Ponzu Chicken Rice Bowls

Rice bowls come together quickly, especially if you have leftover rice, for a delicious weeknight meal. And caramelized ponzu chicken gives it just enough of a tangy, citrus kick! Easily customizsable, just swap out any veggie you have like radishes, snow peas, you could add mango... the possiblities are endless!

Ingredients:

cooked rice, enough for a serving in each bowl 

6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 1 lb total)

2 tsps sesame oil

1 carrot, shredded

1/2 cup frozen/thawed edamame beans

1 bell pepper, sliced (should have used a red one here, to contrast carrot)

a few cashews for each bowl

zest of 1 small lemon

2 tbsps lemon juice

1/4 cup ponzu sauce (found in Asian specialty stores)

2 tbsps rice wine vinegar

1 tsp minced garlic

1/2 tsp sugar

pinch of salt

2 tsps toasted sesame seeds (other small mixed seeds optional)

1 tsp cornstarch

In a medium bowl mix juice and zest of lemon, ponzu sauce, rice wine vinegar, garlic, sugar and salt. Cut the chicken in 1 - 1 1/2" pieces and add to the bowl. Marinate for 20 minutes. Time enough to cook the rice if you don't already have some leftover.

After the 20 minutes, heat sesame oil in a large skillet. You don't want to crowd the chicken. Remove it from the marinade with a slotted spoon, reserving the marinade. Cook the chicken in hot sesame oil until no pink remains and some caramelization is happening. Remove to a plate.

Whisk cornstarch into the reserved marinade and pour it into the same skillet. Boil 2-3 minutes. It will thicken. After the boiling time you may want to add a little water depending on how thin or thick you want your sauce.

To serve, add a serving of rice to each bowl then add the chicken, vegetables and cashews. Drizzle with sauce and add seeds to garnish.

Makes 2-3 servings

Adapted from: simplyscratch.com

Follow hotandcoldrunningmom on Pinterest. You can scan the pincode seen here with your phone if you're on a desktop. If you're on a phone just screenshot it, go to the Pinterest app, click camera. Then instead of taking a pic use the option to use one of your photos. Click on the screenshot you just took and go right to my Pinterest profile where you can follow me 🙂