We Got Food at Home: Budget-Friendly CAVA-Inspired Mediterranean Bowl Recipe

Welcome to our new home cooking series, We Got Food at Home — where we create budget-friendly remixes to our favorite to-go foods with a Station 1923 twist, of course. Join our email list and get these recipes delivered right to your inbox!

 

Although we're first and foremost #TeamWeGotFoodatHome, we do still order out from time to time. It's convenient (and delicious), but dropping $30 here and $45 there adds up — fast. Especially when we're trying to eat on the healthier side.

Enter our latest obsession: homemade Mediterranean bowls inspired by CAVA. 

 

These bowls are our take on the hearty, healthy Mediterranean grain bowls made with a Station 1923 spin. We believe in shopping locally, using seasonal produce, using what you have at home, and not running around for a whole bunch of specialty ingredients.

 

We spent $39.56 (about the cost for both of us to eat out) to make ten bowls (yes, ten!) for this recipe. That's less than $4 per bowl!

 

That said, these bowls are amazing and we cannot get enough. Since this CAVA-inspired grain bowl recipe has multiple parts, we've broken it down by component. Some measurements may not be exact, so feel free to interpret and adjust to your tastes!

Mediterranean-Style Yogurt Marinated Chicken

The centerpiece of the bowl! This chicken is juicy, tender, and packed with flavor.

 

Ingredients

• 4lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 1-1 and 1/2 cups nonfat plain Greek yogurt
• 4-5 tablespoons (or more) Station 1923 All Aboard! Everyday Seasoning
• 1-2 tablespoons (or more) Station 1923 Rojo Smoke All-Purpose Seasoning
• 1  lime, juiced
• 1 blood orange, juiced
• 1-2 tablespoons oil of choice (we used olive oil)
• 4 cloves minced garlic (we used frozen cubes)
• 2 teaspoons parsley, minced (we used frozen cubes)
• 2 teaspoons cilantro, minced (we used frozen cubes)

Note: Although most Mediterranean-style recipes call for lemon juice, use whatever citrus you have on hand. We just so happened to have limes and blood oranges that needed to be used up.

 

Instructions

In a large mixing bowl, combine the all of the above ingredients and mix thoroughly until all pieces of chicken are thoroughly coated in the Greek yogurt marinade.

Feel free to adjust the amount of Greek yogurt, All Aboard! Everyday Seasoning, and Rojo Smoke as needed — although we recommend a 70/30 ratio of All Aboard! to Rojo Smoke. We want jusssst enough of that cumin and herb flavor to come through, without overpowering the onion, garlic, peppers, and herbs in All Aboard! Everyday Seasoning.

 

Once all of the chicken is coated, cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes while you prep the other items for your CAVA-inspired bowls.

Once you're ready to cook, preheat a large skillet, flat top, or grill pan over a medium-high flame with enough oil to ensure the chicken won't stick. Once the skillet is hot, drop in your chicken and let it sear until a deep brown crust develops.

 

Flip, and finish cooking on the other side (reducing heat if necessary). Once the boneless skinless thighs are cooked to at least 175°F internally, remove from the skillet and repeat for the rest of the chicken.

 

Mediterranean-Style Saffron Rice

Easy peasy rice with light flavor serves as the base of your Mediterranean-style bowl. We prepared ours in the Instant Pot; adjust the rice to water ratio for your preferred cooking style. Most copycat recipes use lemon juice instead of lime, but we're team use what you already have.

Ingredients

• 2 cups brown rice (we used jasmine)
• 2 cups water
• 7-8 saffron threads (optional, but ads subtle flavor and yellow color)
• 2 teaspoons cilantro, minced (we used frozen cubes)
• juice of 1 lime
• 2-3 pinches salt, to taste

 

Instructions

Prepare your rice with the water ratio that you'd normally would. To the water, add the saffron threads and a pinch of salt. Stir lightly and cook.

 

Once the rice is done, while it's still hot, add cilantro, lime juice, and a couple more pinches of salt, stirring vigorously to incorporate. Taste and adjust salt as needed. Set aside to cool until bowl assembly time.

CAVA-Inspired Roasted Sheet Pan Vegetables

So simple, so delicious. You really can't mess this up!

 

Ingredients

• 6-8 carrots, whole
• 2-3 dozen Brussels sprouts
• 1/2 head Cauliflower (we didn't include, but you can!)
• 1-2 pinches of salt
• 1-2 pinches of pepper
• 2-3 teaspoons oil (we used olive oil)

 

Note: We used fresh vegetables from our local farmer's market. Frozen vegetables can work, though they may take a bit longer to roast and not brown as much.

 

Instructions

Preheat oven to 450°F. Clean and dry all fresh vegetables with a paper towel. Peel and dice carrots, and slice Brussels sprouts down to the stem. If using cauliflower, chop into small pieces.

 

Cover a large baking sheet with foil, and lightly drizzle with oil. Add chopped vegetables and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and a bit more olive oil. Hand toss to evenly coat and distribute, then spread them in a flat layer across the pan. 

Toppings: Roasted Corn, Pickled Red Cabbage, and Cucumber-less Tzatziki

Admittedly, these were less recipes and more vibes - so take the general guidance below and make them your own. Or go the store-bought route!

Skillet Roasted Corn

We drained a large can of corn and dropped it into a piping-hot skillet with a pinch of salt, a few pinches of pepper, and about a teaspoon of honey, stirring occasionally until pieces began to brown and char.

 

Quick Pickled Red Cabbage

We cut about 1/3 of a large head of red cabbaged into thin slices and stuffed it into a sterilized mason jar. In a small pan, we brought 1 cup of water, 2 tablespoons of turbinado sugar, 2 teaspoons of flakey sea salt, and a pinch of black pepper to a simmer.

 

Once the salt and sugar dissolved, we poured it directly into the mason jar and topped it with 1/2 cup of distilled white vinegar and 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar. We also threw a few Trader Joe's hot & spicy jalapeños (and some of the juice) into the mix. See? Just vibes.

 

Next we screwed on the lid tight and turned the mason jar a few times to fully mix everything. Then we removed the lid so the quick pickles could cool slightly before transferring to the fridge.

 

Cucumber-Less Tzatziki

In a small jar we combined about a cup of nonfat plain Greek yogurt, 2 minced garlic cloves, 1 teaspoon of minced parsley, lemon powder, a few pinches of salt, a pinch of pepper, and a heaping spoonful of dill. 

Stir, taste, and adjust to your liking.

The Receipts

Once we chopped, measured, and prepped out everything above, we had enough to make ten meal prep containers of CAVA-inspired goodness.

Although we had everything at home except the chicken, here's a breakdown of the approximate costs of everything we used (except pantry staples like oil, vinegar, sugar, salt, and pepper):

• chicken: $16
• Greek yogurt: $2.33 (about 1/3 of a 48oz container)
• Station 1923 All Aboard! Everyday Seasoning: $2 (approximate)
• Station 1923 Rojo Smoke All-Purpose Seasoning: $1 (approximate)
• blood orange: $1.50
• lime: $0.38
• Brussels sprouts: $5
• carrots: $2
• cabbage: $1 (1/3 of a large head)
• brown jasmine rice: $2 (half a bag)
• saffron threads: $1 (a few threads from a $6 jar at Trader Joe's)
• frozen minced garlic: $1.01
• frozen minced cilantro: $0.68
• frozen minced parsley: $0.68
• lemon powder: $0.36
• dried dill: $0.29
• frozen broccoli: $2.33 (I ran out of roasted veggies and had to improvise)

Grand Total: $39.56 (our last CAVA order receipt and that total was $39.14)

So yeah, we got food at home fam!

Shop Station 1923 All Aboard! Everyday Seasoning

Shop Station 1923 Rojo Smoke All-Purpose Seasoning