Last week we headed out to Lisbon, Portugal for an extended weekend trip and before we left I wanted to make sure I was getting lots of veggies in — because let’s be honest, traveling and eating completely healthy can be tough. While I try and make healthy choices while traveling and eating out, sometimes it just doesn’t happen as planned, and that’s totally okay! I just know that personally I feel best when I’m eating clean and healthy. For me that means eating plenty of veggies, clean protein and healthy carbs, and staying away from fried foods and sweets [i.e. fries and ice cream which just happen to sneak into my diet during vacation!]. It’s all about balance though. Balance and being able to let yourself have the fries or the ice cream just because you want to!

Anyways…

My chicken, veggie and ‘cauli-rice’ bowl is nothing short of delicious and is packed with nutritious veggies, organic animal protein and lots of flavor! If you haven’t tried cauliflower rice yet, you must! Its delicious and makes a great alternative to rice if your watching your carb intake or just want to add a little extra veggies to your diet. Sometimes I use just the cauliflower rice for this recipe and other times I’ll do half cauli-rice and half of a whole grain like brown rice or quinoa.

side note — most grocery stores now have pre-riced cauliflower so you don’t even have to rice it yourself. They even have it here in the Netherlands!

Recipe + directions below.

Sesame Chicken and Veggie Cauliflower Rice Bowls

servings: 4-6

INGREDIENTS

• 4 organic chicken thighs
• 4-5 slices organic, uncured bacon
• 3 cups riced cauliflower
• 2 cups cooked quinoa or brown rice [optional — if not using, make more cauliflower rice]
• 1 cup asparagus, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 2 cups broccolini, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 cup mushrooms, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
• 1 tsp sea salt, divided
• ½ tsp black pepper, divided
• ½ tsp garlic powder

DIRECTIONS

Heat a large sauté pan to medium heat and add olive oil. Next, add riced cauliflower ½ tsp sea salt and ¼ tsp black pepper. Cook for 4-5 minutes, adding cooked quinoa or brown rice to the pan at the end just to heat it through. Remove cauliflower/quinoa/brown rice mixture from pan and set aside. In same sauté pan, add bacon. Cook until brown and crispy. Remove bacon and put on paper towels to soak up excess grease. Add chicken thighs to pan with bacon fat. Cook for 5-8 minutes per side until chicken is cooked through. Remove from pan and set aside. To the large sauté pan add onions. Cook for 2-3 minutes until onions soften. Add remaining veggies, sea salt, pepper and garlic powder. Cook for 8-10 minutes until veggies are slightly tender. Meanwhile, chop chicken thighs into bite-sized pieces and crumble bacon, and add to pan with veggies. Drizzle mixture with sesame oil and cook for another minute or two until everything is heated through. To serve, add cauliflower rice to a bowl and top with sesame chicken and veggies. Enjoy!

Sesame Chicken and Veggie Cauliflower Rice Bowls

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

35 mins

Total time

45 mins

 

Author: Angela Freed

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

• 4 organic chicken thighs
• 4-5 slices organic, uncured bacon
• 3 cups riced cauliflower
• 2 cups cooked quinoa or brown rice [optional -- if not using, make more cauliflower rice]
• 1 cup asparagus, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 2 cups broccolini, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 cup mushrooms, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
• 1 tsp sea salt, divided
• ½ tsp black pepper, divided
• ½ tsp garlic powder

Instructions

1. Heat a large sauté pan to medium heat and add olive oil.
2. Next, add riced cauliflower ½ tsp sea salt and ¼ tsp black pepper.
3. Cook for 4-5 minutes, adding cooked quinoa or brown rice to the pan at the end just to heat it through.
4. Remove cauliflower/quinoa/brown rice mixture from pan and set aside.
5. In same sauté pan, add bacon. Cook until brown and crispy.
6. Remove bacon and put on paper towels to soak up excess grease.
7. Add chicken thighs to pan with bacon fat. Cook for 5-8 minutes per side until chicken is cooked through.
8. Remove from pan and set aside.
9. To the large sauté pan add onions. Cook for 2-3 minutes until onions soften.
10. Add remaining veggies, sea salt, pepper and garlic powder. Cook for 8-10 minutes until veggies are slightly tender.
11. Meanwhile, chop chicken thighs into bite-sized pieces and crumble bacon, and add to pan with veggies.
12. Drizzle mixture with sesame oil and cook for another minute or two until everything is heated through.
13. To serve, add cauliflower rice to a bowl and top with sesame chicken and veggies.
14. Enjoy!

3.5.3226

Have you had a chance to try this recipe yet? Let me know in the comments below!