Pad thai chicken buddha bowl

Truth - Before I got Cancer I rarely ate vegetables. Any Person who gets Cancer and takes the battle seriously knows how many veggies they need daily. Our blood needs to stay alkaline and that takes plant power! Turns out I liked veggies all along, I just don't like canned veggies or over-cooked veggies which was all I had really been exposed to. 

After Cancer and all the education in nutrition... I am a veggie lover. In fact, my veggies take up over 75% of my plate now, and I am always FULL after a meal, because veggies KEEP you full, and you can really have an unlimited amount of them. So people who are dieting, are doing it WRONG. EAT MORE, just eat more plants and cut out PROCESSED food. For the love of GOD, please stop taking out your carbs. YOU NEED CARBS. Carbs are NOT the devil... processed carbs are. People who tell me they gave up carbs just get an eye roll because they are showing me how little they know about what the body uses to burn fuel and what the BRAIN uses to function. Healthy carbs can be found in things like chickpeas, beans, legumes, whole grains like quinoa, jasmine, brown, or basmati rice. You NEED those in your daily diet or you will have problems down the line.

So back to my hate turned to love for veggies. One of my staples is Buddha Bowls. They really changed everything for me. When I go out to eat I look  for places that serve them because they are PACKED with nutrients and I can never finish the whole thing even though it is very low in calories. The thing I love about Buddha bowls is that you can put whatever you want in them. You just need a bunch of your favorite raw veggies and roasted veggies. You really can't go wrong! 

For these bowls I used 1/2 cup each of: 

Cooked Jasmine Rice

Raw Shredded Red Cabbage

Raw Shredded Kale

Bean Sprouts

Raw Shredded Carrots

Roasted Cauliflower

Roasted Broccoli

Raw Sliced Red Onion ( I only used 1/4 cup of this)

You can sub out anything you want here for something you like better. Possibilities are endless:

Jicama

Cucumber

Spinach

Beets

Romaine

Brown Rice

Quinoa

etc....  you get the idea. No processed anything, and the grain needs to be a whole grain. Otherwise you would have seen rice noodles in this pad thai, but the goal here is no processed food ....period.

It took me 20 minutes to prep for my buddha bowls for the next 3 days for 4 people. Grate the veggies and store them in the fridge at the beginning of the week and it makes for super fast meals you can throw together. Just add your protein of choice. Tonight I chose free range organic Chicken with Thai flavors. Pad Thai Buddha bowl it is... In addition to the veggies I listed above...here is how I did it:

1 1/2 tablespoons red chile paste
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch chunks
Sea salt to taste

FOR THE SPICY PEANUT SAUCE
3 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1 tablespoon soy sauce ( I recommend Braggs amino acid or coconut aminos)
1 TBSP pure maple syrup
2 teaspoons red chile paste

2 TBSP water

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a small bowl, whisk together chile paste, maple syrup and lime juice; set aside. This is your marinade.

Slice your chicken breast into bite size pieces or cubes. ( I prefer thai cut- diagonal on the bias)
In a large baking dish add chicken breast and the marinade and place in the oven for 12 minutes (larger pieces of chicken will require more time). 

While chicken is in the oven, make the spicy peanut sauce, whisk together peanut butter, lime juice, soy sauce, maple syrup, chile paste and 2-3 tablespoons water in a small bowl; set aside. 

Divide into bowls your raw and cooked veggies and grain. I do 1/2 cup of each ingredient. Top cooked chicken and then add the spicy peanut sauce on top and serve!