Squash Quinoa and Chicken

I kind of created this recipe from an idea in my head and it turned out awesome! I have been seeing a lot of summer quinoa salads and things like that and I decided, why not make my own? This takes about 30 min to prepare and is very delicious. You can adjust the portions to how many people you have. I had enough of the veggie quinoa for leftovers but I only made enough chicken for the initial meal. This is very lean, high in protein and fiber, and feels so comforting for a healthy meal!

Ingredients:

boneless, skinless chicken breast

1/2 Cup dry quinoa

1/2 cup almonds

1 bell pepper (yellow, orange, or red)

1/2 an onion

1 cup zucchini (chopped)

1 cup yellow squash (chopped)

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon dill

1/4 Cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 Cup red or white wine (whatever you have in the house)

fresh basil leaves (if you don't have this you can use dried or just opt out)

Directions:

So the morning I decided to make this I put the chicken breasts in a glass baking dish with the wine and a tablespoon of evoo. I also seasoned it with salt, pepper, some dill and some fresh basil leaves. I let it sit in the fridge covered all day till I made it that night. You don't have to do this, I just did it so I wouldn't have to mess with it later. When you are ready to cook the chicken, set your oven to 375 degrees and cook the chicken for about 35 minutes covered with foil.

First, chop up your onion. I just did largish chunks of onion. You want to cut all the veggies around a similar size. I heated a large pan on med/low heat with a few tablespoons of olive oil. When that began to heat I added the minced garlic. keep it moving around so it doesn't burn. Add the onion. Next chop up your bell pepper, zucchini and squash. When your onions have cooked down till they are fairly soft and translucent, add the bell pepper, squash and zuchhini. While this is cooking you can start cooking your quinoa according to the package directions. (it usually will take around 15 to 20 min so plan to cook it when your chicken has about 20 min left.) You can add your seasonings; paprika, cumin, dill, salt and pepper. While this is cooking, roughly chop the almonds and put them in a dry nonstick pan on low heat. this is just to toast them and bring out the natural oils.

Once the quinoa is done cooking, add it to the pan with the veggies. You can then add the lemon juice and add more seasoning if you would like. When the chicken is ready, serve it all up together and top the quinoa with the almonds and some fresh basil. You're done!

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