Chicken Burrito Bowl hosts an explosion of flavor
Dave Garrett
Salsa, corn, onions and black beans cook together before being added to the bowl.
Dave Garrett
A healthy burrito bowl features fresh chicken, cilantro, lime and avocado.
Dave Garrett
A useful tip: squeezing fresh lime juice on avocados helps prevent them from turning brown.
Dave Garrett
Onions, tomatoes and jalape帽o peppers provide the start of a great salsa.
Dave Garrett
Organic chicken thighs are cooked on the grill.
Shereen Pavlides
A Chicken Burrito Bowl is topped with fresh avocado.
Dave Garrett
Shereen Pavlides cuts the corn from the cob for the bowl.
As you know, I love fresh food, and Mexican fare is all about it.
Fresh, bright and fiery; I can鈥檛 get enough. Tex-Mex is also yummy; however, it鈥檚 nothing like the real deal. Hiding beneath mounds of cheese camouflages and masks its true beauty, so I鈥檓 going authentic.
This month鈥檚 鈥淐ook This! With Shereen鈥� introduces a healthier way to serve a chicken burrito in bowl form, minus the tortilla and cheese, keeping it fresh, fresh, fresh. Basically, it鈥檚 a deconstructed, healthier version full of color, flavor, and one of my husband Andreas鈥� favorite dishes.
I鈥檝e been cooking many organic chicken thighs lately. I鈥檓 not an organic guru, but here is where I really taste a difference. They鈥檙e so juicy and taste very fresh. It鈥檚 a slight difference, but one that lends big results to the final dish. Try it, if you haven鈥檛 already, and tell me what you think.
You know they made their way into my burrito bowl.
This dish started when Andreas began eating low carbs and high protein to shed some pounds, which made cooking dinner a little easier, yet harder, at times. Pasta, tortillas, potatoes and rice were off the list.
They鈥檙e easy foods to beef up a dish (so to speak), giving them volume and easily satisfying hunger. However, if not eaten in small portions, it can make you feel full and uncomfortable.
When I created this bountiful Mexican bowl, it didn鈥檛 miss the extra fluff; in fact, it tasted even better.
Seasonal corn off the cob, creamy black beans, sweet red peppers, sugary Vidalia onions, all saut茅ed, concentrating a tender, earthy sweetness wrapped around milky, tender crisp corn.
Then they鈥檙e layered with bursts of fresh cilantro and thinly sliced green onions on top of plump, juicy tomatoes bursting with bright lime juice, then finished with succulent, bite-size chicken thighs and perfectly diced creamy avocado.
A mini mountain with an explosion of flavor and none of the guilt, leaving you feeling comfortably fulfilled. It鈥檚 Mexican food the way it should be.