Sesame Thai Quinoa Bowl
My current go-to dish at our local gym (which contains a nice little deli) is a quinoa bowl. You can choose your protein, but I usually choose a vegetarian option (which allows me to choose 5 veggies instead of 3), grain (quinoa or brown rice), and sauce (lots of options). I am fond of the sesame peanut sauce, because, well, I love peanut sauce passionately and it contains a nice hint of spice. I was looking for new ideas to use cooked chicken this week, and I stumbled upon this recipe for a bowl on Tasty Kitchen. The sesame peanut sauce tastes remarkably like the one at the RAC and this was a delicious and easy dinner, full of customizable options for you depending on which veggies, protein, and grains you have on hand. Nothing is wrong when smothered in peanut sauce.
Thai Chicken and Kale Bowl
-adapted from tastykitchen.com
For the sauce, whisk the following ingredients together until smooth:
3 Tablespoons creamy Peanut Butter
2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
3 Tablespoons Sesame Asian Dressing (the only one I saw at the store was the Asian dressing by Newman's Own)
1 teaspoon Rice Wine Vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ teaspoon Ground Ginger
½ teaspoons Crushed Chili Flakes
2 teaspoons Sugar
3 Tablespoons Water
For chicken and kale bowl:
-4 cups Chopped Kale
-1/2 head cabbage, thinly sliced
-2 cups Chopped Broccoli
-2 cups cooked chicken, beef, whatever. Or leave this out and add some edamame for protein, or just extra veggies
-2 cups cooked quinoa or brown rice (I had some pretty red quinoa on hand)
- Sesame Seeds for sprinkling
Early in the day I chopped my veggies, whisked the sauce, cooked quinoa, and cooked a bunch of chicken (some for this dish, some for the next day). This means I had about 15 minutes of cooking time once dinner arrived, which was really nice. To assemble this bowl, heat a bit of oil in a large skillet and saute the veggies for about 3 minutes, or until still crisp, but kale is wilted. I had to do this in two batches. Add sauce and chicken, stirring well to coat, and continue to cook a few more minutes or until the veggies are the level of crispness you enjoy. Scoop 1/2 cup quinoa into bowl, top with about 1 cup chicken mixture and sprinkle with some sesame seeds.