Fajita Chicken & Peppers with Cilantro-Lime Brown Rice

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I came up with this recipe to use as a lunch meal-prepping recipe, but it would be equally fantastic as a dinner. I’ve never been a person that has been able to consistently and succcessfully meal prep, but I’m going to give it my best effort. I’m trying to improve my health and fitness (who isn’t) and, for me, I know that my biggest downfall is not being prepared. What I mean by not being prepared is to not have something ready for myself to eat for breakfast or lunch.

Dinner isn’t the problem. It’s breakfast and lunch and snacks that cause all of the trouble. See, I’m mostly alone during the day until the kids get home from school. Sometimes I flat out skip breakfast, drink waaaay too much coffee in the morning and then by the time that lunch rolls around, I’m starving and jittery. And then… I end up eating whatever I can find. Sometimes it’s something good and sometimes it’s half of a bag of goldfish.

Let’s be honest, meal-prepping really doesn’t take up too much time. Carve out an hour on a Sunday and it will be so worth it to have healthy, homemade meals for yourself throughout the week. It will also save you a ton of money.

So here’s how I made these…

Start by cooking the rice according to package instructions. I used brown rice for this, but you can use whatever you like. White rice or quinoa would also be fantastic. You could also just leave out the rice entirely.

While the rice is cooking, do a quick brine on the chicken. Add the chicken breasts to a medium bowl and cover with room temp water until the chicken is just covered. Add 1 tbsp of salt and the juice of half of a lime. Let the chicken brine while you are prepping the veggies.

In a small bowl, combine all of the fajita spice mix ingredients and stir it together. Set aside.

To another medium bowl, add the sliced peppers and onions, the minced garlic, the juice of half of a lime, 1 tbsp of EVOO and 2 tsp of the fajita spice mix. Stir it all together to make sure that the veggies are evenly coated.

Heat up a grill pan over medium-high heat. Grill the veggies until they are slightly charred and soft, but still have a bite to them. You may need to cook the veggies in 2 batches.

When all of the veggies are grilled, set aside. Remove the chicken from the brine, pat dry and add the chicken back to the bowl (dry it out first). Add the remaining 2 tbsp of EVOO to the spice mix and stir. Pour the oil-spice mix over the chicken and rub it over the chicken so that it is evenly coated.

Spray your grill pan with non-stick spray and heat it over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook for about 12 minutes (depending on thickness of chicken), turning halfway through. Cook until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees.

When the rice is done cooking, fluff it with a fork. Add the juice of 1 lime, 1 tsp of salt and 1/4 cup (heaping) of chopped fresh cilantro and stir. Lay out 5 lunch containers and add 1/2 cup of the cilantro-lime rice to each container (you will have a little leftover).

Divide the veggies and the chicken amongst the 5 containers. Slice a lime into wedges and place 1-2 wedges into each container.

Let it cool down a bit, then top it with a lid and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. To serve: remove lid and lime, place a paper towel over top and heat until warm throughout. You may need to stir in between heating. Squeeze the lime over top and serve with sour cream, salsa or guacamole if desired.

Note: It took me a while to find containers that I liked. I knew that I wanted a nice glass container and ended up searching all of the stores in my vicinity. Some of the containers went for $13 EACH. The ones that I finally found that I LOVE are from Amazon and I got them for an amazing price. They are linked below.