Chicken and Avocado Protein Bowl with Seeds

Ingredients

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• ½ tsp garlic granules
• 200g quinoa, rinsed
• 200g frozen edamame beans, defrosted
• 2 ripe avocados
• 1 cucumber
• 8 radishes
• 4 tbsp mixed seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, sesame)
• 2 limes, juiced
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp honey
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 fresh red chilli, finely sliced
• 1 small bunch fresh coriander, leaves picked, to serve
• 3 spring onions, finely sliced, to serve
• 1 lime, cut into wedges, to serve
• Miso and tahini dressing, to serve
• Kimchi, to serve
• Pickled red cabbage, to serve

Method

1. Tip the rinsed quinoa into a saucepan with 400ml cold water, bring to the boil, then drop to a simmer for 12–15 minutes until the water is gone and the little tails have unfurled. Pull it off the heat, lid on, and let it steam for 5 minutes — this is where the texture lands.
2. While that goes, lay the chicken breasts between two sheets of baking paper and bash to an even 2cm thickness with a rolling pin. Even thickness means even cooking — no dry edges, no raw middle.
3. Rub the chicken all over with the olive oil, cumin, smoked paprika and garlic granules. Season generously with salt and pepper before it hits the pan — seasoning the surface now is what gives you a proper crust.
4. Bloom is built in here: as the spice-rubbed chicken hits the hot pan, the cumin and paprika toast in the oil and turn fragrant within 30 seconds. Raw spices taste dusty; bloomed spices taste of themselves. Get a heavy frying pan or griddle ripping hot — almost smoking — and lay the chicken down in a single layer. Don't crowd the pan; cook in two batches if you need to, or the breasts steam instead of char. Leave them alone for 5–6 minutes a side until you've got deep griddle marks and the juices run clear, then rest on a board for 5 minutes.
5. While the chicken rests, whisk the lime juice, extra virgin olive oil, honey, soy sauce and sliced chilli together in a small bowl. Taste it — most of the salt comes from the soy, but adjust with a pinch more if it needs lifting. The honey should round off the lime, not dominate it.
6. Halve, stone and slice the avocados. Halve the cucumber lengthways, scrape the seeds out with a teaspoon, and slice on the diagonal. Thinly slice the radishes.
7. Toss the defrosted edamame with 2 tablespoons of the dressing and leave them for 5 minutes — they're bland on their own, and that splash of lime juice and soy gives them somewhere to go.
8. Toast the mixed seeds in a dry pan over medium heat for 2–3 minutes, shaking often, until they're golden and the sesame starts to pop. Watch them — they go from toasted to bitter fast. Tip onto a plate the moment they're ready.
9. Fluff the quinoa with a fork, taste it, and season again — quinoa drinks salt and you'll want more than you think. Divide between four bowls.
10. Arrange the avocado, cucumber, radishes and dressed edamame around the quinoa. Slice the rested chicken across the grain and lay it over the top, then spoon the remaining honey-lime dressing generously over everything so the warm pan juices and the dressing meet on the plate.
11. To serve: scatter the toasted seeds, torn coriander leaves and sliced spring onions over each bowl, tuck a lime wedge on the side for a final squeeze, and add small piles of kimchi, pickled red cabbage and a spoonful of miso and tahini dressing alongside.