Mother Nature must be a tad upset, she's sending us more rain, cold and wind and I was soooo looking forward to a few more mild sunny days where I could get out and enjoy the beautiful fall leaves. The sandals and flip-flops have been stowed away at the back of the shoe shelf and the boots and real shoes have been moved to center stage, along with the sweaters, slippers and sweatpants...or as I like to say, chowder clothes. Mother Nature strikes and I make chowder or chili or soup, it seems to be everyone's Fall routine or maybe it's a rut?
In my case it's definitely a rut, albeit a delicious one, but one that needed to be shaken up a bit. Harvest rice bowls are the best rut-busters, they provide everything those rut-making-comfort foods do plus they offer up a chewiness that a chowder can't hold a fork to.
When I served this up to the mister I told him he was going to eat it and not complain, I wasn't in the mood to listen to him whine about why he couldn't have boiled chicken and mashed potatoes. Since I had just returned from being out of town for a week, the mister was surprisingly cooperative and responded with a, "Yes ma'am." He took his bowl and ate without saying a word. I asked him if he liked it and he said he did by way of a grunt...there was nothing for him not to like, well maybe the cranberries or the almonds or the brown rice (he is a rice racist and only usually eats white rice) or the kale or sweet potatoes or the Brussels sprouts (he has banned them from the house because of the amount of them he had to eat while in the Marine Corp) or maybe the dressing which is super flavorful and he basically hates flavor...so I suppose there was plenty for him not to like. (I used a "pepper blend" which you can find at Trader Joe's, that's why it looks like there are huge bits of pepper on the veggies, it's a great mixture of different kinds and sizes of pepper along with black sesame seeds.)
When he was done eating he put his bowl in the sink and I noticed that he had eaten every grain of rice and every piece of chicken but everything else was left in the bowl. You can take the caveman out of the cave but you can't make him eat delicious food!
Give this one a go, it's so yummy! It has the tastes of the season all in one healthy bowl. I loved everything about this and especially loved the nutty-chewiness of the rice, the sweetness of the cranberries, the crunch of the almonds and kale, just to name a few and the dressing is super fresh tasting and practically drinkable.
Harvest Rice Bowls - Adapted From Lena Abraham via Delish
For the dressing:
1/4 cup apple cider
1/4 cup cider vinegar
2/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup shallot, finely minced
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 to 2 teaspoons honey (depending on how sweet you want it to be, I used 2 teaspoons)
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
For the bowls:
1 lb. Brussels sprouts, trimmed and cut in half
1 red or white onion, thinly sliced
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into small cubes
olive oil
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
3 cups grilled chicken, but into bite-sized pieces (I used already grilled chicken which was cold from the fridge so I reheated it in a skillet, which is optional)
2 cups kale, finely sliced
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan
3 cups cooked brown rice
Meanwhile, make the dressing: In a large bowl, whisk cider, vinegar, olive oil, shallot, mustard and honey until smooth and combined. Season with salt and pepper. Add the chicken, kale, cranberries, almonds and parmesan and toss to coat.
Assemble the bowls: top 3/4 cup rice with 1 cup roasted vegetables and 1/2 cup of the chicken/kale mixture. Drizzle more dressing over top, to taste, and serve. Makes 4 to 6 servings.
