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Chicken Salad Grain Bowls

These bowls are a happy surprise! One afternoon I wanted a quick lunch so I threw a bunch of random leftover ingredients together.

I had cooked cold quinoa and leftover grilled chicken in the fridge, so I chopped up the chicken then added the remaining ingredients because that’s what I had on hand that day.

The result is a really Tasty & Quick cold lunch idea, so I thought I’d share this here with you all.

As always, I encourage you to adjust and add ingredients you happen to have on hand – celery and green onions would be awesome additions too! Have fun with it.

Excellent for meal prep!

Divide into servings and keep in the fridge for up to 3 days. Simply pull your loaded delicious bowl out of the fridge and enjoy!

➡️Rachel’s Tip:

Many health food stores and Amazon carry apple juice sweetened dried raisins. Golden raisins are delicious too.

🍋 ALWAYS use freshly-squeezed lemon juice from an actual fresh lemon. Bottled lemon juice from the store will give your salad a strange metallic or overly acidic taste.

Want to get the most juice possible from each of your fresh lemons? Of course, we do! Here’s a quick trick:

On your counter or a cutting board, press and roll your lemon back and forth very firmly with your hands.

The rolling loosens and breaks down some of the citrus membranes and makes the outside a little more pliable. This makes it easier to squeeze which also means you’ll likely get more juice from your squeeze.

Let me know how this works for you!

4 servings

Ingredients:

2 cups rotisserie or leftover grilled chicken, chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and grated
1/2 red onion, diced or chopped
2 green apples, diced
4 Tbsps fresh parsley leaves, chopped
handful of raw pecans or walnuts, chopped
sea salt and ground pepper, to taste
2 cups cooked brown rice or quinoa
¼ cup raisins
dollop of Greek yogurt if desired

Dressing:

juice of 1 fresh lemon
2 tsps fresh lemon zest
2 Tbsps extra virgin olive oil
1 fresh garlic clove, minced

Instructions:

Chop the chicken, grate the carrot, dice the onions, and apples. Squeeze a bit of lemon juice all over the diced apples to prevent them from browning. Coarsely chop the parsley and pecans.

Add cooked grains into a large salad bowl.

Add in all the prepped ingredients together with the raisins.

In a small bowl combine all dressing ingredients and whisk really well.

Just before serving, drizzle salad with your dressing and toss to combine.

Stays good in the fridge for 2-3 days.

Enjoy!

❤Rachel