Grain Bowls With Chicken, Spiced Chickpeas, and Avocado

Wonderful recipe! I followed the advice of other reviewers to tweak it. This definitely needs to be tweaked for nursing moms. Spiciness would not be good for baby’s tummy.

• Karen

• Denver, CO

• 4/27/2024

Very healthy. Twigged it a little adding more lemon juice and less oil. Definitely will make this again.

• Christine Fittock

• Queensland, Australia

• 1/29/2024

This is good, but so tweakable I'm not sure the reviews are actually of the recipe. Also, I was never really clear what in this was supposed to be warm. Any of it? I made the dressings with very random amounts of mint and cilantro and way less oil then it called for. It tasted like a green smoothie for some reason, but yummy. Chickpeas I made as written, they were good but not that crispy so I'll try the oven method next time. For grain I used a frozen wild rice mix so that made it easy. And lightly cooked kale instead of arugula. Will definitely try roasting the sesame seeds next time.

• mirafaith

• Sacramento, CA

• 4/27/2021

This was great. I cooked and prepped but had to work when my wife constructed it. When I came back my family had eaten. They were telling me how good it was to a point I thought they were joking with me. It really was delicious! I added some cilantro and fresh jalapeno to the dressing and roasted sweet potato with the meal.

• cjags

• 3/24/2021

Really good and healthy. Could easily make without the chicken and it would still be delicious and filling. Does definitely take longer than 20 minutes to prepare though....there are a lot of steps. Also as other reviewers have mentioned, the amount of oil is the dressing is way too much. I used a 1/4 of a cup for two servings and it was plenty.

• lmasood

• Fairport, NY

• 10/7/2020

This was a hit! Even my 8 year old said it "wasn't as bad as he thought it would be" -- that's 4 forks, folks. I doubled the chick peas per other reviewers, which was a good move. I also made them in the oven -- 425 degrees for about 20 minutes, stirring now and then. (I make them this way as a snack -- my kids love it.) The toasted sesame seeds are crucial. My avocadoes were not ripe, so I had to leave them out; they would have been a fantastic addition.

• bitsyc

• Lehigh Valley, PA

• 1/9/2020

I made this for my roommates this week and they absolutely loved it! This recipe was very simple to make and did not take very long. It's a great lunch or dinner option, especially if you are looking for a versatile recipe for meal prepping.

• Anonymous

• 4/10/2019

Healthy recipe

• mrstoppr

• St. Paul, MN

• 3/27/2019

Overall, very delicious with some tweaking! I had the chicken, quinoa, and cucumbers prepped a few days before. The cucumbers do dry out a tiny bit precut, but with the dressing on this salad you’d never notice. It was WAY too much dressing. I thought 1&1/4 cup olive oil seemed like a ton but I wanted to follow exactly just Incase. I’d make half the dressing, if not less, next time. Added an extra 2-3 tablespoons of lemon juice, extra Tbls honey and lots more salt. I have enough dressing for 12 of these salads now! I LOVE the chickpeas and will roast them in the oven on a higher temp next time. I double the seasoning on the chickpeas and used kale instead of arugula. I just did fresh red onion bits and feta crumble on the top and it was amazing! Pre mixing the kale,cucumber,red onion, and quinoa without the dressing for fast assembly later. The kale gave a nice crunch which was needed. This recipe is a good base for an idea but does need a lot of tweaking hah. Worth it in the end to try though!

• Anna D

• San Diego, CA

• 1/2/2019

Delicious, but takes way longer than 20 minutes to prepare. We used barley for the grain, and cut the olive oil to 3/4 cup. Even with the barley and pickled onions cooked the night before, and a rotisserie chicken, it still took me at least 30-40 minutes to make the chickpeas, pull the mint leaves off the stems and juice the lemons to make the dressing, chop the cucumbers and avocados, ... And it's not like you can pre-chop cukes and avocados to keep around; they don't hold up well. Still, it was very tasty and felt healthful (with the olive oil cut way back), so I can see making this again. Just not on a weeknight.

• Anonymous

• Minneapolis, MN

• 6/2/2018

It's 'bored with' and 'tired of' and ne'er the twain shall meet

• dallasnash

• Botswana

• 5/16/2018

I gave it a 3 because I think it have lots of potential. 1st time I used barley, I think quinoa is a better choice. I was making it for two so only used 1/2 c. of oil with 3 tbls of lemon and it was still too oily and I have leftovers. Dressing needs a little something, maybe a pinch of cayenne? Or maybe letting it sit a bit will give it more flavor. Thought the chickpeas were the best part, thought plenty spicy enough as written. Pickled shallots instead of red onion because its what I had, not sure it added much to the salad. Will try red onion next time. Left off the avocado too, felt there was plenty of good fats and protein without. If you have leftover chicken and a grain already prepared this is a quick and healthy meal.

• bas614

• Boston

• 2/22/2018

The whole family loved this meal. My vegetarian daughter simply left the chicken off. The chickpeas were our favorite part of the dish. As other reviewers mentioned, I added more spice to the chickpeas and cut the olive oil in the dressing back to 3/4 cup. I made the dressing and pickled the onions earlier in the day so it was quick to put together. This will be part of our regular rotation.

• kerryduffie

• Denver

• 2/20/2018

Loved this and so did my husband. I think you could make the quinoa, chicken, chickpeas and dressing ahead and then just reheat and add all the fresh veggies on the night you serve it.

• Kimpro101

• Texas

• 7/24/2017

We love this recipe. We use quinoa and skip the pickled onion. I also skip making the dressing. Instead we use Brianna's Real French Vinaigrette. It has the strong lemon flavor that the recipe's dressing calls for. I usually add more spice to the chickpeas and roast them in the oven. They make the dish! This is on our weeknight rotation for sure!

• deannaip

• Austin, TX

• 7/10/2017