Low Calorie Meal Prep

Cook’s Notes:

A few of you guys have a hard time finding ground chicken breast, but you can use ground turkey breast and the recipe will work great.

You can find a lot of tasty hot sauces at the market, so feel free to use red chile hot sauce, or any kind you like.

If cooking on a BBQ or outdoor grill, make sure to soak the wood skewers in water for 30 minutes before you form the skewers, otherwise they will burn.

To cook the quinoa needed for the salad, bring 2/3 of a cup of water to a boil in a small pot. Add a pinch of salt along with 1/3 cup raw quinoa and cook uncovered for about 18 minutes, or until all of the water has evaporated. Take off heat and set aside. Quinoa can be made 1 day ahead of time and kept in the fridge.

To cut the grapefruit into segments, watch the video below the recipe and I will show you exactly how to do it.

Begin cooking:

Make the chicken skewers by adding the ground chicken to a large bowl along with the remaining ingredients, except for the wood skewers. Use your hands to mix everything thoroughly. Divide the mixture into 10 equal pieces and begin forming the skewers by placing 1 portion of chicken mixture in your hand. Try to form the mixture into a long, skinny rectangle and then place the skewer right in the middle. Form the chicken around the skewer trying to make sure the shape of the chicken is uniform from top to bottom. Place formed skewers on a platter that will fit into the freezer and repeat this process with the remaining chicken mixture. Transfer the formed skewers to the freezer for 20 minutes for the mixture can firm up, otherwise it will fall apart if you cook it right away.

Meanwhile, start the salad by cutting the bell peppers into four equal pieces(cut each wall off) and cutting the yellow squash into ¼ inch planks from top to bottom. Place the cut veggies on a sheet tray and season with 2 teaspoons of olive oil, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, and a few cracks of pepper. Pre-heat a large cast iron grill pan, cast iron pan, or a BBQ grill over medium heat for 2 minutes, 10 minutes if using a BBQ grill. If using a grill pan, spray the pan with a little non-stick spray and place the veggies in one even layer. Cook for 5-6 minutes and then check the squash for grill marks, if it looks good, flip and cook another 4 minutes. The peppers will take a few more minutes per side to get nice char marks, once they look good, flip and repeat. Remove the veggies from the pan, turn the heat off, and set aside.

Remove the center stalks from the kale and chop it up to the size you desire for a salad. Place the chopped kale in a large bowl along with cooked quinoa and next 5 ingredients. Chop the grilled peppers and squash into bite size pieces and place in a small storage container. The salad and grilled veggies should be stored separately so they can both last 5 days in the fridge.

Make the salad dressing by adding everything but the oil to a small bowl and whisk to combine. Whisk well and add the olive oil until the dressing comes together and thickens up a little bit. Check for seasoning, you may need a little more lemon juice or agave. Store the dressing in the fridge and only dress each portion the day you want to eat it.

To cook the chicken skewers, pre-heat the cast iron grill pan or pan for 2 minutes over medium-high heat. If using a grill, pre-heat for 10 minutes over medium-high. Remove the skewers from the freezer, spray the grill pan with a little more non-stick spray, and place the skewers on the grill. Cook for 5 minutes, making sure not to touch them otherwise they won’t get nice grill marks. If using a pan, add 2 teaspoons of oil while pre-heating the pan.

While the skewers are grilling, make the glaze by combining the chile sauce, oil, and agave nectar in a small bowl, mix well and set aside.

Flip the chicken skewers and cook for 3 minutes. After 3 minutes is up, starting brushing the glaze all over the top and sides of the skewers and cook for 1 more minute. Flip the skewers on the side to make sure they cook evenly and brush more glaze all over the skewers. Cook on each side of the skewers for 1 minute and then remove skewers from the grill.

So it works like this: Cook for 5 minutes and then flip. Cook for 3 minutes and start basting and cook for 1 more minute. Flip on 1 side for 1 minute, flip on the other side for 1 minute, remove from heat. Baste the skewers when they are cooking on the sides.

The chicken will keep in the fridge for 5 days or in the freezer for 2-3 months. . When reheating, I like to take the lid off, cover the container with tin foil, and place in a 400 F for 10-15 minutes. If you are using a microwave, take the lid off, cover the container with a wet paper towel, this will keep the food moist. The salad, dressing, and grilled veggies should be stored separately so they can both last 5 days in the fridge, the salad can’t be frozen. Dress 1 portion of salad at a time. Enjoy!