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Mediterranean Grain Bowls

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A few weeks ago I was having some serious off-plan food cravings and wanted to eat at Panera Bread.

Panera Bread has some great salad options so I knew I didn’t have to eat off-plan, but I really wanted to!

I’ve learned that it’s way better to have a crossover than to go off-plan – so I got as close to a crossover as I could. I spotted Panera Bread’s Warm Grain Mediterranean Bowl and ordered it with an apple on the side.

Most of the ingredients were on-plan, but from my research I don’t think the two dressings in this bowl are on-plan. So I made my own version, completely on-plan, with options to keep it as a THM E or to turn it into a crossover.

This has become my favorite, go-to E meal. It’s packed with veggies and healthy carbs, but it’s really simple and delicious! (If you want more E-friendly ideas, I have over 250+ ideas in a free download at the bottom of this post!)

The recipe below takes a little time if you are making the rice, quinoa, and chicken at the time that you make the bowl. I batch cook brown rice in my Instant Pot every week to freeze to use later, but if I didn’t, I’d use pre-cooked brown rice from the freezer section at the grocery store to save time.

Grabbing pre-cooked and frozen rice and quinoa and adding pre-cooked or rotisserie chicken makes this bowl a quick and easy option – a perfect Trim Healthy Mama friendly E lunch for busy days.

If I mix just a smear of low-fat hummus into the Greek yogurt, it makes a creamy dressing that lets you get a lot of the flavor throughout the bowl. Alternatively, you could add a garnish amount of reduced-fat feta cheese for a good Greek flavor. You’ll just want to watch the fat to make sure you don’t go over the 5 grams Trim Healthy Mama allows in an E meal.

To make this meal for the whole family, I make 2 cups of dry rice, 1 cup of quinoa, and dd extra veggies and chicken.

The hummus pictured here isn’t the best option – I look for hummus very low in fat, make my own, or skip it altogether.
I like to stir the quinoa and brown rice together, but you could layer it if you’d rather make a layered bowl and dig in.
This recipe is so simple, but so delicious! Stir everything together, top with Greek yogurt, and enjoy!

Copycat Panera Bread Warm Grain Mediterranean Bowl

Delicious, single serve E-friendly recipe.
5 from 2 votes
Servings 1 person

Ingredients
  

  • 1/2 cup cooked long-grain brown rice
  • 1/4 cup cooked quinoa
  • 1 cup arugula
  • 1/3 cup grape tomatoes, halved
  • 1/2 cucumber, peeled and diced
  • 1 boneless, skinless chicken breast
  • 1/8 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/8 tsp onion powder
  • 1/2 tsp oregano
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 tbsp low-fat hummus (optional garnish – if total fat is not under 5 grams it could create a crossover)
  • 2 tbsp 0% Greek yogurt
  • 1 lemon
  • 1/4 tsp Greek seasoning (optional)
  • 1 tbsp reduced-fat feta cheese (optional garnish – if total fat is not under 5 grams it could create a crossover)

Instructions
 

For the Grains

  • Combine rice and quinoa in a bowl and squeeze 1/2 a lemon over the grain mixture. Season with optional Greek seasoning if desired and salt and pepper to taste.

For the Chicken

  • Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
  • Season chicken breast with garlic powder, onion powder, and oregano.
  • Bake chicken for 18 minutes, or until it's cooked through with an internal temperature of 170 degrees F. Remove from oven and chop into bite-sized pieces when cool enough to handle.

Assemble the Bowl

  • Layer rice, quinoa, arugula, cucumbers and tomatoes in a bowl.
  • Top with chicken.
  • Garnish with a large dollop of Greek yogurt and a small amount of feta cheese and hummus as a garnish, if using.

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5 Comments

  1. Hello!! I am SO glad that I found your site!! I haven’t quite started THM, I’m still trying to figure the food rules out. I appreciate that you’re sharing appetizing and appealing looking recipes. I’m looking forward to trying some.

  2. 5 stars
    FYI – Costco sells microwaveable pouches of a brown rice and quinoa mix. Makes this recipe super quick for a mid-week supper if you go with the rotisserie chicken option! Thanks for sharing the hummus/greek yogurt trick, I would not have thought of that. So good!

  3. Could I use all quinoa instead of the combo? As long as I stay at 3/4 cup? The rest sounds amazing.

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