By The condo is too small. I have said this every winter for four years, and now I am saying it in May, because the pandemic has stretched us out — James's home office is a folding table in the bedroom, my home office is the dining room, and we walk around each other like people in a very choreographed apartment ballet. We have been talking about looking at houses. Not seriously. Seriously-adjacent. Windows-open, no-tabs-closed, Zillow-is-on-both-our-phones talk. Wallingford. Maple Leaf. Ravenna. Anywhere with a yard.
James said on Thursday, "If we're going to do it, we should do it before the market gets weirder." I said, "The market is already weirder." He said, "It's going to get even weirder." I said, "We are not ready for a house because we are not married yet." He looked at me across the dining-room-office and said, "We could be." I said, "James." He said, "I'm just saying. We could be." I said, "I'm not ready to have the marriage conversation this week." He said, "Okay. But it's on the table." We went back to our laptops. It was the first real mention. I do not know if he was testing me or floating a trial balloon or being honest, but I noticed that I was not panicked, which was maybe the most surprising thing.
I made bibimbap on Wednesday. Leftover rice, whatever vegetables were in the fridge (spinach blanched with sesame, zucchini sautéed, shredded carrot, kimchi, bean sprouts, a fried egg), gochujang sauce. Bibimbap is the dish I cook when I want to feel like I am doing something substantial without actually committing to a recipe. It is the dish of the well-stocked fridge and the tired cook. James said it was the best bibimbap I had made yet. I think he was being generous. I think he was trying to be kind after the Thursday house conversation without seeming like he was trying to be kind. James is a product manager. He knows what he is doing.
Ten weeks. No email. Normal range. Normal range. I am aware that if the email arrives and the match is negative I will grieve for months. I am aware that if the email arrives and the match is positive I will grieve for months. I am aware that the grief is coming either way. Dr. Yoon said once that grief is not a thing to be avoided but a thing to be respected, and I thought that was the most Dr. Yoon sentence she had ever said, and it has stuck with me.
Karen's physical therapy is going well. She is back to using two hands on a mug most days, but the progression remains slow. David has built her a little stand in the kitchen to hold her recipe cards upright so she can cook without having to hold the card. David, Boeing engineer, builds his wife a recipe card stand. I took a picture of it and did not post it anywhere. Some love deserves privacy.
The recipe this week is bibimbap. The everything-bowl. The I-don't-know-what-to-cook cook. The tired-hands, full-fridge, still-in-love dish. Stir, eat, let the gochujang do the work.
Bibimbap is my everything-bowl—the dish that asks nothing of me except that I open the fridge and pay attention. If you don’t have the banchan set up or the gochujang on hand, this Tropical Chicken Cauliflower Rice Bowl scratches exactly the same itch: a base, some protein, bright toppings, a sauce that does the heavy lifting. It’s the kind of meal you make on a Wednesday when James is still at his folding-table desk and you just need dinner to be good without being a project.
Tropical Chicken Cauliflower Rice Bowls
Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 20 min | Total Time: 35 min | Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 (12 oz) bag frozen riced cauliflower
- 1 cup fresh or canned pineapple chunks, drained
- 1 cup shredded red cabbage
- 1 medium avocado, sliced
- 1/2 cup shredded carrots
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
- For the sauce: 3 tablespoons soy sauce (or tamari for gluten-free)
- 2 tablespoons lime juice (about 1 lime)
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
Instructions
- Make the sauce. Whisk together soy sauce, lime juice, honey, sesame oil, ginger, and red pepper flakes in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Cook the chicken. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season chicken pieces with garlic powder, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 8–10 minutes until cooked through and lightly browned. Pour half the sauce over the chicken, toss to coat, and cook 1 more minute. Remove from heat.
- Cook the cauliflower rice. In a separate skillet or in the microwave, cook frozen riced cauliflower according to package directions until tender, about 5–7 minutes. Season lightly with salt.
- Warm the pineapple. If desired, add pineapple chunks to the chicken skillet off heat and stir gently to warm through. This is optional—cold pineapple works beautifully too.
- Assemble the bowls. Divide cauliflower rice among four bowls. Top each with sauced chicken and pineapple, then arrange red cabbage, avocado slices, shredded carrots, cilantro, and green onions alongside.
- Finish and serve. Drizzle remaining sauce over each assembled bowl. Serve immediately.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 370 | Protein: 36g | Fat: 16g | Carbs: 22g | Fiber: 6g | Sodium: 680mg