Okay, so there's this fried chicken chain restaurant that honestly I couldn't tell you the last time I ate at. They have these horribly amazing 'famous bowls' that I used to get back in “the day”.

Fast-forward to today and I don't think that I could stomach sitting in that restaurants parking lot, much less eating anything that came out of it. Never mind that particular 'famous bowl' is nearly a whopping 800 calories and full of who-knows-what.

Even so, I decided to take on the task of re-creating that chicken bowl into one that I could eat and be proud of without feeling guilty.

To lighten this bowl up, one of the first things that I did was swap out the mashed potatoes on the bottom for my Cauliflower & Hominy Smash - which is one of my most favorite sides. I also added in more vegetables than just corn. Eat the rainbow, you know?

For the chicken, I was going to make my own Chicken Nuggets, but decided to go with some gluten-free all natural and organic frozen ones instead. Why? Mostly to save time with this dish. I wanted it to be something quick to toss together on a busy weeknight. The gluten-free part was merely because they were less in calories than the original non-gluten-free ones.

To top it all off I made my own super easy and super delicious brown gravy!

Did I mention that with all of my swaps and by cooking things myself (for the most part) I shaved off about 400 calories? In fact, I cut out more calories from this recipe than it ended up being!

Plus, I can't tell you how amazing and easy that brown gravy there is to make. Surely it can't be that simple. It is! It really and truly is. Of course, I used a natural beef base for mine to keep away from 'junking' it up with unneeded ingredients that I can't pronounce, but feel free to use bullion or base you feel comfortable with.

Healthified Chicken & Mash Bowl

Yield: 6

Author: The Skinny Fork (Amanda Plott)

Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 10 MinTotal time: 20 Min

A lightened up and healthified version of the chicken bowl at KFC. This one is made at home with better-for-you swaps and homemade gravy!

Ingredients

Brown Gravy

1 1/2 C. Water
3 Tsp. Beef Bullion
3 Tbsp. White Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 Tsp. Onion Powder
1/4 C. Light Butter

Bowl

Cauliflower & Hominy Smash, Prepared
2 C. Mixed Vegetables, Steamed
24 Gluten Free Chicken Nuggets (Or 12 Tenders), Cooked

Instructions

Place the ingredients for the gravy into a medium sauce pan and whisk over medium-high heat until the mixture begins to bubble and thicken.
Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly.
Place about 3/4 C. of the cauliflower smash in the bottom of each bowl and top with about 1/4 C. of the mixed vegetables.
Add the chicken nuggets over the top of the vegetables.
And finally top it all off with your gravy!
Enjoy right away.

Notes

Originally posted Nov. 11, 2015

Nutrition Facts

Calories

340.38

Fat (grams)

15.59

Sat. Fat (grams)

5.6

Carbs (grams)

36.47

Fiber (grams)

5.28

Net carbs

17.19

Sugar (grams)

2.92

Protein (grams)

16.12

Sodium (milligrams)

4311.15

Cholesterol (grams)

49.82

Nutritional Claims: High Fiber • Egg Free • Peanut Free • Soy Free • Fish Free • Shellfish Free • Pork Free • Crustacean Free •Celery Free • Mustard Free • Sesame Free • Lupine Free • Mollusk Free • Alcohol Free • No Sugar Added •Sulphite Free