Spicy Orange Chicken Skewers and Cauliflower Pilaf!

For the chicken, I spiced up an old recipe here on SarahFit.com. The recipe was from Real Simple but I combined it with a new one from Clean Eating Magazine.

Orange Chicken Spicy Skewers

• 1 Orange
• 1 lb Chicken Breasts
• 1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper
• 1/4 tsp Black Pepper
• 1/4 tsp Salt (I used a little less)
• 1/2 tsp Cumin
• 1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 tbsp Soy Sauce

Soak wooden skewers in water for at least 20 minutes. Slice orange into 16 bite size pieces. Cut up the chicken into 1 inch cubes. Alternate adding the orange and chicken on to the skewers. In a bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients. Brush kabobs with the mixture until each piece of chicken is coated. Place on a pre-heated grill on each side for about 5-8 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink.

Cauliflower Pilaf

• 1 head of Cauliflower
• 1 tbsp of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 2 cloves of Garlic
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• Dash of Teriyaki sauce

In a large food processor, shred the entire head of cauliflower. If you do this by hand, feel free to skip to the stems but if you do it in a large processor, go for it and do the whole thing. Feel free to freeze 1/2 or more in an air tight container for use at a later date. Heat a skillet on medium with olive oil and garlic. Let garlic brown slightly and add 1/4-1/2 of the shredded cauliflower. Saute for about 7 minutes or until it feels soft. Add salt and pepper to taste. We added a handful of slivered raw almonds for crunch and a pilaf like texture. For extra flavor, add a dash of teriyaki sauce, stir and serve.

We also had asparagus with our chicken and cauliflower pilaf. The cauliflower hold up it’s texture making for a rice like alternative. In addition to the lack of carbs, the cauliflower really picks up the flavors of the other ingredients making it better tasting in my opinion than rice or even my beloved quinoa!

For dessert while watching the Olympics, I had a large piece of watermelon, something I never buy in the city because it is so heavy to carry to my apartment. It was nice rehydrating treat for a summer evening. I can’t wait to move into my new apartment now.

This morning when I work up, I went for my booty call run. I ran two fitness apps on my phone at the same time and used 20% of the battery of it was well worth it. I used RunKeeper for the intervals, and Nike + to keep track of my pace to compare to previous months (and weather conditions). As you can see above, my pace varied throughout the entire 45 minutes. I covered 4.5 miles and burned 462 calories according to Nike. It was early enough that the heat had yet to set in but the sunglasses were necessary.

I’m heading back up to Boston tomorrow for the wedding weekend! I’m also getting the chance to try Core Fusion Barre at Exhale. After reading my not-so-great experience at their Cardio Core Fusion class, they invited me to come back and try their Barre class with a new instructor. I’m nervous and excited at the same time.

Have you tried Core Fusion at Exhale? Am I being too hard on them?