Hardly-Any-Cooking Chicken Grain Bowls

I love making grain bowls for a quick and easy lunch or dinner, but if you’re making all of the different components from scratch, they become a whole lot less quick and easy. If I have time, I’ll roast a bunch of veggies and cook a couple of different grains before a busy week, but more often than not, I don’t have the foresight to do a whole lot of meal prep.

That’s where these “hardly any cooking” grain bowls come in. The only two things that we have to cook are the chicken and the quinoa. You could even buy a rotisserie chicken and only cook your grain, if you were really pressed for time.

I like for my grain bowls to have about a 50/50 grain/greens base. Here I used quinoa and the “Cruciferous Crunch” greens mix from Trader Joe’s. Kale and spring greens are other favorites. I always keep a jar of roasted red peppers around, but canned artichoke hearts, hearts of palm, or some quickly sauteed broccoli or corn would also be great here. Just keep it simple.

Pesto is the main flavor event of this particular bowl. You could also use a store-bought hummus, teriyaki sauce, or peanut sauce to top everything off!

Here’s the recipe for my simple almost-no-cook grain bowl, but there are endless iterations!

Chicken and Quinoa Grain Bowl

Servings 2 people

Ingredients

• 2 cups greens
• 2 cups cooked quinoa  (my favorite method)
• 1 cooked chicken breast, sliced  (my favorite method)
• 1 cup sliced roasted red repper
• 1 large avocado, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup pesto

Instructions

• Divide the ingredients between two bowls, in the order listed. Dig in!

• 2 cups greens
• 2 cups cooked quinoa  (my favorite method)
• 1 cooked chicken breast, sliced  (my favorite method)
• 1 cup sliced roasted red repper
• 1 large avocado, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup pesto

Author: Caroline Chambers