ¼ C balsamic vinegar
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 tsp dijon mustard
- 1 Tbsp greek yogurt
- ¼ C good quality olive oil
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
- Line a rimmed roasting pan with parchment paper. Cut tomatoes into quarters and line on pan. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Roast for 2 hours.
- *Make slow roasted in advanced and store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 10 days.
- Add all ingredients except for olive oil to a blender or use an immersion blender. Blend on high for 20 seconds. With blender going slowly drizzle in olive oil. Set vinaigrette aside.
- Divide quinoa evenly between 2 low serving bowls. Top each bowl with equal parts chicken, mozzarella, basil and slow roasted tomatoes.
- Drizzle with desired amount of balsamic vinaigrette and serve immediately.
Southwest Chicken Quinoa Bowl with Creamy Avocado Dressing
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!
- 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
- ⅔ C 0% Greek yogurt
- ½ medium lime, juiced
- ¼ avocado
- 1 tsp honey
- kosher salt to taste
- 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.
- Heat an indoor grill pan or bbq to medium-high heat. Cook chicken for 3-5 minutes per side, depending on thickness.
- 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.
- 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.
Grilled Lemon Chicken Kabobs with Tzatziki
We have friends coming over and they LOVE Greek food, I think they are going to be pretty happy when I tell them about the menu. Everything on the menu can be prepped ahead of time so you don’t have to stress when your guests arrive…and the ahead of time prep is minimal. If you read our tzatziki blog post you will know that it only takes 10 minutes to throw together. It’s actually better if you make the tzatziki ahead of time to give the flavors a chance to blend together. Once you have the tzatziki made it’s time to marinate the chicken. Cut in kabob size pieces and marinate in a ziplock bag with lemon juice, garlic and olive oil . When your guests arrive simply thread the chicken on skewers, season with S&P and grill. While the chicken is grilling you can quickly make the tomato salad, which takes 10 minutes as well. Serve with a side of pita and your meal is complete, Greek night made simple!
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- 1.5 lbs chicken cutlets, cleaned and trimmed and cut into large bite-size pieces (big enough to fit on a skewer)
- 6 cloves garlic - smashed with the back of knife
- 2 large lemons, quartered
- S & P
- ¼ C olive oil
- 6 metal skewers - can also use wood skewers
- 2 C 0% Greek yogurt
- ½ English cucumber
- 2 Tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
- zest of 1 lemon
- 2 Tbsp chopped dill
- 1 clove garlic, pressed
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- In a large ziploc bag place trimmed and washed chicken, garlic and olive oil. Squeeze the juice of the quartered lemons into the bag and put the lemon in the bag as well. Seal and place in the refrigerater for at least one hour to marinade.
- Remove chicken from ziplock bag. Skewer chicken pieces making sure not to pack chicken too tight together on the skewers. Season with S & P. Cook chicken on the bbq or on an indoor grill pan for about 3-4 minutes each side until chicken is thoroughly cooked through.
- In a medium bowl add yogurt. Using a box grater, grate the cucumber. Squeeze excess juice from the grated cucumber with a thin dish towel, cheesecloth or with your hand. Add the cucumber and all remaining ingredients to the yogurt. Mix to incorporate all ingredients. Best served chilled.