thai chicken quinoa bowl

So, March is absolutely flying by. Like a peregrine falcon. Exactly like that. Spring starts this week! Like, this Wednesday! Holy macaroni. And we're supposed to get snow tomorrow. Of course. You know you live in New England when spring arrives and it snows. Real spring here probably won't start until, like, May. Sigh. I'm so ready for some nice spring-like weather! The cold and gray skies are driving me crrrazzyyy. I'm actually missing living in Savannah right now. I never thought I would miss Georgia -- I was constantly complaining about the heat. But now that I've had to deal with a New England winter after a year of not having to deal with a New England winter, I'm kind of preferring a Savannah winter right now. And a Savannah spring would be nice. But I like New England autumns. And it would be nice to have snow in December and January. But then the snow can stop and it can get warmer. Do we have a deal, Mother Nature? Because that would be awesome.

Until the weather actually turns springlike, I can pretend it's spring and eat springlike things. Like this thai chicken quinoa bowl. Oh my goodness, I could eat this everyday. With fresh taste of sugar snap peas and cilantro and the utterly delicious sweet chili thai sauce, it feels like it's practically spring. I am addicted to the thai sauce that goes into this. It's also perfect for sauteing and stir-frying. I sauteed brussels sprouts in this sauce and it was deeeeelicious. Multi purpose! This dish is so easy to throw together and it's super healthy too! Win-win! Don't eat meat? You could definitely swap the chicken for tofu or chickpeas, or even forgo the chicken completely. Oooh, some sprouts or shoots would also be really good in this! Or even some red pepper. The possibilities are endless!

thai chicken quinoa bowl 
gluten free, soy free, peanut free
adapted from How Sweet It Is
yields about 2-3 large servings, or 4 small servings

// ingredients
1 cup quinoa, rinsed
2 chicken breasts, cooked and cut into strips (or shredded)
2/3 cup chopped carrots
2/3 cup sweet snap peas
3/4 cup freshly chopped cilantro

for the sauce
4 tablespoons sweet chili sauce
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons coconut milk
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 teaspoons sunflower seed butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
juice of 1 lime
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

// directions
 Prepare quinoa according to directions. Use 2 cups of liquid for every cup of quinoa. I actually like to use water over vegetable or chicken stock so the other flavors can really shine through, but if you like your quinoa cooked with vegetable stock, go for it!

While the quinoa is cooking, whisk all the ingredients for the sauce together in a bowl. I like to use a micro planer to mince the garlic -- so much easier! You can just grate the garlic straight into the bowl; no knife skills required! Also, heating up the sunflower seed butter in the microwave for a little bit also makes it a little easier to whisk into the sauce.

Once the quinoa is done cooking, stir in sauce, chicken, snap peas and carrots (I had cooked the chicken in a large saute pan, so I just transferred the quinoa to the saute pan to stir everything together. You'll just need a bowl/pan that's large enough to mix everything together in). Taste to see if any additional seasoning is needed. If so, just add some salt and pepper. Toss in half of the cilantro, stir, then serve in a large bowl. Add some more cilantro on top and enjoy!

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