Chicken, Avocado & Quinoa Salad

You know when you move to a new place and you feel like you're on vacation or staying in a hotel? And then eventually it becomes normal and it hits you, "oh, I live here. I'm not visiting". I think I've hit that point with London. Everything still feels super new and exciting but I'm starting to feel less like I'm on vacation and more like I need to start establishing a routine.

I've done mini meal prep but now that I'm settled in my permanent flat, I'm anxious to get back to cooking real food. There's been a lot of indulging the past couple of weeks with all the new places to explore and time to fill. I need a reset.

This salad was inspired by one offered by a local burger chain here in London, Byron. In general, portions are smaller than in America which is okay by me. I split this salad, a burger and a milkshake with a friend when we caught up over dinner. We wanted to get the full experience and make our burger judgments with all the accouterments but half the guilt. So it balanced out.

The salad served by Byron has chicken as optional but we ordered it plain since we were having a burger too. But for my lunch, I want to make sure to have some protein in there. Chicken, avocado, edamame, quinoa and tomatoes are tossed together with leafy greens. However, I couldn't find quinoa at the grocery store so used rice instead. And then I had to strain the rice because measurements are different here and I used too much water. The struggle is real.

This definitely would have been doable as mini meal prep but I got lazy. And hangry. So now we're going back to basics: lots of leafy greens, protein and veggies. Bring on the reset!

Recipe

• 1 lb. chicken breast, diced (or pre-chopped)
• 1 cup rice or quinoa, cooked
• 1 cup edamame
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
• Spinach or kale leaves
• 1 avocado, pitted and diced

1. Cook the chicken to your liking. I cooked it in coconut oil with a soy sauce marinade but you could also bake in the oven. Chop into bite sized pieces if using whole chicken breasts.
2. Cook the rice according to package instructions. Strain if needed...
3. In a large bowl, combine the rice (allow to cool slightly first), leafy greens, tomatoes, edamame beans, chicken and avocado.
4. Mix well to incorporate ingredients in every bit
5. This made 4 lunch portions.