Week 78: Chicken Fried Quinoa

This week Abby read my mind. Just days before we got together to cook, I had expressed my desire to try to make chicken fried rice. When Abby showed up at my house telling me that we were making that, ONLY BETTER because we would be using quinoa instead of rice, I was so excited. I do love my quinoa.

This recipe was easy, and was yummy both right away and for lunch for the next couple of days. Especially drenched in soy sauce. Mmmm...salt...

I think next time I'd like to add more vegetables. Maybe some broccoli and sugar snap peas would be good.

Year of Yum Rating: 4 STARS

INGREDIENTS

2 cups cooked quinoa
½ lb chicken cut into cubes
1/3 cup pre-cooked fresh corn cut from the cob
1/3 cup pre-cooked fresh peas
1/3 cup cut diced carrots
2 eggs
2-3 tbsp green onions diced (use as much as you prefer)
1 tbsp soy sauce (plus more to taste after cooking)
1 can sliced water chestnuts (we used about 3/4 of the can)
Olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

• Cook the quinoa first and let it stand and cool down. It’s important to let the quinoa sit in its water for at least ½ an hour before you start cooking it so you get no bitter taste.

• In a saucepan big enough to hold all the Quinoa Fried Rice, heat some oil and then stir fry the chicken until it’s mostly cooked. Add salt & pepper to taste.

• Add in the carrots, and sautee about a minute with the chicken to start softening the carrots up a bit.

• Add in the peas and corn and sautee with the chicken and carrots for about a minute.

• Scramble the eggs in a cup and then pour in with the chicken, carrots, peas, and corn. It is important to cook the scramble eggs before adding in the quinoa. If you pour the raw egg onto the quinoa, the quinoa will get soggy.

• When the eggs are scrambled, pour in the quinoa, water chestnuts, and the green onions along with the soy sauce. Mix all ingredients together well. Let cook in pan, stirring continually for about 1-2 minutes.