Grilled Chicken, Rice Noodle and Loaded Veggie Bowl

I have a serious love of rice noodles and pickled vegetables... particularly those of the Asian variety. Actually anything from the culinary world of Asian food; I am a sucker. 1) Vietnamese, 2) Japanese, 3) Chinese, 4) Korean. 1) yum 2) yum 3) yum 4) yum. If you're searching for a recap, it is yum.

Another plus to this dish... It is SUPER nutrient dense. Look at all of those pretty vegetable colors in there. And if you want to cut some calories/carbs, you can add shredded more shredded cabbage in with your rice noodles to set off that ratio in your calorie saving favor! There is a lot of room here to switch out ingredients if you don't like what I chose. But it is typically in your favor to follow my lead here. I seldom will lead you wrong in our culinary adventures together. Sure, any tour guide can take a wrong turn. But for an amateur at home chef that is widely undiscovered, untapped, unfollowed and totally not famous, I am legit! Hahahahaha. One day, right? a girl can dream!

Back to the dish, right? I mean, I know you totally enjoy my nonsense and rambling almost as much as my husband does. But at the end of the day, this is a food blog. So stop trying to distract me!

This dish also feeds plenty. Or if you're feeling particularly lazy (averts eyes), you can pretty much eat in for lunch and dinner 3 days in a row. This isn't something I like to practice often. But sometimes when my husband is out of town I will find myself in a cooking rut. Its a delicious rut though! Rice noodles are amazing. red, yellow and orange bell peppers add color and flavor. Shredded cabbage and Asian pickled vegetables add a serious depth of flavor. And the grilled marinated chicken packs a serious punch. This simple dish will have you coming back for more!

For the Grilled Marinated Chicken Breast:

2 chicken breasts (or 4 thighs)

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup fish sauce

2 tbsp lime juice

1 tbsp ginger paste

1 tbsp garlic paste

1 tbsp red chili paste

1/4 cup white sugar

1. Mix all ingredients, except for the chicken in a quart freezer lip lock bag.

2. Cut the chicken breast in half as if you're going to butterfly it; except cut the whole way through. This isn't necessary, but it infuses more flavor into the breasts. And the thinner cut will give it a more even cook.

3. Marinate at least 2 hours, although I prefer to marinate it over night.

4. When you're ready to grill it you can do so on your outside grill or on a grill pan. Cook roughly 4-6 minutes per side, until done or which ever comes first.

5. Allow it to rest, cut into strips or cubes and set aside.

Pickled Vegetables:

I have an Asian Pickled Vegetables Recipe on another page. Use the link to the left for instructions and specific ingredient amounts. But for shopping sake, you will need:

Shredded Carrots

Shredded or sliced radishes

Jalapenos

white sugar

salt

rice wine vinegar

For the Dressing:

1 cup olive oil

1/2 cup rice wine vinegar

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 tbsp chili paste

1 tsp ginger paste

1 tsp garlic paste

1/2 cup cilantro

1. Mix all ingredients together in a food processor, transfer and store in a Mason Jar.

Other ingredients/instructions:

Rice Noodles (roughly half a package)

Cabbage (1/4- 1/2 a head)

Bell Peppers (2 or 3)

Almonds, peanuts or cashews for topping

cilantro, extra to mix in and garnish.

1. Cook the rice noodles according to instructions and toss them into a large, lidded storage container along with your shredded cabbage and julienned bell peppers.

2. Plate by starting with a base of the rice noodle/cabbage/pepper mixture, add the pickled vegetables, the cut up chicken and top with nuts, cilantro and a dressing drizzle.

Enjoy!