IN A BOWL: sticky sesame chicken bowls 🥣

welcome to my new series!

hello friends! happy sunday :) I’m sitting here watching the grammy’s after a very fun and productive weekend: tried a new restaurant (if you’re in LA you must go), did my second group run which I’m very proud of (I finally convinced myself to join a run club), cold plunged, ate a delicious brunch, went to the farmer’s market AND — most importantly — filmed two recipes for my brand new series for you!

welcome to a IN A BOWL, where we’ll be making healthy, delicious bowl meals because they are truly the best way to pack in your veggies, protein, carbs + healthy fats. I would say I make some kind of bowl meal multiple nights a week and I feel like I don’t share them enough with you, so this new series feels very fitting to the way I love to cook and eat. we’re gonna be making some AMAZING bowls over the next few weeks so stay tuned!

up first is this sticky crispy sesame chicken bowl. I made little chicken bites using my super easy 2-step dipping + shallow frying method and they turned out SO good. we coat them in a sweet n salty honey/tamari/sesame sauce and serve them with fluffy brown rice + quick pickled cucumbers. this is truly my dream bowl and I’m eating the leftovers as we speak (great to prep ahead of time if you’re into meal prepping!). hope you love this one <3

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sticky crispy sesame chicken bowls

• 2 large chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces

• 1 cup panko breadcrumbs (regular or gluten free)

• ¼ cup tapioca or cornstarch

• 3 tbsp sesame seeds

• ½ tsp garlic powder

• ½ tsp onion powder

• ½ tsp sea salt

• 1 egg

• avocado oil, for frying chicken

• ¼ cup tamari

• 2 tbsp hot honey (or regular)

• 1 ½ tbsp rice vinegar

• 1 tbsp sesame oil

• 1 tsp cornstarch

• 1 clove grated garlic

• cooked brown rice, for serving

• additional veggies of choice, for serving, if desired

for the quick pickled cucumbers:

• 1 cup thinly sliced cucumbers

• 3 tbsp rice vinegar

• 1 tbsp tamari

• 2 tsp chili crisp

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start by adding your sliced cucumbers to a jar. add rice vinegar, tamari and chili crisp, then place a lid on your jar and shake to mix. place cucumbers in the fridge to set.

in a bowl, whisk together your panko breadcrumbs, tapioca or cornstarch, sesame seeds, garlic + onion powders and sea salt. in a separate small bowl, whisk your egg.

whisk together your tamari, hot honey, rice vinegar, sesame oil, cornstarch and garlic in a small bowl or jar until combined. set aside.

take your pieces of chicken and dip them first in the egg until coated, then into the panko mixture. repeat with remaining chicken pieces and place on a piece of parchment. hot tip: use one hand for the egg and the other hand for the panko so that your hands don’t get clumps of breading all over them!

heat a large skillet over medium. once hot, add about 1/2 inch of avocado oil to the bottom of the pan. carefully place chicken bites into the hot oil and let cook for about 3 minutes, until the underside is deeply golden brown. flip the pieces and finish cooking for 2-3 minutes on the other side. remove chicken bites and set on a wire rack to drain and cool.

wipe any excess breading/oil out of your pan and place back on low heat. pour in your tamari sauce mixture and stir for 1-2 minutes until starting to thicken. add your crispy chicken bites into the pan and stir to evenly coat in the sauce.

when ready to serve, add a scoop of brown rice to the bottom of your bowl. top with a few pieces of the crispy sticky chicken, then add some quick pickled cucumbers and whichever other veggies you desire. enjoy!

makes 2 large servings

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until next week! love y’all xo