Mexican Quinoa Bowl

I'm obsessed with Quinoa Bowls lately. It's my new go-to meal at home. My current favorite is quinoa with a Mexican twist! I make some fresh salsa, fresh guacamole, chicken breast, and plain quinoa and store them all in separate containers. Then when I want a bowl it only takes a minute to prepare it! Check it out...

Plus, the great thing about making all the ingredients ahead of time and then storing them this way is that you can make other meals and snacks from them as well! When there is leftover chicken I will often add it to a salad or make a chicken sandwich. I'll snack on the guacamole and salsa with some Ak-Mak Crackers.  And I'll use the quinoa for a different style bowl... like eggplant and yam (I'll work on taking images of that one!).

How to make the ingredients seen above...

QUINOA  (Just follow the directions on the packet)

Ingredients:
1 cup quinoa
2 cups water

Directions:
Rinse the quinoa, add the water, bring to a boil, let simmer for 15 to 20 minutes (until the water is gone).

CHICKEN

Ingredients:
2 breasts with bones and skin (it's much juicier if you cook it on the bone with the skin on)
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/2 cup fresh squeezed lime juice
handful fresh, chopped cilantro
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Place all ingredients in a plastic bag and let marinate for anywhere from half hour to 2 hours.
Heat the oven to 400.
Place contents of the plastic bag into an oven safe baking dish, cover tightly with foil.
Bake for 50 minutes.
Remove skin and cut chicken off the bone.  Shred into small bite-size pieces.

GUACAMOLE

Ingredients:
4 or 5 ripe avocados
1/4 finely chopped red onion
2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lime juice
Small handful fresh chopped cilantro
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Mix all ingredients in a bowl until the avocados are the texture that you desire.

SALSA

Ingredients:
4 to 5 medium size tomatoes (Roma or Vine Tomatoes), chopped

1/4 finely chopped red onion
2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lime juice
Small handful fresh chopped cilantro
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Simply mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and  you're done! (This is a great low calorie way to add flavor to a lot of dishes. You can always add more lime juice, cilantro, or onion to add flavor without having to add sodium!)


NOTE: When I eat at home I like to keep it fresh and use natural flavors instead of a lot of sodium or pre-packaged sauces. So, when I make a bowl out of the ingredients above I just use them as you see them here, I don't add any salt or other flavoring.  But if this tastes too bland for you then you can easily add flavor in a healthy way... put the quinoa in the bowl first, add as much fresh squeezed lime juice as you want and a splash of extra virgin olive oil and mix.  Then add the other ingredients on top.  This will give a bit more flavor to the overall dish without having to add anything that's bad for you!

Enjoy!

GTBB,
Bad Joan