Tex-Mex Chicken Fajita “Rice” Bowl

Start this recipe by getting your chicken in the marinade. The longer it is in there, the more flavorful it will be. Put everything (trimmed chicken breast, lime juice, olive oil, minced garlic, salt and pepper) in a zipper top bag and give it a good massage so it is all combined and chicken is coated. If you aren’t doing this ahead of time, let it hang out on your countertop while you are prepping/cooking the other steps. If you have some time, you can do this a day in advance and grab it from your fridge at this point to let it come to room temperature.

Preheat oven to 400°F. On a large baking sheet, add sliced onion, bell peppers, and jalapeño. Drizzle veggies with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Toss to coat, and spread evenly on the pan. Pop in the oven for 15 minutes.

Get a grill pan, a cast iron, or large skillet, hot with a little olive oil over medium high heat. Add chicken into the pan with a little space between each chicken so that it doesn’t steam and gets nice grill marks. You will cook it about 5 minutes on each side. It will be pretty much cooked all the way through when you pull it off the grill. If it is still a little pink, that is okay! Once the chicken is finished, transfer it to a cutting board and thinly (or thickly, if you prefer) slice against the grain.

When the chicken is cut, add them to the veggie baking sheet, juices and all, that you are just pulling out of the oven. It should be right about the same time if everything was prepped. Toss them all together to marry the flavors, and spread it out evenly again. Put it back in the oven for another 5–10 minutes until chicken is all cooked through and veggies are brown.

Once chicken and veggies are in the oven, prepare the cauli-rice. Heat another skillet with oil. Add diced onion and garlic, and sauté until translucent. Add tomato paste and scored serrano. Stir until tomato paste evenly coats everything and gets a little thinner.

Toss in cauli-rice and season with a little salt and pepper. Give it a really good stir to combine all of the flavors, and coat all of the rice until it is red. Let cook, stirring occasionally, until rice is cooked all the way through and appears fluffly, like actual rice. It takes about 10 minutes to cook to this consistency. Taste, and season more if needed. At this point, the fajitas are probably ready to come out of the oven and rest.

To plate it up, place the cauli rice in the center of your plate and top with the chicken and veggie mix. Garnish with limes and cilantro, or any other fun Tex-Mex items. Enjoy!