Chicken and Quinoa Bowl

Here's a bowl that's full of veggies and chicken. Feel free to use pork loin if you prefer. Or, use marinated and grilled tofu if you want to go vegetarian on this one.  I like the combination of textures and flavors in this one. The edamame remains slightly crunchy, but the cooked vegetables are creamy. The vegetables are a perfect foil to the slight blackening of the chicken. Overall, the quinoa provides more crunchiness than the usual rice.

Ingredients:

1 package quinoa/rice mix or 1 cup leftover, cooked quinoa
2/3 cup frozen, shelled edamame, defrosted in the microwave
1 Tbs olive oil
10 mushrooms, quartered
5 yellow beets, peeled and quartered
1/2 cup red pepper, cut into large cubes
1/2 cup sweet onion, cut lengthwise into long strips
1 tsp olive oil
1 chicken breast, dredged in a mixture of:
    1 Tbs paprika
    1/4 tsp black pepper
    1/4 tsp ground thyme
    1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp fresh herbs, such as thyme, oregano, basil, parsley, or a combination.

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Cook the quinoa rice mixture according to package directions. Defrost the edamame in the microwave, then cook on high for 1 minute, until the edamame is no longer cold. Mix the mushrooms, beets, red pepper, and onion in the tablespoon of olive oil. Spread on a baking sheet and bake for about 30 minutes, stirring after 15 minutes. The vegetables should be easily pierced with a fork. Meanwhile cook the chicken by pouring the teaspoon of olive oil into a heavy bottomed skillet. Dredge the chicken in the spice mixture. Set the skillet on a medium hot burner, adding the chicken and cooking until just no longer pink in the middle, about 5 minutes per side, depending of the size of the breast. Slice the chicken breast into 1/2 inch thick sliced.

To serve, place 1/2 cup of the quinoa in the bottom of a bowl. Top with half of the roasted vegetable, half of the edamame, and half of the chicken breast. Top it all with 1 teaspoon of chopped fresh herbs. Enjoy!

Serves 2

Stealthy Cooking Tip: Serving a bowl is the perfect way to ensure portion control! If you think this won't fill you up, serve with a large salad.