Even before I had a child, I was never that big into cooking. I like my meals to be ready in under 30 minutes. I don’t have the patience to cook a big meal, shop for a million ingredients, and wonder if I’ll ever use them again. But I like to eat at home as much as possible. This kinda limits the food that I “make” at home.
The benefits of cooking at home allows me to know exactly what ingredients are going into my meals. This has become increasingly important as I’m now feeding technically 4 people.
One of our current favorite meals is a Greek power bowl. Tommy loves eating pita bread with hummus and tzaziki. He also downs roasted cauliflower like it’s going out of style, which makes this meal an ideal #FitFam recipe.
The Greek power bowl takes about 30 minutes to prep, but if you make a big batch, you’ll have plenty of leftovers for lunches and dinner. I call this semi-homemade because of course you can roast your own beets or make homemade tzaziki and hummus but as a pregnant toddler mom, I tend to cut the corners when I can. I bought beets already cooked and marinated in white wine and vinegar, along with pre-made tubs of tzaziki and hummus.
This recipe features new Open Nature® Air Chilled Chicken available exclusively at Shaws and other Albertsons’ grocery stores nationwide. The chicken are fed a proprietary flax-seed based diet making them higher in beneficial omega-3s than conventional chicken. The Open Nature Air Chilled Chicken breasts have 123 mg of omega-3 fatty acids per 4 oz serving while the chicken thighs have 250 mg, about the same as a fish oil pill.
Omega-3’s are beneficial for brain growth and development as well as helping prevent heart disease and lower cholesterol. Tommy is not a big fan of fish right now, so this is a huge find for us.
Have you even heard of air chilled chicken by the way? I hadn’t. While this process of air chilling has been the norm in many European countries for decades, it is quickly gaining popularity in the United States and with so many taste, health and environmental benefits, I can see why!
Air chilled chicken differs from other conventional chicken simply in the way the product is processed before making its way to your local store. Air chilled chicken is cooled by air as opposed to water so all the natural juices and flavors are not diluted, making the meat more tender and flavorful. Without the added water, air chilled chicken also tends to cook faster, saving you precious time in the kitchen. Plus, by using little to no water in the processing stages, air chilling chicken could potentially save billions of gallons of water in the US alone.
Open Nature® Air Chilled Chicken are never given antibiotics or hormones, raised cage free and fed a vegetarian diet.
Greek Inspired Power Bowl
To make this family friendly Greek Power Bowl here is what you’ll need:
- 1-2 lbs Open Nature® Air Chilled Chicken (make more for leftovers)
- Assorted Vegetables to Roast (we like cauliflower, mushrooms, beets and/or peppers)
- Whole Wheat Pita Bread or Brown Rice for a gluten free option
- Cucumber
- Hummus
- Tzaziki
- Lemon + Garlic (for chicken)
- Salt, Pepper, Olive Oil
- Kalamata Olives
- Optional: Feta Cheese
1. Preheat oven to 450º. In a small bowl, combine olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, lemon juice.
2. Coat rimmed baking tray evenly with non-stick cooking spray. Place chicken on tray and drizzle with half of the olive oil mixture. Place a lemon slice on each breast. Place cauliflower and other vegetables in a large mixing bowl and toss to coat with remaining olive oil mixture. Roast for 20 minutes or until done (internal temperature of 165º).
3. Assemble roasted vegetables, Open Nature® Air Grilled Chicken, olives, cucumbers, feta cheese, and top with tzaziki and hummus. Serve with a side of pita bread or on a bed of brown rice.
I struggle to make roasted chicken taste good. It always feels over cooked and dry. This quick cook method delivered juicy, tender, buttery and delicious chicken that took less than 5 minutes to prep. No gross chewy texture!
While this may seem like a lot of ingredients, all of them can be substituted or ommited to fit with what you have at home. No feta cheese? Totally fine. No olives? Whatever. I buy vegetables based on price, seasonality and what looks good. While this recipe doesn’t feature a ton of in season veggies, in the dead of winter, that is hard in New England.
For a kid version, we do just the chicken, cauliflower, tzaziki, hummus and pita since those are things Tommy will actually eat.
If you are vegetarian, you can always omit the chicken and add chickpeas and extra feta for protein. If you are a vegan, omit the tzaziki, feta and chicken and add falafel!
Look for Open Nature Air Chilled Chicken at your local grocery. If you live in Massachusetts, you can buy them at Shaws.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Albertsons Companies. The opinions and text are all mine.