{Recipe} Easy Chicken & Quinoa

My husband's grandmother makes the most amazing Chicken & Rice. I mean, like, she has to make a double batch - one of which is just for me. It's so good, I'm afraid to know what's actually in it, but that didn't stop me from trying to make a healthy version of my own. I'm not gonna lie, I straight. up. nailed it. Husband and kids love it. I love it. You'll love it.

Ingredients:

• 3 diced, cooked chicken breasts (you can grill, bake, boil, whatever.)
• Olive oil 
• 1/2 cup (or so) of diced carrots
• 1/4 cup (or so) of diced onions
• 1/4 cup (or so) of diced celery
• My husband can detect celery and onion from a mile away so, I use dried Mirepoix instead (which I get at my local Schnuck's. I tried to find an online source with to no avail. Sorry)
• Garlic (I always use the pureed squeeze garlic and I just used a good squeeze, probably 2t. or so)
• 2 cups low sodium chicken broth
• 1 cup quinoa (I use pre-rinsed)
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar-jack cheese
• Parsley (I used dried)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Cook your chicken. I trimmed and boiled mine (they were still semi-frozen, thanks to my stellar memory and forgetting to pull the chicken out of the freezer before 2pm) in seasoned water for about 45 minutes.
2. Drizzle some olive oil into a dutch oven (or similar type of pan) and throw in your veggies, s&p, garlic and mirepoix (if using) and saute for a few minutes until softened.
3. Throw in your chicken and parsley (I used probably a teaspoon)
4. Then add your chicken broth and quinoa
5. Stir to combine, bring to a boil, then cover and let simmer until quinoa is done - about 20 minutes or so. Just watch it (you can tell when it's done when it looks like it's kind of 'popped open'. Similar to brown rice.)
6. Toss in the cheese and stir until melted and combined.

The things I love about this recipe are:

1. It's clean and wheat-free
2. It's filling (and for me, that is quite a feat)
3. It tastes like it shouldn't be healthy
4. The husband and kids loved it
5. It's EASY and stuff I always have in the freezer or pantry
6. It makes great leftovers
7. It's totally tweakable in terms of serving sizes and tastes

Enjoy!

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