Oven Baked Veggie Chicken with Toasted Almond Quinoa

So this is what I ended up with for dinner a few nights ago when I opened my refrigerator and realized in a couple of days most of the veggies in there will probably end up in the trash. So I pulled out my celery, yellow pepper, tomatoes and onions and went to work. Let's just say the end result was very satisfying.

I can officially say we've welcomed Quinoa to our family also. I've heard a lot about it especially from a friend of mine. I've been meaning to try it, but her urge and the many conversations we had about it made it happen sooner than later. The first time I made it, I made it plain just to get a taste for it and the texture. My first impression was that it was somewhere in between rice, cous-cous and oatmeal; it had characteristics that reminded me of all three. I actually liked and enjoyed it so I knew it was here to stay for me, but I still had to get hubby to try it. I was a little skeptical about putting this in front of him because he absolutely hates cous-cous. I made that for him once and never again. So this being comparable to cous-cous in a way, I wasn't sure if he'd like it or not. To my surprise, he loved and enjoyed it. I'm not quite sure if he likes the almond or quinoa more, but that combination works perfectly for him. So quinoa has become a new addition to our menu, giving us one more option other than rice or potato in applicable instances. 

The quinoa recipe I made was actually adapted from the packet I bought as I'm still navigating my way through finding/coming up with quinoa recipes that works for us. It does look like the possibilities are endless from what I've seen so far though. Some include quinoa burger, cookies, pancake, salad..etc. Look like people are putting it in everything and making just about anything out of it.

I won't bore you with the amazing health and nutritional facts of quinoa on here, but I'll suggest you go read up on it and if you haven't yet, give it a try.

Have a great weekend!

The juice comes in handy for the Quinoa

Veggie Chicken Ingredients

1 medium yellow pepper, sliced
1 medium onion, sliced
1 medium tomato, diced
3-4 celery sticks diced
3-4 carrot sticks, diced
3 medium chicken breast, cut into thin strip
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp crushed red pepper
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil

Quinoa Ingredients
1/2 cup sliced almond
1 cup quinoa
1 tsp olive oil
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups water

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
2. Wash, slice and dice yellow pepper, onion, tomato, celery and carrot. Combine and set aside. Cut chicken into thin strips and place into a baking dish
3. Add veggies, cayenne pepper, crushed pepper, oregano, garlic powder, nutmeg, salt and olive to chicken. Toss and mix with hands until all ingredients are well blended
4. Place in oven and bake 25-30 minutes or until chicken is well done
5. Heat a dry skillet on low-medium, toast sliced almond till golden brown. Add quinoa and toasted few more minutes till quinoa starts to turn dark about 5 minutes, stirring frequently
6. In a separate pot, bring 2 cups of water, olive oil, bay leaf and salt to boil on medium heat. Add toasted almonds and quinoa.
7. Return to boil then reduce heat to low and allow quinoa to simmer till tender and water is dried up.
8. Serve and enjoy!