Sweet & Savory Chicken Quinoa
By
RC :)
@rcrc
16
Recipe and picture appeared in last Sunday's weekly flyer for Giant Food Stores. I made a few substitutions, additions and omissions and have noted my changes in the directions.
Ingredients
- 1
- orange (for juice and zest)
- 1 c
- quinoa
- 2 1/4 c
- water (divided)
- 1/2 tsp
- ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp
- ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp
- ground coriander
- 1/2 c
- golden raisins
- 1/3 c
- dried cherries
- 2 c
- grilled boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into chunks
- 3 Tbsp
- vegetable oil
- 1 Tbsp
- rice vinegar
- ** see note below for modifications
Step-By-Step
1Using a vegetable peeler, remove a 3-inch strip of peel from the orange. Place peel and 1 1/4 cups water in a medium saucepan; bring to boiling over medium-high heat. Stir in quinoa, ginger, cinnamon and coriander; reduce heat to low. Cook, covered, 15 to 20 minutes or until quinoa is tender. Remove from heat; discard orange peel.
2Meanwhile, in a medium bowl combine raisins, cherries and 1 cup hot water; stir. Let stand 15 minutes. Drain; set aside.
3In a large bowl combine quinoa, raisins, cherries and chicken. Finely grate remaining orange peel to measure 1/2 teaspoon zest; add to bowl.
4Cut orange in half; squeeze 1/2 cup juice. In a small bowl whisk together orange juice, zest, oil and vinegar. Drizzle over cooked quinoa; toss to coat and serve.
5** NOTE - My modifications - Used regular raisins and cranberries in place of golden raisins and cherries (because I had them). Cut 2 raw chicken breasts into strips and seasoned with garlic powder and pepper. Browned those in 1 tbls. olive oil. Browned 1/4 c. chopped onion and 1 clove of garlic in same pan when chicken was cooked. Added all of that at the point where you add the chicken. Added 1 extra teaspoon of olive oil to the dressing - DID NOT use 3 tbls. of oil. Seasoned with some additional black pepper.
