Recipe: Spicy Chicken, Mango, Black Bean & Brown Rice Bowl

This is meal number one for Clean Out The Fridge Week, and damn it was successful! Even The Hubs picked up the bowl to scrape the last little bit of food from his bowl at the end of the meal. What home cook can complain about that?! All I needed to purchase for this meal was a can of black beans (65 cents) and a bunch of cilantro (50 cents). Everything else I had at home already. My freezer is near bursting with frozen meat from previous bulk purchases so I figured I ought to use some of it up. 😉

Spicy Chicken, Mango, Black Bean & Brown Rice Bowl

Servings: 4
Time: 25mins
Difficulty: easy
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Spicy grilled chicken contrasts with sweet mango and verdant cilantro in this easy weeknight rice bowl.

This meal is easily made vegan by replacing the chicken with a meat substitute such as firm tofu or seitan.

CAL 455, PROT 36, FAT 6, CARBS 65, FIBER 11

Ingredients

1 cup brown rice
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt, divided
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 mango, diced
2 limes, juiced
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup grape tomatoes, quartered
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

Directions

Cook brown rice according to package directions with 1 tsp of kosher salt.
Rub the chicken with remaining salt, chili powder, oregano, garlic powder and cumin. Grill until juices run clear, allow to rest for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, combine the mango with the lime juice.
Divide rice into four bowls, top with chicken, mango mixture, black beans, tomatoes and cilantro. Serve warm.

This was a super easy meal. We had it on a Sunday but it would be a quick 30 minute meal for a weeknight if you cooked your brown rice in advance or had leftovers. I love bowls like these because you can just stir it all together and get the sweet, spicy and herbal all in one chewy bite! You could definitely substitute quinoa or bulgur if you like.

What do you think, will you give a rice bowl a shot? Let me know in the comments!