Chicken & Yellow Rice Bowl with Mustard Curry Sauce

Happy New Year!  And welcome to my 100th blog post 🙂 I wanted this post to be special, and spent time thinking about what recipe I wanted to share with you all to celebrate.  So, I bring you one of the most addictive dishes ever.

Anyone who is from South Florida and has moved away, will know exactly what I am talking about when I express “Chicken Kitchen withdrawals.”

For those of you that have not had the pleasure of dining at a Chicken Kitchen, I’ll give you a quick run-down.  It is a fast casual chain located mainly in South Florida.  Their famous dish is called the Chop Chop which is a bowl filled with steaming yellow rice, freshly grilled diced chicken, and toppings of your choice.  My favorites toppings are shredded lettuce, tomatoes and black beans.

It doesn’t sound all that special, I know.  And I may sound a bit crazy, but that’s okay, because I know some of you will understand what I’m talking about.

But, what really makes the dish so craveable and out of this world, is the mustard curry sauce you pour on top of your bowl.  OH. MY. YUMMY!  It is addictive and incredible.  It’s not overwhelmingly curry or mustard-tasting, and it complements the chicken and yellow rice so perfectly.  The sauce is also ridiculously easy to make as you’ll see below.

We don’t have Chicken Kitchen in Orlando, so whenever I go home to visit my parents in Miami I always make a stop at CK.  When I was home over the holidays, I introduced my boyfriend to Chicken Kitchen for his first time.  (He’s from Maryland and they don’t have CK up north.)  He was hooked, and asked me to try to replicate it when we got home.  So I did!

I had all intentions of grilling the chicken to give it some nice flavor, but the night I made this, it was pouring rain, and I didn’t want to stand in the rain to make grilled chicken.  I ended up roasting the chicken and it was still great.

So, if you moved away from South Florida and miss Chicken Kitchen, or even if you’ve never been, you can now experience the magic at home!

Chicken Chop Chop with Mustard Curry Sauce
Hugs ‘n Kitchen’s version of Chicken Kitchen’s Chop Chop

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 4 chicken breasts (boneless, skinless OR bone-in with skin)
• olive oil, salt and pepper for seasoning the chicken
• yellow rice
• 2 tomatoes on the vine, diced
• 1 spear of romaine lettuce, shredded
• 1 15oz can black beans, drained
• 1/2 cup light mayo
• 5 teaspoons yellow mustard
• 2 teaspoons curry powder
• 5 Tablespoons water

Steps

1. To prepare the chicken, brush with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  If cooking on the grill, grill over medium high heat until cooked through.  If using the oven, cook at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes or until cooked through.  Let chicken rest 10 minutes, then dice into bite-sized cubes.
2. Cook the yellow rice according to the package instructions.
3. To make the sauce, combine the mayo, mustard, curry powder and water in a small bowl until completely mixed and there are no lumps.  Taste and add more curry powder if you’d like.  You can also add more water if you want the sauce to be thinner.
4. To prepare your bowls, divide the yellow rice evenly among four bowls.  Place the diced chicken on top of the yellow rice.  Top the chicken with the black beans, diced tomatoes and shredded lettuce.
5. Drizzle the top of the bowls with the mustard curry sauce, and be sure to serve extra on the side!
6. Enjoy while hot!

Hugs, kisses & yummy dishes… xoxo
Lauren