This is one of my favorite easy meals – a “bowl dinner” that I can scoop up and carry with me to the couch as we catch-up on our favorite TV show. It’s light but bursting with flavor and, even better, the specific flavor is totally customizable and a great way to take stock of what’s in your pantry. Extra bonus: it’s relatively quick to make, especially if you stick the chicken in its marinade the night before. This recipe was inspired by a meal that a friend served when she had my husband and I over for dinner. We were reconnecting after falling out of touch for years and had never met each other’s husbands. I love a good interactive meal to get cut through small talk and get conversation flowing. I thought about this meal for months afterwards, until one night I decided to try and recreate it.

Because this meal is supposed to be flexible, I’m going to offer a lot of variables. For me, the really essential component is the marinated chicken and the rice or rice-like base. You want a bit of variety in your toppings, but try things that you already have, or that you love. Just try to include something crunchy, something tart, and something salty. It’s the marriage of all of these flavors that really brings it together. Well, it’s what really brings any meal together, and this one is no exception.

Last note: this recipe feeds two comfortably, with a few leftovers for lunch the next day. However, it’s super easy to scale up. I would allocate one chicken breast per person, and then just scale up the marinade based on the weight of the chicken (i.e. 2 lbs of chicken? Double it. 1.5 lbs? Make 1.5 times the marinade. But even here, the recipe is going to be rather forgiving. If you can double everything but don’t have enough limes, everything will still come out just fine.)

Chicken
1/4 c. olive oil or sesame oil
2 tbsp lime juice – squeezed fresh
1 tsp kosher salt
1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and grated, preferably with rasp style grater. Tip! Ginger is really easy to peel with the back of a spoon, rather than the traditional peeler!
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts – if very large, I often cut them in half to reduce cooking time

Combine first four ingredients in a shallow dish or gallon-sized resealable bag. Stir briefly with a fork to combine. Add chicken and toss with hands to coat, or seal in the bag and smoosh them around for a minute. Allow to sit on counter at room temperature for 30 minutes, or put in fridge until you are ready for dinner. This can be done the night before, morning of, or several hours in advance.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees . Line baking sheet with parchment paper and place chicken breasts on it. Discard extra marinade, although don’t “dry off” the chicken. We want some moisture as these bake.

Bake for 20 – 30 minutes. The size of the chicken breast is going to heavily influence the time here. If you have a meat thermometer, it’s your best friend here. If you don’t have a meat thermometer, let me introduce you to your new best friend… :). Chicken is cooked when the thermometer reads 160 degrees, or when juices run clear when you cut into a thick section of one of the biggest pieces.

Allow chicken to cool slightly, then dice into bit sized pieces. Place in a serving bowl.

Base
I highly recommend jasmine rice, cooked according to package directions either on your stovetop or in a rice cooker. Brown rice will work fine, but it adds a bit more bite to the dish. Quick cooking rice will also work, but will make for a softer texture.

Lately, we’ve been trying to eat lower carb, so I’ve become a fan of frozen cauliflower style rice. It cooks up quickly in a frying pan, and it’s pretty tasty.

Toppings
I like to chop anything that needs chopping while the chicken bakes, and set out all of the options in small bowls or ramekins on our countertop. Here our my favorites, but remix this your own way!

1 medium mango – (here’s a few different safe ways to cut one!)
1 medium avocado
Roasted almonds or peanuts
Crispy Shallots – I fry them up following Smitten Kitchen’s directions
Unsweetened coconut
Lime wedges
Fresh cilantro or basil to garnish
Soy sauce
Chunky sea salt, such as Maldon

Have everyone build their own bowls starting with the base, topping it with chicken, and then adding whatever toppings they choose. Enjoy!

Ways to spin this:

• Swap pineapple for mango
• Quick pickle some red onions, or add them raw for some real bite
• Toast some slivered garlic in olive oil
• Coconut aminos make a great substitute for soy sauce if you’re soy sensitive. The flavor is different, but it adds some nice, robust roundness to the dish
• Shred some brussells sprouts for a nice, non-nut driven crunch
• I am LAME and not a hot sauce person but I would imagine this would be the time and place for Sriracha!