Quinoa Power Bowl
Hey Friends!
My husband and I love a restaurant called First Watch that opened up by us recently. (actually we have 2 now, both about 10 minutes in either direction! ;) )
We are regulars. ;)
Anyway, they have a Quinoa Power Bowl (with pesto) that is so YUMMY.
My husband loves it and gets it almost every time we go.
It’s fairly basic so I thought I’d try my hand at it.
Have you tried quinoa?
It’s a favorite around here. And it’s so versatile.
You can use it in place of rice for most dishes.
Here are a few other recipes of mine using quinoa:
Garlic Lemon Shrimp Quinoa w/Balsamic Reduction
Avocado, Corn & Quinoa Salsa
Curried Quinoa with Cranberries, Almonds & Raisins
Black Bean Quinoa Side Dish
See, told ya we liked it around here! ;)
Okay, so let’s cook the quinoa first. While that’s cooking make the pesto sauce. (I used a ready made pesto sauce as the base)
Set both aside.
Next, slice the cherry or grape tomatoes in half and saute in a little olive oil until roasted.
Set aside.
Then saute the slivered carrots for 2-3 minutes. Add the kale and cook until just slightly wilted.
You’ll cook the chicken with some of the pesto sauce and then toss everything together in the pan.
Add a couple tablespoons of the pesto sauce and heat everything up.
Place it in serving dishes and sprinkle with feta cheese and drizzle the remainder of the pesto sauce over top.
And enjoy! :)
This is pretty close to First Watch but not exact.
My husband and I were both pretty happy with how it turned out though.
PIN this Quinoa Power Bowl recipe to save for later!
Quinoa Power Bowl
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 2 -4 1x
Ingredients
- 2–3 grilled chicken breast (sliced)
- 4 Tbsp prepared pesto sauce
- 4 Tbsp Ranch dressing
- Juice of 2 lemons (divided)
- 1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes
- 1 cup thinly sliced carrots
- 2 cups baby kale
- 1 tsp salt (or to taste)
- Feta cheese
- 1–1/2 cups of cooked quinoa
Instructions
- Prepare the quinoa first.
- While that is cooking mix up the pesto sauce. (4 T of prepared pesto sauce mixed with 4 T Ranch dressing)
- Set aside.
- Slice the tomatoes in half and saute in olive oil and juice of one lemon until just softened and slightly browned.
- Set aside.
- Using the same pan, saute the carrots for 2-3 minutes. Add the kale and cook until just slightly wilted. It will continue to wilt from the heat so don’t cook too long.
- Set aside.
- Slice the chicken into small pieces and add to the pan along with a Tbsp of the mixed pesto sauce.
- Cook until done and then add the veggies and quinoa to the pan. Toss with half of the sauce. Warm through.
- Place into serving bowls, top with feta cheese and a drizzle of the remaining pesto sauce and the juice of the remaining lemon.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
Hope you like it!
xoxo
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hey girl- this looks really good!
Thanks Shawnna! It was good and healthy too! And that’s always good. :)
I would like to make this but there is no mention of chicken in the written recipe. I would appreciate the info or could I use a rotissere chicken?
Thank you!
Oh my goodness! I did leave that out, so sorry! I wouldn’t use rotisserie in this particular dish. Grilled, sliced chicken is best. I’ll edit the recipe if you’d like to print it out (with the chicken included) :)
Did I miss where you add the lemon?
Oh no you didn’t, sorry, I will update! The juice of 1 is added to the mix when sauteing and the other is used at the end, sprinkled over the dish with the feta cheese, etc.
Do you know the nutrition value of this? Carbs, calories, etc.
No, I’m sorry, I don’t.
Hey there!
I used to work at First Watch and I adored their Pesto Chicken Quinoa Bowl. Well I was craving it again after years of having it and I found your recipe. I made it, except I used sun dried tomatoes instead of cherry tomatoes. Girl… It was amazing!! Better than the original, in my opinion! Thank you for showing me how to make this amazing recipe! Everything is perfect about it!
Aw, yay!! I am so happy to hear this. Yes, this is one of my favorite dishes as well, so I had to recreate it at home! ;) So glad you enjoyed it! xo
So I looked at the ingredients on the First Watch website when you order online, and they use lemon white balsamic vinegarette. So how does the ranch taste differ? The vinegarette is expensive online , so I’m curious if I should make my own or just do the ranch. Does it come close to tasting like FW with ranch? Thank you! Can’t wait to try!
Hi Stacy!
I think the Ranch just adds a little flavor without making it “ranch” tasting, if that makes sense. That was sort of my best guess when trying to figure out what I was tasting in the sauce. It turned out pretty close.
So, I think they actually call this one the Pesto Quinoa Bowl. (kind of confusing, I know!) Both are quinoa bowls though with a little bit of changes. If you give it a try, hope you like it as much as we do! :)