Buddha Bowls (From Mel's Kitchen Cafe)

 INGREDIENTS

• 1 ½ cups quinoa (see note)
• Chicken broth or water
• 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1 red onion, peeled and diced
• 1 to 2 tablespoons oil
• Salt and black pepper, I use coarse for both
• 2 to 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1 tablespoon finely minced fresh ginger or ginger paste (see note)
• 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 seedless/English cucumber, peeled and diced
• 2 to 3 cups baby spinach
• Diced avocado
• Chopped, fresh cilantro

Peanut Sauce:

• ⅓ cup fresh lime juice
• ¼ cup creamy peanut butter or tahini
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil or toasted sesame oil
• 1 to 2 teaspoons honey
• 1 teaspoon chili-garlic sauce, optional, but adds great flavor and a little kick
• 1 clove garlic, finely minced

INSTRUCTIONS 

• Cook the quinoa according to package directions, substituting chicken broth for water.
• While the quinoa cooks, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Toss the sweet potatoes and onion on a large sheet pan with a tablespoon of oil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Roast in the oven until tender, 20 minutes or so, flipping once or twice.
• Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat with 1 tablespoon oil. Add the garlic and ginger and cook, stirring constantly, for about 30 seconds until sizzling (don’t let the garlic burn). Pat the chicken pieces dry and add them to the skillet, seasoning with salt and pepper. Cook the chicken, stirring occasionally, until cooked through 5-6 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat.
• For the dressing, whisk or blend all the ingredients together until smooth (this can be done several days in advance; refrigerate the dressing).
• Add a scoop of cooked quinoa to serving bowls. Add roasted sweet potatoes, onions, chicken, handful of spinach, diced avocado, chopped cucumbers, and a sprinkle of cilantro. Drizzle dressing over the top and dig in.

NOTES

Using Leftovers: this recipe works really well to use already cooked, leftover quinoa and same with leftover chicken (grilled, rotisserie, etc). If using already cooked chicken, you can add the ginger/garlic to the sweet potato/onion mixture or even to the sauce to get that gingery kick.

Ginger: my life has been transformed by ginger paste. I use it almost every time fresh ginger is called for in a recipe and it’s amazing (no chopping knobby fresh ginger!). It’s very easily and widely found in grocery store produce sections near the fresh herbs/salads. However, keeping fresh ginger on hand is easy…cut fresh ginger into 1-inch pieces and store in the freezer. When ready to use, it can be grated on a box grater straight from the freezer (no need to peel!).

serving: 1 Serving, calories: 343kcal, carbohydrates: 34g, protein: 24g, fat: 13g, saturated fat: 2g, cholesterol: 48mg, sodium: 568mg, fiber: 5g, sugar: 8g