Seasoned Lime Chicken with Cilantro Cauliflower Rice

Have you ever been in a cooking rut? I mean you just don’t know what to make or nothing sounds good enough to eat? Then we’re all in good company because I think we’ve all been there a time or two! When I get into these funks I naturally turn to old favorite recipes and if that doesn’t sound good, I go straight to Pinterest for inspiration.

I tend to not follow recipes. It’s not something I wouldn’t suggest but it’s something I have always done thanks in part to my grandmother who NEVER followed a recipe. She would often make meals with ingredients she already had (hint, so do I) or from something she ate and she would go home and replicate it, usually making it WAY better than it was in the restaurant.

This recipe can be made a couple of different ways but again it comes down to convenience and ingredients I already had in my pantry and freezer.

I had organic chicken breasts in the freezer, and a bag of cauliflower rice…and so it began!

I took the chicken breasts out of the freezer to thaw. About an hour before I was going to have dinner ready, I started to dice yellow onion, green onion, garlic, red peppers, and fresh cilantro to set aside for later.

I transferred the thawed chicken into a plastic Ziplock bag to make my clean up easier by not having to disinfect a pan used just to season the chicken. Then I added the ingredients for the marinade which included: paprika, ground cumin, garlic powder, salt and pepper and a ¼ cup of olive oil.

With the chicken marinade in the Ziplock bag, rub the seasoning on the chicken to make sure both sides of the breasts are coated. Then set aside for about 20 minutes, allowing the marinade to do its’ job. Seasonings are fantastic because they (generally) only enhance the flavor of the meat you are about to cook. On a side note, if you allow the chicken to marinade longer that is perfectly fine too.  In fact the longer it marinades the better!

So now you have your chicken is seasoned and the vegetables diced and ready to go; all you need are two pans; one to cook the cauliflower rice and vegetables, and another to cook the chicken. This is the part where I would have probably grilled the chicken or volunteered my husband to man the grill; but honestly, it was 94 degrees out with a heat index that was off the charts hot and the last thing anyone wanted to be doing was to be grilling. So, I opted to cook the chicken on the stove.

In the one pan add your cooking oil, or in this case I just used water to sauté the vegetables along with the cauliflower rice. As this is sautéing, start to heat the other pan to cook the chicken. When the chicken is thoroughly cooked you can add the chicken to the vegetables and cauliflower rice.

Once everything is cooked and done, squeeze fresh limes over the cauliflower rice and chicken and add fresh chopped cilantro.

Serve and Enjoy!

XO,

Megan

Ingredients:

• 2 Chicken breasts
• 1-2 red bell peppers
• 3-4 green onions
• 1 medium onion (yellow or red)
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 4 cups cauliflower rice
• 2 fresh limes
• 2-3 tsp. olive oil
• ½ cup cilantro
• 1tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tsp. ground cumin
• ½ tsp paprika (smoked would be great)
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 1 avocado (optional)

Directions:

1. In a sealed bag add olive oil, paprika, ground cumin, garlic powder and salt and pepper then add your raw chicken in the bag and allow the seasoning to evenly coat the chicken.  This can also be done 30 minutes to an hour ahead of cooking to marinate the chicken longer.
2. In one pan add water, vegetable broth or olive oil turn on the stove to low and add diced yellow onion, and garlic
3. Then add diced red pepper
4. Add cauliflower rice and salt and pepper and blend.
5. In another pan add your seasoned chicken breasts and cook until done.
6. Finally combine the chicken with the cauliflower.
7. Squeeze a fresh lime over everything.
8. Garnish with fresh cilantro and green onions.
9. Serve and enjoy!