{recipe} cilantro lime rice w/ mojo chicken

Sometimes my roommate and I get a craving for Chipotle's rice bowls: white rice with cilantro and lime... grilled chicken... salsa, sour cream, avocado, etc. etc. Unfortunately for us, for some unknown reason there is no Chipotle within ~100 miles of Tallahassee. How can this be? There is even a Facebook group about bringing Chipotle to Tally (with over 1100 people in it!) We decided that it was no longer okay to crave these rice bowls and decided to find a recipe that was similar to the Chipotle rice recipe.

Mojo Marinated Chicken 

My own "recipe"

2 1/2 cups of store bought Mojo Marinade- I used the Badia brand

 3 Boneless/Skinless Chicken Breasts

Large Ziplock Bag

George Foreman Grill / Grillpan 

Directions: Pour the marinade into a large ziplock bag and place the chicken breasts in it. Close the bag, leaving plenty of air inside. Shake the bag around gently, then open it up and close it tightly, leaving as little air inside the bag as possible. Place the bag in the fridge and store for 30 minutes-up to 24 hours. I left mine in the marinade for about 3 hours and it was very flavorful. Start the rice (recipe below) before you take the chicken out of the fridge. I grilled my chicken on a George Foreman grill for ~9 minutes. On a grill pan I would probably keep the chicken on the same side for about 6 minutes then flip it on its other side for about 3-4 minutes. Just check to make sure there is no pink left in the meat! Cut into strips and place on top of rice. *Yields enough for 2 servings, plus a little leftover chicken for salad/tacos the next day

Cilantro Lime Rice

 Recipe from For the Love of Cooking

 1-2 tsp olive oil

1/4 sweet yellow onion, diced

1-2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 cup long grained rice (brown or white)

2 cups of water

1 tsp chicken bouillon granules

1 large handful of cilantro, chopped

Juice and zest of 1 lime   

Directions: Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the onion and saute for 5-7 minutes, until soft and tender. Add the rice and garlic then cook, stirring constantly, for 1-2 minutes. Add the water and chicken bouillon granules, bring to a boil over high heat, cover and reduce the heat and simmer, until tender, about 20-25 minutes for white rice and 40-45 minutes for brown rice. Remove from heat and mix with the cilantro, lime juice and zest. Scoop rice into two bowls and place the chicken strips on top. *Yields enough for 2 servings

Rice Bowl Toppings:

 You can add whatever floats your boat really but we added: Fresh salsa, halved grape tomatoes shredded pepper jack cheese, fat-free sour cream, fresh/ripe avocado and lettuce.

Homemade Tortilla Chips

  Tortilla recipe adapted from Food Network 

We bought a fresh salsa from the store and then forgot to buy tortilla chips. I had some soft taco tortillas laying around so we decided to make our own instead of making another trip to Publix. My roommate was completely in charge of this part of our meal. She isn't too much a fan of cooking, but she made some really yummy chips! I like the homemade baked kind much more than the super fattening Tostitos chips.

Ingredients:

5 soft taco tortillas

1/2 tblsp Vegetable Oil (we just eyeballed it)

Sea Salt and Freshly Cracked Pepper to taste

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover each tortilla with the vegetable oil and salt and pepper on each side. Place them in a stack and cut the stack into sixths to create your chips. Place them on a baking sheet in a single layer. Bake in oven for about 9-15 minutes, until golden brown. Enjoy!

xox, Jen

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