Dijon Chicken & Quinoa Skillet with Kale & Cranberries: Kale is King, apparently

Apparently kale is all the rage, has been all the rage as some great super food for some time now. Apparently kale is king.  I'm not much of a trendsetter as anyone can attest to by just looking in my closet.  Scientific studies (must be true if they are scientific) say that it's the most nutrient packed food out there: it's chocked full of vitamin C, vitamin K (K for kale I guess), antioxidants, cancer fighting substances of some sort, various minerals...all that and it's low cal to boot. Yippee for kale. It's nice that it's healthy, that's a big perk for me when choosing recipes obviously. But it also has to taste good, great in fact.  And this recipe does. I will admit that generally I am not a huge kale fan. I sometimes find it a bit tough and bitter. But this is a delicious recipe. And it's super quick to prepare making it a perfect healthy meal for the middle of the week. It's even delicious cold the next day for lunch (I will admit that I was too lazy to heat it up, but hey, I gained valuable information to pass on to you by doing it, sometimes it's ok to be lazy.)

So yippee for kale.  Especially in this recipe. Who knows...I may even seek out more kale recipes to test out. But I won't become a trendsetter. Nope not me. All hail King Kale: a delicious superfood. Eat healthy. Cheers from Bistro 164.

Dijon Chicken and Quinoa Skillet with Kale and Cranberries

from a Clean Eating Recipe

Ingredients

5 tsps olive oil, divided

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 2" pieces

sea salt and ground pepper to taste

1 cup quinoa, rinsed (I used a combo of red and black quinoa for colour)

5 oz kale (or 5 cups packed)

3 tbsps dijon mustard

2 tbsps maple syrup

1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

1/3 cup dried cranberries

1/3 cup sliced almonds

Directions

Heat on medium-high 2 tsps of the olive oil in a large skillet or wok. Season the diced chicken with salt and pepper and saute in pan until lightly brown, about 3-4 minutes. Stir in the rinsed quinoa, add 1 3/4 cups water. Increase temperature to high, cover and bring to a boil. Reduce to medium and simmer, with lid on, for about 15 minutes or so. Stir occasionally.

Add about 1/2 of the kale to the skillet, cover, and cook for about 1 minute, until the kale is tender. Add the remaining kale and cook 4-6 minutes longer. Remove from heat. If required, add more liquid.

In a small bowl, mix together the dijon mustard, syrup, lemon juice and 3 tsps of olive oil. Add about half of the mustard sauce, the cranberries and the sliced almonds. Stir mixture together. Plate and drizzle the remainder of the mustard sauce on top. Serve warm.