Chicken Fajita Burrito Bowls

Mmm burritos.  They’re a food group to my husband.  And lately, I have not been able to get enough of them myself!  Our recent Crock Pot Chicken Carnitas Tacos made me realize that we needed to branch out of our normal taco/burrito scene.  Don’t get me wrong, I love a good ol’ homemade flour tortilla with all the traditional fixings.  But we needed something different.  And I realized we didn’t have our usual stock pile of flour tortillas in our freezer, so a delicious burrito bowl it was!First, the seasoning for the chicken.  You can totally adjust these seasonings to your taste; we like it spicy, which is what these seasoning blend turned out to be.  Equal parts cumin, chili powder, smoked paprika, and salt.  I used a teaspoon of each, which was quite a bit even for the 5 massive chicken breasts we had (I am blessed with a husband who will happily eat leftovers for lunches for days on end, so I always make big dinners for lunches the following days).Generously coated on the chicken and popped into the oven at 400 degrees for about 40 minutes.  Again, these guys were large – I would cook normal sized breasts for 25-30 minutes, but after a check, these guys still needed some time. While they cooked, I added some garlic, onion, and diced red and green peppers to a pan to saute for the ‘fajita’ portion of the bowl.And then of course we can have any tacos / burritos / fajita bowls without some fresh homemade pico de gallo.  I always make a huge batch of pico so we have plenty left over – I add it to salads and use it as a dip with crackers or baguette slices, or even just by itself with a little melted cheese on top.  Mmm. Before I even started the chicken, I put on some brown basmati rice to cook.  You can use any type of rice with this, but basmati is our favorite rice and usually the only one (besides sushi rice) that’s always in our house. Once the rice was done, I added it to the pan with the peppers and onions, and then added more of the same seasonings I used for the chicken.Gave it a good mix, added about a cup of the fresh pico de gallo to the pan, and then adjusted seasonings to our liking (usually that means adding more salt), and by that time the chicken was done and ready to be sliced, and ready to be added to the fajita rice and then topped with some fresh avocado and a touch more pico, ’cause, why not.  I elected to keep this burrito bowl pretty healthy (as we’re rapidly approaching the Christmas season and all of it’s goodies).  But if you want to go true burrito you can add some black beans, some cheddar cheese, and even maybe some crushed tortilla chips!

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