Mediterranean Chicken Rice Bowl

by Pam on October 6, 2014

I’ve been eyeing rice bowl recipes I’ve seen around the internet lately. There are beautiful Southwestern ones and Asian ones that have particularly caught my eye lately. Today, however, I made some rice bowls using Mediterranean flavors. I marinated a couple chicken breasts in lemon zest/juice, olive oil, garlic, oregano, basil, and parsley for an hour then seared it on the stovetop then baked it in the oven. I made some delicious Garlic Rice^[1] and a caramelized onion, spinach, and tomato sauté then placed them all in the bowl. I topped the rice bowl with some toasted pine nuts, feta cheese, and fresh parsley. It was healthy, flavorful, filling, and delicious! I am really disappointed there are no leftovers! I look forward to making more rice bowls in the future – this one included!

Combine the lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil, minced garlic, fresh thyme, oregano, and basil together in a large zip lock bag. Add the chicken breasts then seal and refrigerator for 1 hour. Remove the chicken from the refrigerator 20 minutes prior to baking.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Heat an OVEN PROOF pan over medium high heat that has been coating with cooking spray. Season both sides of the chicken breasts with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste. Add the chicken breasts to the HOT pan and cook until brown, about 2-3 minutes. Flip the chicken over and place into the oven. Bake for 20 minutes then pour the remaining marinade into the pan, place back into the oven and continue baking for 5 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. Remove from the oven and let the chicken rest for 5 minutes before slicing thinly.

While the chicken is baking. Prepare the garlic rice – click here for the recipe^[2].

While the chicken and rice are cooking, caramelize the diced onion. Heat a sauté pan over medium low heat with 2 teaspoons of olive oil. Add the diced onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes. Side Note: If the pan and onion get dry either add a bit more olive oil or water and toss to coat evenly. Continue cooking until caramelized. Once the onion is caramelized, add the grape tomatoes and cook until just about to burst, about 5 minutes. Add the baby spinach then season with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste.

Place a big scoop of rice in a bowl. Add some sliced chicken along with some spinach and tomato sauté. Top with some toasted pine nuts, feta cheese, and fresh parsley. Serve with additional lemon wedges if needed. Enjoy.

Print^[3]

Save^[4]

Mediterranean Chicken Rice Bowl

Yield: 4

Cook Time: 40 min.

Ingredients:

Lemon Herb Chicken:

Zest and juice from 1 large lemon (2 tbsp juice)
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
1 tsp fresh parsley
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried basil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, fat removed

Garlic Rice:

1 tsp butter
1 tsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup uncooked jasmine rice
2 cups chicken broth
Sea salt and white pepper, to taste

Caramelized Onion, Tomato, and Spinach Sauté:

2 tsp olive oil
1/2 sweet yellow onion, diced
Handful of grape tomatoes
2 cups baby spinach
Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste

Other Ingredients:

2 tbsp toasted pine nuts
2 tbsp feta cheese
2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
Lemon wedges, if desired

Directions:

Combine the lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil, minced garlic, fresh thyme, oregano, and basil together in a large zip lock bag. Add the chicken breasts then seal and refrigerator for 1 hour. Remove the chicken from the refrigerator 20 minutes prior to baking.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Heat an OVEN PROOF pan over medium high heat that has been coating with cooking spray. Season both sides of the chicken breasts with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste. Add the chicken breasts to the HOT pan and cook until brown, about 2-3 minutes. Flip the chicken over and place into the oven. Bake for 20 minutes then pour the remaining marinade into the pan, place back into the oven and continue baking for 5 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. Remove from the oven and let the chicken rest for 5 minutes before slicing thinly.

While the chicken is baking. Prepare the garlic rice – click link up above for the recipe directions.

While the chicken and rice are cooking, caramelize the diced onion. Heat a sauté pan over medium low heat with 2 teaspoons of olive oil. Add the diced onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes. Side Note: If the pan and onion get dry either add a bit more olive oil or water and toss to coat evenly. Continue cooking until caramelized. Once the onion is caramelized, add the grape tomatoes and cook until just about to burst, about 5 minutes. Add the baby spinach then season with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste.

Place a big scoop of rice in a bowl. Add some sliced chicken along with some spinach and tomato sauté. Top with some toasted pine nuts, feta cheese, and fresh parsley. Serve with additional lemon wedges if needed. Enjoy.

Recipe and photos by For the Love of Cooking.net

References

1. ^{^} Garlic Rice (www.gordon-ramsay-recipe.com)
2. ^{^} click here for the recipe (www.gordon-ramsay-recipe.com)
3. ^{^} Print Recipe (www.gordon-ramsay-recipe.com)
4. ^{^} Save to ZipList Recipe Box (www.gordon-ramsay-recipe.com)