Sautéed red peppers, asparagus and mushrooms top this simple chicken & rice bowl. The result is a healthy, flavorful dinner in 30 minutes or less. This may be your favorite new go-to recipe for a quick dinner!
You may have noticed I’ve been a fan of rice bowls lately. They are just so versatile and so easy! Not to mention extremely kid-friendly too. I am a big proponent of simple, versatile core recipes. With a few of these under your belt, you can customize with your add-ins, and end up with countless variations on the recipe.
Here’s an example of what I mean:
Each one of these is a little bit different. But the fundamentals of the preparation are the same. Cook the grain, cook the meat, chop the veggies, stack the bowl, and serve.
Red peppers, asparagus, mushrooms, cucumbers, bell peppers, chicken mozzarella cheese and rice.
Avocado, Roma tomato, cucumber, green peppers, smoked pork, black beans, cheddar cheese and rice.
Guacamole, grape tomatoes, salsa, Monterey Jack cheese, orange peppers, chicken, black beans and rice.
English cucumbers, Roma tomatoes, bell peppers, Monterey Jack cheese, smoked pork and quinoa.
These sautéed veggies are versatile too. I had a serving left after we finished off the rice and chicken. So I added them to my Taco salad, and it was delicious!
Asparagus is something that I’ve always had a hard time using. My previous preparation methods were so involved, it always felt like I needed to be serving it at a fancy dinner. It certainly was too complex for a dinner with just me and the kids. More than once I have saved my asparagus for a special occasion that never came—and ended up throwing it away rotten. This chopped and sautéed asparagus, however, was so easy, so quick and so tasty. I have a renewed love for asparagus as an every-day vegetable.
Another bonus of preparing this dish—use only 1 pan. I cooked my chicken in my fry-pan first. Then I sautéed my veggies in the same pan. Don’t wash it in between. The caramelized bits of chicken that you have to scrub out of the pan gave a delightful flavor to the veggies. AND it also made it easier to clean the fry pan when I was all done.
Kid-friendly in my book means easy to separate out. Most kids just don’t like things mixed together very often. So stack-meals like this are golden. They get a little pile of each of the ingredients in the stack list. They can combine if they want. Or they can eat it all separate. I’m happy because they are eating the same food as my husband and I. The kids are happy because they get to eat what they love, and taste new things without feeling pressured or overwhelmed. By the way, my baby’s favorite—the asparagus!
The Meal:
2/3 cup rice
3 oz chicken
½ oz Mozzarella cheese
¾ cup Red Pepper & Asparagus
¼ cup cucumber
2 Tbsp Green Bell Pepper
2 Tbsp Salsa
Recipe Used in this meal:
Sauteed Red Peppers & Asparagus
Serving size: ¾ cup
Servings per Recipe: 4
Ingredients
1 large Red Pepper
1 lb Asparagus
8 oz pkg Mushrooms (any variety)
1 Tbsp butter
Directions
Wash the mushrooms, peppers and asparagus well. Chop into bite-size pieces.
Add butter to a large fry pan. Turn on to medium high heat, and allow to heat up.
Add chopped veggies and sauté until soft, but still crisp, about 5-7 minutes. Asparagus should be bright green.
Serve over rice & chicken
Basic Chicken & Rice Bowl
Serving size: 2/3 cup Rice, 3 oz chicken
Servings per Recipe: 4
Ingredients
1 1/3 cups rice (uncooked)
2 tsp Chicken Bouillon
2 2/3 cup water
2 large chicken breasts (approx. 1 lb)
½ tsp seasoned salt
½ tsp coarse ground pepper
Directions
Place rice, bouillon and water into rice cooker. Start the cooker.
Dice the chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces. Season with seasoned salt and pepper.
Spray large fry pan with cooking spray. Heat to medium high heat. Add chicken. Cook thoroughly.
Divide rice and chicken into 4 bowls. Top with Sautéed Red Peppers, Mushrooms & Asparagus.
Nutrition Facts Label for Entire Meal:
Nutrition Facts Label for Sauteed Red Peppers & Asparagus:
Nutrition Facts Label for Basic Chicken & Rice Bowl:
