Roasted Chipotle Butternut & Chicken Bowl

Yesterday was the first meteorlogical day of fall. Yes, that is a real thing. You can ask my morning meteorologist, Marcy. It’s a real thing. It’s like the “first day of summer” being June 21st…which is like two months after summer really begins here in Oklahoma.

Colleen’s first day of fall was about 3 weeks ago. I’ve got the fall decor set up in the living room, the pumpkin and apple scented candles lit across the house, and butternut squash roasting in the oven.

I had almost forgotten how amazing veggies roasting in the oven smelled.

Almost.

The smell wafted through my house and I immediately wanted to carve some pumpkins. Okay, maybe that’s taking it a bit too far. But seriously…roasted squash is a quintessential smell of autumn for me.

I decided I wanted to make a bowl with my roasted butternut squash a la Chipotle. I wanted something with a Southwestern flair. Brown rice, black beans, cilantro and Mexican spiced chicken for the win.

I found these cute little cups of guacamole mixed with salsa verde and put it on top of my over-stuffed bowl. We’ve gotten a few wedding gift already, including a new immersion/hand blender that has this wonderful mini-food processor attachment (thanks, Alana!). I whipped that out and made a quick cilantro-lime crema to drizzle on top.

Um, am I doing something wrong when it comes to “drizzling”? Every time I try to drizzle something over my meal, it ends up just being big blobs. I try to make it look pretty, I swear I do. It’s just something about my technique, I suppose.

This bowl ended up being really, really good. It has all these lovely flavors and just the right amount of textures. Roasted butternut squash goes well with anything, and it really shines here. If you don’t have chipotle chili powder, you need to acquire some ASAP. This spice is something from the Gods. It’s so good!

Chipotle Butternut & Chicken Bowl

• Servings: 4
• Time: 20 mins
• Difficulty: Easy
• Print

Roasted chicken & butternut squash served with brown rice, black beans, guacamole, and cilantro-lime crema.

Ingredients

• 2 large chicken breast, sliced in half
• 1 butternut squash, peeled, deseeded & cubed
• 1 large red onion, cut into wedges
• 2 tsp. chipotle chili powder
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• salt & pepper
• 2 TBS. olive oil
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 2 tsp. lime juice
• salt & pepper (for crema)
• 1 cup brown rice
• 2 cups water
• 1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
• guacamole, for serving
• fresh cilantro, for serving

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line two baking sheets with foil. Place chicken breast & onion on one baking sheet, and butternut squash on the other baking sheet. Drizzle oil over everything and sprinkle chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, salt and pepper over everything. Toss veggies until well coated. Roast chicken & veggies for 15-20 minutes until juices run clear in chicken and veggies are soft and slightly charred.
2. Cook brown rice in a rice cooker with water until cooked.
3. Blend sour cream, cilantro & lime juice together until smooth.
4. Build your bowl: start with rice, then beans, veggies & sliced chicken, cilantro-lime crema, guacamole and cilantro. Serve.

Step-By-Step Instructions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line two baking sheets with foil. Place chicken breast & onion on one baking sheet, and butternut squash on the other baking sheet.

Drizzle oil over everything and sprinkle chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, salt and pepper over everything. Toss veggies until well coated. Roast chicken & veggies for 15-20 minutes until juices run clear in chicken and veggies are soft and slightly charred.

Cook brown rice in a rice cooker with water until cooked. Blend sour cream, cilantro & lime juice together until smooth.