Looking for flavorful alternatives to a traditional dinner plate? This aromatic Mediterranean Chicken Bowl incorporates a variety of spices popular to a part of the world that celebrates healthy food and family meals spent lingering for hours around the table.
What I Love
This Mediterranean Chicken Bowl is chock full of nutritional benefits, and I’m going to kick off the list with one of my favorite middle eastern grains: farro! Farro is a healthy, ancient grain that is high in fiber, protein, magnesium, zinc and iron. Farro adds great, chewy texture to any dish (make extra, to toss into tomorrows lunch or dinner salad!) and has a light, slightly nutty flavor. Avoid processed farro by making sure the package doesn’t say “pearled.” I love to sprout whole grains before consuming them, because it eliminates the anti-nutrients which block vitamin and mineral absorption, increases the amino acids and protein, lowers the gluten, and makes the grains much easier to digest.
Choosing organic chicken for this dish, means you’ll get chicken which hasn’t lived on a diet of grains laced with toxic pesticides. Seasoning it with all of these delicious mediterranean spices, means its going to taste delicious!
The crowning glory on this nutritious bowl though, is the drizzle of slightly nutty, and pleasantly tangy, roasted tahini dressing. The dressing takes only minutes to prepare, but adds a punch of flavor to the marinated chicken, and soaks right into the farro.
Broiling peppers to the point they blister, allows the peppers to cook to a tender, smokey, sweet and caramelized finish. A bubble is created in the skin, making it easy to peel off and discard so you can enjoy the tender inside layer!
The blistering process is quick and easy. To ensure efficiency, preheat your broiler and put a thin layer of oil on a sheet pan, rather than oiling each pepper. I prefer oils that can handle high heat, to reduce the chance of the oil burning and creating carcinogens. Using oven-safe tongs, turn the peppers every so often, to blister all sides. It only takes a short while to cook them under a broiler. Blackening is normal, but be careful not to overcook them and burn the inside layer you’ll be eating. * When you click on my favorite product links, I may earn a tiny commission from qualifying purchases, at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting Big Little Bites blog*
What I love most about this healthy bowl, is how easy it is to prepare, and the minimal kitchen cleanup! Adding the chicken right onto the same sheet pan your peppers have been roasting on, means a simple sheet pan meal (aside from the farro on the stove).
Assembling your Mediterranean Chicken bowl is simple, and is completed in layers:
- Scoop of farro
- Sliced cucumbers
- Blistered peppers
- Shredded chicken
- Drizzle of dressing
- Fresh parsley
Mediterranean Chicken Bowl
Ingredients
- 4 Chicken breasts or tenders
- 2 Tbsp Extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 Tsp Salt divided
- 1/2 Tsp Cumin
- 1/2 Tsp Coriander
- 1/4 Tsp Garlic powder
- 1/8 Tsp Smoked paprika
- 12-15 Miniature sweet bell peppers
- 2 Tsp avocado or coconut oil
- 2 C Farro uncooked
- 1 Cucumber, sliced
- Few sprigs of parsley, chopped
Tahini Dressing
- 1/4 C Extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 Tbsp Tahini
- 1/8 Tsp Real Salt
- 1 Large garlic clove, minced or 3 small
- 1/2 Lemon, juiced
- 1/2 Scallion, sliced
Instructions
- Carefully slice each chicken breast into two chicken cutlets. If you're using tenders, you can leave them as-is.
- Combine the oil and seasonings in a large food storage bag, place the chicken inside, seal the bag and move the pieces all around inside the bag, to evenly coat them. Marinate the chicken for 2 hours, or at least for 20 minutes.
- Preheat the broiler to 450 degrees farenheit.
- Cook farro according to package directions.
- Lightly grease a sheetpan and broil the peppers for 7-10 minutes, turning as needed, to allow all sides to blister. The skin will blacken, but we will be peeling that layer off later.
- Prepare tahini dressing by combining the ingredients in a small bowl or jar, and whisking thoroughly.
- Add the chicken to the sheetpan with the peppers and place back under the broiler. Broil for 4 minutes, and then using tongs, flip the chicken to broil on the other side for an additional 4 minutes. Flip the peppers as needed.
- The blistered peppers will peel easily. Gently pull the outermost layer of skin right off the pepper, and discard.
- Prepare bowls with a bottom layer of farro and top with broiled chicken and sweet peppers. Add more chopped parsley and a sprinkle of salt and pepper.
