Fall Harvest Bowls

Cozy up with these healthy and nutritious Fall Harvest Bowls. Made with a delicious fall-inspired kale salad, warm brown rice, roasted butternut squash, and seasoned chicken breast. This seasonal bowl will be your new favorite!

Hello Fall, the weather has finally dropped and the markets are full of seasonal favorites like butternut squash. I don’t haggle with whole butternut squash for these fall harvest bowls, I buy it precut, pick your battles, haha! Luckily in the fall, there is plenty of precut squash in the produce sections! But hey you could always cut up your own, for me, life with a newborn makes my time short and sweet so I need the short cut these days. I was able to get all my ingredients from trader joes. 

These bowls are a four-step process but can all be done at once. They are full of all the goods.

GREENS + PROTIENS + GRAINS + HEALTHY FATS

+ FRUITS + VEGGIES

Fall Harvest Bowls

Who doesn’t love a bowl full of delicious food! This is truly the best way to combine your favorite hot and cold foods. These bowls have deliciously seasoned and grilled chicken breast, tender brown rice, and a kale salad tossed in the best mustard vinaigrette. Top it with some goat cheese, and you’ve got yourself the best tasting fall bowl around!

Roasted Butternut Squash

Roasting butternut squash is simple and easy. Start with a bag of precut squash or chop your own. If your chopping up your own squash is sure to pick one all beige in color and one that feels heavy for its size. They are best here in the US from September through the end of November. 

Start with the squash because it takes the longest. Toss the butternut squash in olive oil, salt, pepper, and thyme. Arrange on a baking sheet and let the oven do its work.

Brown Rice

Next Start your brown rice, cook according to package. For these harvest bowls, you can use any grain you like. Some ideas are:

• quinoa
• wild rice
• farro 
• barley 
• white rice

Kale Salad

Now onto this amazing kale salad. If your working with a head of curly kale, be sure to remove the stems, wash, and spin all the water out. You could also buy the pre-cut if you like. Chop your kale finely, and throw it into a salad bowl. Top with dried cranberries, candy pecans, apple, and goat cheese (optional). 

In a small bowl mix all vinaigrette ingredients together. Pour over salad and toss. Let the salad sit while you prepare your chicken. 

Chicken

Start by slicing your chicken breast in half. Next, generously season your chicken with a spice blend. I used a mix of my favorite spices, but you can always use what you like. Heat and oil a cast iron grill pan, grill the chicken flipping once till done. Let chicken rest before slicing and assembling your harvest bowls.

Need more delicious recipes, also try:

• Authentic Carne Asada 
• Cashew Chicken Wraps
• Chicken and Rice Casserole
• Stuffed Pepper Soup
• Shredded BBQ Chicken & Coleslaw + Quick Pickles Cucumbers 

Yield: 4 servings

Fall Harvest Bowls

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Cozy up with these healthy and nutritious Fall Harvest Bowls. Made with a delicious fall-inspired kale salad, warm brown rice, roasted butternut squash, and brown rice. This seasonal bowl will be your new favorite!

Prep Time 45 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Ingredients

Butternut Squash

• 16 oz bag precut butternut squash or 1 small (1 - 1 and 1/2 lb) butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and chopped
• 3 tbsp avocado oil
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• salt & pepper to taste

Chicken

• 1 1/2  lbs boneless skinless chicken breast 
• 2 tbsp avocado oil
• 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp onion salt
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp salt

Rice

• 1.5 cups brown rice
• 3 cups of water
• 1 tsp butter (optional)

Kale Salad

• 3 and 1/2 cups shredded curly kale
• 1 medium apple, cored and sliced thinly
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup candy pecans

Sweet Mustard Vinaigrette

• 3 tbsp avocado oil
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 and 1/2  tbsp apple cider vinegar 
• 1 tbsp yellow mustard
• 1 and 1/2 tbs agave
• 1 small garlic clove minced
• salt to taste

Instructions

Butternut Squash

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

1. Toss butternut squash with avocado oil and dried thyme. Season with salt and black pepper. Arrange coated squash on a baking sheet.
2. Roast until squash is tender and lightly browned, 35-40 minutes.

Rice

1. Prepare brown rice according to package directions (I bring 3 cups water to a boil then add in the brown rice and 1 tsp salted butter. Cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer until water is absorbed and rice is tender. Remove from heat and let stand for 10 minutes, fluff, and set aside.

Chicken

1. In a small bowl combine avocado oil and seasonings.
2. Slice your chicken breasts in half horizontally. Slice large chicken breasts in half horizontally. Pat chicken dry with a paper towel. using a pastry brush or your hands, rub both sides of the chicken breast pieces with the seasoning and oil blend.
3. Preheat a cast-iron grill pan or cast ion skillet to medium-high heat and lightly oil it. Cook each side 4-5 minute flipping once, chicken is done at 160 degrees. You can further season the chicken with salt and pepper if desired. Remove the chicken from heat and cover with foil, let it rests for 4 minutes. Slice chicken for serving.

Kale Salad

1. In a medium-sized bowl combine kale, cranberries, apple slices, candy pecans, and goat cheese. Toss with vinaigrette (see next step) until well coated.

Vinaigrette

1. In a small bowl whisk together all vinaigrette ingredients, season with salt to taste.

Assemble Bowls

1. Divide out even amounts of brown rice into 4 separate bowls, top chicken and butternut squash. Add kale salad and extra goat cheese if desired. Enjoy!