Mexican Chicken Bowl

My daughter and I recently enjoyed a fajita bowl out at a restaurant and of course really enjoyed it. This week we tried making our own. You might ask me why I try to replicate meals we enjoy out at restaurants...

There are a number of reasons why I do it. As a rule food purchased at a restaurant is usually higher in calories, fat, sodium and lower in fibre when compared to making it at home.

So that is exactly what I did, I compared the nutrient content of our restaurant meal with our homemade meal. I even took into account our two meals at the restaurant really gave us four servings - we ate 1/2 our meal for dinner and the leftovers for lunch the next day.

Here is what I found:

Our homemade meal had less calories, total fat, saturated fat, and more fibre and protein.
Our homemade meal was just as tasty as the meal out, it also had more vegetables (2.5 servings per meal) and cost about $10 less to make. In my books that's what I call a slam dunk dinner!

We hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Mexican Chicken Bowl
Makes 4 servings

Chicken
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 tbsp. lime juice
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tbsp taco seasoning

Rice
1 cup brown rice
2 tbsp. lime juice
small bunch of cilantro, chopped

Dressing
1 avocado
small bunch of cilantro
1 clove of garlic
1 tbsp lime juice
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/4 cup water

Vegetables
1 tsp vegetable oil
2 sweet peppers, sliced
1 medium onion, diced
1 can of corn, drained and rinsed
1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup of salsa (I forgot this)

Directions

• In a medium bowl add chicken, lime juice, olive oil and taco seasoning. Cover the bowl and allow chicken to marinate in the fridge for 10 minutes or over night. 
• Prepare rice according to package. Just before serving stir in lime juice and cilantro
• Place all ingredients for the dressing in a food processor or blender and process until smooth.
• Mix corn, black beans and salsa together.

• Saute onions and peppers over medium-high heat using vegetable oil until the onion is soft, about 5 minutes.

• Cook chicken on the BBQ or saute in a pan over medium heat until cooked through, reaching a temperature of 74 C (165 F). Slice cooked chicken (I sliced mine before cooking so it wouldn't take as long).

• Assemble bowls and enjoy!

Shannon RD
Registered Dietitian