recipe: chicken parmesan baked quinoa

The last time I made quinoa, it tasted delicious, but I totally burnt a bunch of it and my pan. This time, I actually go it right! Two times to perfection, hell yes!

I made an easy version of this Baked Chicken Parmesan Quinoa. [AKA why make your own sauce when you can buy a delicious jar of it for $2?]

WHAT YOU NEED:

• 1 cup of quinoa
• 2 cups of chicken broth
• 1 lb of boneless chicken breast
• 1 jar of your choice of pasta sauce
• 2/3 cup of mozzarella cheese
• 3 tbs bread crumbs
• 2 tbs parsley
• 2 tbs Parmesan cheese
• 1-2 tbs minced garlic
• 1 tbs cooking oil

WHAT YOU DO: 

1. In a large skillet, use the oil of your choice to cook the diced up chicken. [I added some italian seasonings just to bake extra flavor into the chicken]
2. Place the quinoa and broth into a pot and bring to a boil. Then reduce the heat and cover, and cook until all the broth is absorbed. [Time has varied for me. I think it was about 15 minutes this time, but keep stirring/checking on it so it doesn't burn.]
3. In a large bowl, combine the quinoa and chicken, and add sauce to your liking. I used about 3/4 of the jar. 
4. Spray or wipe a baking dish with oil and put half the mixture in, then half the mozzarella cheese. Repeat with the other half of each. 
5. Add bread crumbs and parsley on top, cover with foil, and bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes. Uncover and cook for an additional 5-10, or until cheese is starting to brown.

Mine didn't come out nearly as pretty, but it was definitely delicious.

It's really just another "healthier" way to make your traditional chicken parmesan! I'm into it. It'll definitely be made again.

love,
elizabethany

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my dinner: chili-garlic shrimp and quinoa

One look at Pinterest and you'd think the entire world is eating quinoa every night of their life. [BTW... if you're not familiar... it's pronounced keen-wah, which I embarrasingly learned after casually asking someone about kin-oh-uh.]

I decided to finally give it a whirl. I really should have come up with an easy dish to try first, but that's not my style. I had never even cooked raw shrimp before, but it was hella easy. So I found some plain quinoa [found by the rice, not the pasta] and this delicious recipe and went to work on a dinner for one.

Because I was too excited [/extremely flustered because reading and cooking is hard], I didn't get process-photos. Here's a look at the final dish, though!

The quinoa was a little undercooked but also burnt on the bottom of my pan, so I clearly need to read up on the proper ways to cook it, but the flavor was amazing! I didn't even use 1/4 of the butter sauce they recommended, and it was still one of the most flavorful things I've ever cooked.

Here is Pinch of Yum's recipe that feeds four, and a much better picture of a full dish.

YOU NEED: 

-1 tbs olive oil

-1 lb of raw shrimp [I used Nature's Promise frozen shrimp]. Leave only the tails on

-1/2 cup finely chopped onion

-5 teaspoons of minced garlic

-2 cups of uncooked quinoa

-4 cups of vegetable or chicken broth

-6 tbs butter [they recommended salted, but I used unsalted and thought it was almost too salty]

-2 tsp chili powder

-fresh parsley for garnishing

-I also added 2 sliced green onions

YOU DO: 

1. Heat the oil and saute your onions until soft, about 3-5 minutes

2. Add in 2 tsp of garlic and saute for about a minute. 

3. Add in the uncooked quinoa, 1 tbs of chili power, salt and pepper [to taste] and stir for about a minute so the flavor really gets in there. 

4. Now add the broth and bring to a boil. Bring down the heat and cover... cook for 15 minutes stirring regularly. [And keep and eye on it... mine burnt pretty quickly after the broth was dried up.]

5. While the quinoa is cooking, cook the shrimp. Melt 1 tbs of butter in a skillet then add the shrimp. Sprinkle with 1 tbs of chili powder and saute until slightly browned. [When almost done, add 1 tsp of garlic to the pan.]

6. Melt 5 tbsp of butter and 2 tsp of garlic in the microwave. This will be drizzled on top. [Like I said, you could use about 1/2 of this and be good]

7. Put the shrimp on the quinoa, and drizzle the sauce on top and VOILA! 

When I made this, I thought the calorie count was going to be through the roof, but it's only 330 calories per serving! Take out some of that butter sauce and it's actually a pretty healthy meal! 

If you have any tips for cooking quinoa to perfection, I'd pay you in love for them!

love,
elizabethany

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