Hi friends! I am back from my sabbatical and ready to share all the things I have been making during this time. But first, something that has been on my mind for the past few months. By now we have all seen at least one meme “jokingly” telling food bloggers to stop sharing their life story and just stick to the recipe. Some of my favorite food bloggers have even changed the way they present recipes, leaving off a preface and just posting the recipe and nothing else, which I personally find sad as I enjoy reading the blog posts usually. First, let me respectfully say, if you do not want to read what I have written and want to scroll down, I have no hard feelings. That being said, this is my personal blog and although primarily for recipes, it is also a space to share thoughts and life. I think a lot of us need a refresher in the “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all”. Thank you for taking a minute to read, and I hope regardless of your feelings on the matter you will still continue to enjoy the recipes I share. Now onto the delicious bowls!

Oh man, what can I say about these bowls. They came about on a night where I needed to use up items from the pantry and fridge. Normally I remake a recipe about 5 times before I feel comfortable posting, but these were the most deliciously peanut goodness on the first try. So what you will need for two chop chop bowls:

-3 cups chow mein noodles
-2 large cooked chicken breast, chopped
-1 tbsp of canola oil
-half yellow onion in strips
-1 garlic clove, pressed
-1 large red pepper, in thin strips
-1 tsp sesame oil
-half a lime
-1/3 cup of thin cucumber strips
-1/4 cup of grated carrot
-2 tsp of everything bagel seasoning or sesame seeds
-2 tsp of chopped peanuts

Sauce
-1/3 cup of smooth natural peanut butter
-half a limes juice
-1 tablespoon white sugar
-1 tbl of soy sauce
-2 tsp rice vinegar
-1 clove of garlic, pressed
-1/2 to 1 tsp sriracha
-1/2 tsp of dried ginger powder
-mix with hot water

If using raw chicken, make sure you cook this first. Personally I would marinate it in a bit of soya sauce and lime juice and just pop them in the oven at 375 for 35 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 165 degrees. Rest, chop and you have your chicken to add. In my case, I used up precooked chicken we had leftover, or you could use rotisserie, whatever you have on hand.

Cook your noodles or rice according to package and set aside.

Heat your frying pan or wok if you have one over medium heat, and add in your canola oil. I do not recommend olive oil due to the smoke point, but subbing avocado would work fine. Add your onion to the pan, cooking for a few minutes until it starts to go soft and translucent. Add in your garlic clove and mix being careful not to burn. Now add in your red peppers and that chopped cooked chicken and add your sesame oil, sprinkle in some salt and pepper and mix it all up. Saute, stirring frequently, for 2 minutes until everything looks heated and peppers are browning on the outside, then remove from heat. You want the peppers still crisp but browned on the edges. Squeeze the lime juice over the mixture.

Take all the sauce ingredients and add them to a small bowl, and with a small whisk or fork mix together. Take a measuring cup of hot water and very slowly drizzle in the hot (not boiling) water while mixing until sauce starts to smooth out and you have a drizzly texture.

Split your noodles into two bowls and top with half the chicken and pepper mixture. Split the grated carrot and cucumber between them and then add your everything bagel seasoning and peanuts. Now, the most important part, the sauce. Drizzle that liberally all over your bowls. It is definitely up to preference but I used almost all of it between the two bowls because it was that good. Hand the other bowl to someone (or don’t) and enjoy!