This delicious warm shrimp quinoa bowl is a light-tasting meal that’s quick and easy to prepare. It’s full of vibrant flavours and made with simple ingredients, like fresh lime juice, avocado, and sweet cherry tomatoes. The nutty, protein-rich quinoa, is a nutritious substitution for simple white rice and soaks up all the flavours of the fresh ingredients. Serve this healthy summer-inspired meal for lunch, at a family barbecue or packed up for a picnic at the park with the kids.

Rice bowls (or in this case, quinoa bowls) will revolutionize your notion of what is a quick dinner. In fact, they will save your life. Well, not literally. They will however, save your life in terms of how much less of it will be spent in the kitchen! Rice bowls unify all those ingredients wasting away in the fridge. Plus, tossing everything into one bowl means less kitchen clean-up. Have I reeled you in yet? We all know that one less dish to wash on a busy and exhausting weeknight is almost like winning the lottery, right?

A little advanced planning is necessary in order to make this 15-minute meal. My regular Sunday prep includes cooking up a pot of rice or quinoa (or both), which I then store in the fridge as a base for meals throughout the week. My weekly recipes often alternate between Tex-Mex-inspired-with salsa, black beans, avocado, corn, scallions, salmon with pesto and pine nuts, and a Middle-Eastern-inspired lentil bowl with raisins, caramelized onions, and cumin. This recipe is foolproof. Simply add your condiment of choice-the flavour combinations are endless, and serve.

On a side note, Murphy’s Law would have it that the one time I prepare a meal and purposefully double the recipe for lunch leftovers the following day, my kids decide that they do in fact, like shrimp. *Sigh* I’m also quite certain that had I prepared this for the kids intentionally, it wouldn’t have been as well-received. Why does everything look so much tastier to them….when it’s not on their own plates?! Needless to say, despite my frustration over the kids ‘stealing’ my leftovers (which in turn required me to whip up another quick lunch), I’m happy that this warm shrimp quinoa bowl has been toddler-approved and can now be added to my recipe rotation.

If you try this recipe (and love it!) be sure to snap a pic and tag me on Instagram with #bitesforfoodies so I can see your creation!