(This Mango Chicken Quinoa Bowl is my tiny twist on the one at Cotter Crunch, so check that out here.)
Step by Step Instructions:
I can’t wait for you to try this Mango Chicken Quinoa Bowl, so here’s what you’ll need for your grocery list.: Salt & Pepper, All-Natural Pineapple Juice (or fresh orange juice works too), Sweet Chili Sauce, Agave Nectar, White Wine (I used Pinot Griogio), Olive Oil, Red Pepper Flakes, 1 Mango, 1 Lime, 1 Garlic Clove, 2 Chicken Breasts (about 4-6 ounces), and about 1/8 cup of chopped shallots. Not pictured are Kale & Quinoa for the finished bowl.
Start off by peeling the mango, and I like to slice a little off each end for a flat surface. Then carefully use a sharp knife to peel around the mango.
The pit of a mango is a bit tricky, because it’s quite long and hard to see. So carefully cut around the pit to get the fresh fruit, and notice that it won’t be really pretty and you’ll have jagged pieces, but it’ll all taste delicious!
Then discard the seed and dice up the fruit.
Now let’s make the marinade, which you can make up to 24 hours in advance of cooking. So add in about half of the mango you cut, and save the rest for the bowl, along with the chopped shallot, 1 tablespoon of chili sauce, about 1/4 of a lime juiced, 1/8 cup each of agave nectar, wine, olive oil, and pineapple juice, plus salt and pepper to taste.
Pop the lid on, and now we’re ready to blend up the marinade for our Mango Chicken Quinoa Bowl!
Blend away until the mixture is smooth, and it’ll take a few seconds for that to be done.
You’ll see the marinade is smooth and a lovely orange color, so you’re all set. Now here’s what I wish I’d have done, reserve maybe 1/4 cup or so of this marinade to use as a dressing for your Mango Chicken Quinoa Bowl.
Now clean up 2 chicken breasts and place them in a large plastic zip bag.
Then pour the remaining marinade of the chicken.
Seal up the bag and then use your hands to toss the chicken around a bit to ensure it’s fully coated in marinade. Because I didn’t want a mess in my fridge, I put the bag in a glass dish in case it leaked, and refrigerate from 3-24 hours.
Now it’s time to cook the chicken for the Mango Chicken Quinoa Bowl, so knowing that I would need to broil this, I went with a cast iron skillet. So I went ahead and preheated the skillet over low heat while the oven preheated to 425 degrees.
Then pull the chicken from the fridge.
Once the skillet has warmed up, carefully add the chicken and sauce to the skillet. I flipped mine after about 30 seconds, and then placed the skillet in the oven for about 20 minutes.
As the chicken cooked, I placed about 2 cups of dinosaur (or lacinto) kale in a small bowl or double this for 2 servings.
Then I added about 2 teaspoons of extra-virgin olive oil to the kale.
Kale can be a bit bitter, so use your hands and massage the oil into the greens for about 2 minutes. This will help to give the kale a milder taste, and it’s totally worth getting your hands a bit dirty.
After 20 minutes, I checked the internal temperature of the chicken was at least 165 degrees (or you can cut into it to make sure it’s cooked through), then I turned on the broiler for about 2-3 minutes to start to crisp up the chicken. I didn’t end up letting it get too brown, because the sauce was starting to burn a bit in the pan.
Transfer the chicken to a cutting board, so that it can cool and then after about 3-5 minutes slice the chicken. To create the Mango Chicken Quinoa Bowl, add the kale, about 1/2 cup of cooked quinoa, about 1/2 of the remaining diced mango, and the sliced chicken to a bowl. Add a little red pepper flakes to the Mango Chicken Quinoa Bowl for an added kick, some cilantro for green if you have it (which I didn’t), and then drizzle some of the marinade you reserved over the top of the quinoa and kale to tie it all together. Enjoy this Mango Chicken Quinoa Bowl, and happy healthy eating, my friend!!
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