You can view how this meal is created by going to https://www.facebook.com/p2bfit/videos/2158669061081632/ These salads will last up to 5 days in the refrigerator. These are great to take to work, and have a healthy lunch. You can also mix them up for different flavors. Here are some ideas: Add black beans and remove the chicken. Add black beans, but reduce the sweet potato mixture.
Burrito Bowl Mason Jar Salads
Yield: 5 salads
Serving Size: 1 pint-sized mason jar salad
Ingredients
For the quinoa:
- 1 cup quinoa
- 2 cups water
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- juice and zest of one lime, or 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
For the chicken:
- 2 large chicken breasts
- Salt and Pepper to Season
- 1 TSP of Chipotle Powder
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
For the sweet potatoes:
- 1 large sweet potato, washed, with both ends cut off, cut into ½” cubes
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Salt and Pepper to Season
- 1 Red onion thinly sliced
- 2 Cloves of garlic thinly sliced
Other ingredients:
- 3 cups chopped romaine lettuce
- 5 tablespoons plain Greek yogurt
- 3/4 cup shredded cheese
- 1 lime
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 1 avocado, cut in 1/4″ cubes. Optional (Season with salt and pepper and a hint of lime used for quinoa) Place above sweet potatoes.
Instructions
For the quinoa:
- Add the quinoa, water, and salt to a medium sized pot. Bring to a boil over medium heat. When it has reached a boil, cover and cook for 20-25 minutes, or until the quinoa is soft and fluffy.
- Set the quinoa aside to cool.
- When it has cooled, add the lime juice, lime zest, and 1/4 cup chopped cilantro to the rice and stir to evenly distribute the ingredients. Taste, and add more salt, pepper, lime or cilantro as needed.
For the chicken:
- Dry off both chicken breasts thoroughly with paper towels, and season both sides of each breast with the salt, pepper, and chipotle powder
- In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat until the oil is very hot.
- Add the chicken breasts to the hot skillet and cook for about 4 minutes on each side. Both sides should have a pretty brown sear to them.
- When the chicken breasts are cooked all the way through, remove them to a cutting board to cool. Once they’ve cooled, cut the chicken into small chunks, about 1/2 square inch each.
For the sweet potatoes:
- Preheat Oven to 425 degrees. Combine onion, Sweet Potato, Garlic, and Olive Oil in a bowl.
- Roast sweet potato mixture in preheated oven, turning frequently, until the vegetables are soft and golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Season with Salt and Pepper. Cool for 15 – 20 minutes.
To assemble the salads:
- When all ingredients have cooled, you can begin to assemble your burrito bowl salads. Add 1 tablespoon of plain Greek yogurt to the bottom of each pint-sized wide mouth mason jar.
- Top with about 2 tablespoons of sweet potato mixture.
- On top of the sweet potatoes, add 3-4 tablespoons of the cilantro lime quinoa.
- Layer 1-2 tablespoons of cheese over the quinoa, and a layer of chicken over the quinoa. (To make this vegetarian, substitute 1 can of rinsed beans for the chicken and add a layer of beans here.)
- Fill the remaining space in the mason jar with lettuce and sprinkle some additional chopped cilantro on top before screwing on the lid.
- When ready to eat, pour into a bowl, cut the additional lime into slices and squeeze onto your poured salad. Enjoy!
Tortilla Strips: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Take one flour tortilla, brush olive oil on both sides. Cut into tiny strips, place on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with some sea salt, and cook in the oven for 8-10 minutes or until brown and crisp.
Black Beans: Drain one can of black beans. Place beans in a bowl, sprinkle with salt & pepper, 1/2 tsp of chiptole powder and the juice of a 1/4 lime. Mix and serve.
These will keep for 5 days.