Chicken and Wild Rice Bowl with Cashew Sauce
Make this healthy chicken and wild rice bowl with cashew sauce for a flavorful, nutrient-rich, and high protein dinner.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup wild rice dry
- 1¾ cups water
- ¾ pound chicken breast sliced into large pieces of equal thickness
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 4 ounces baby spinach
- ½ cup slivered almonds
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pinch fine sea salt
- ¾ cup spicy cashew dressing
Instructions
- First, cook the wild rice. Rinse the rice under cold water, then add to a small pot with the water and bring to a boil. Once boiling, cover and lower the heat to a simmer. Cook for 45 minutes, then remove from heat and let steam (with the cover still on) for another 10 minutes.
- In the meantime, marinate the chicken. Combine chicken, vegetable oil, lime juice, rice vinegar, minced garlic, and sea salt in a bowl. Marinate at room temperature for 20 minutes.
- Preheat a cast iron frying pan over medium-high heat. Once it's hot, add the chicken and cook for about 12 to 15 minutes, flipping every 3 minutes, until cooked through. Transfer the chicken to a cutting board to rest, and turn the heat to medium-low.
- To the same pan, add the spinach, almonds, olive oil, and fine sea salt. Sauté until the spinach is wilted and the almonds are toasted, about 2 to 3 minutes, then remove from heat.
- Finally, slice the chicken into thin strips and fluff the rice. Serve rice topped with sautéed spinach and almonds, chicken, and a few tablespoons of spicy cashew dressing.
Notes
Slivered almonds: If you aren’t able to find slivered almonds, you can always use whole almonds, or throw some whole almonds into a food processor to help crush them into smaller pieces.
Spicy cashew dressing: Our Sweetgreen copycat spicy cashew dressing is the secret sauce that makes this chicken and rice bowl so tasty! We definitely recommend making this from scratch with our recipe - but if you can find a store-bought spicy cashew dressing and want to make this dish a little simpler, go for it (we hear Trader Joe's version is pretty good!).
Sautéeing the spinach: Note that you'll cook the spinach and almonds in the same pan you cooked the chicken in. This is what gives this dish a cohesive flavor! Cooking any meat leaves behind a ton of flavor in the pan, so take advantage of that whenever you can.
Serving suggestions: Make these bowls for an elevated dinner, served with a side salad or dinner rolls. Or, spend some time meal prepping the individual components on the weekend and store in the fridge for easy, healthy lunches throughout the week!
Storing and reheating leftovers: You can either store all the components of this dish - rice, chicken, spinach/almonds, dressing - separately, or combine the rice, chicken, and spinach/almond mixture in one container, and store the dressing in another. Everything will keep in the fridge for up to 4 days, except the dressing, which will last about a week.
Reheat single servings in the microwave for about 1 to 2 minutes, stirring halfway through, or in a small frying pan over medium-low heat for about 5 to 7 minutes. We recommend letting the dressing sit out at room temperature for a few minutes before using it so that it becomes easier to drizzle.
Nutrition
Calories: 879kcal | Carbohydrates: 63g | Protein: 43g | Fat: 53g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 18g | Monounsaturated Fat: 24g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 73mg | Sodium: 903mg | Potassium: 1239mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 4187IU | Vitamin C: 16mg | Calcium: 147mg | Iron: 5mg
