Quick and Easy Chipotle Quinoa with Chicken

The sous chef and I have been working extra hard lately at our regular paying jobs. Living the dream as a co-worker of mine loves to say. When we get home late, tired, maybe slightly cranky, most definitely hungry, all we want to do is to change into our comfy clothes (or pjs...most often we cut to the chase and it's pjs), grab some grub and crawl into bed to cocoon. We are always super excited and so proud of ourselves when all this can happen before 7 pm. It's kinda like a competition every night to see if we can beat the record from the previous night.  High fives all around. It occurs every year around this time it seems as Daylight Savings Time ends.  In order to facilitate this ritual of ours, we need to find something quick for dinner, to help nourish our souls and bodies as we recharge over night, making it possible for us to emerge the next morning transformed and re-energized, ready to tackle a new day.  Or to just help get rid of our "hangries."  That's more often the case. Whichever way you look at it we want food and we want it now. 

I found this recipe on All-Recipes.com (such a good resource for us recreational cooks) and modified it just slightly.  It cooks in one skillet making clean up a snap (love that!) You can make it vegetarian/vegan by using tofu if you wish and vegetable broth instead of chicken broth. I happened to have some leftover chicken from a roast I did on the weekend and I wanted to use it up.  I just threw it in there at the end to heat up. Honestly you don't even need meat or tofu... the quinoa is nutritious and filling enough. I love chipotle so I threw some of that in there as well. I would have loved to have some cilantro for garnishing, unfortunately none was to be had. But if you have it, use it.  And what meal is complete without a little bit of cheese melted on top (my sous chef is a cheese-oholic....I think he needs an intervention... is there a program for that somewhere???) It's super easy and quick and most importantly healthy and delicious. Dishes were thrown into the dishwasher, leftovers put away, and before you know it a new record was being set. High fives all around. 

Cheers from Bistro 164! 

Quick and Easy Chipotle Quinoa with Chicken

based on an All-Recipes recipe

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2-1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, chopped, with a wee dollop of sauce too

1- 28 oz can of diced tomatoes

1 can of black beans, rinsed

1 cup of frozen corn

1 cup of chicken or vegetable broth

1 tbsp of diced garlic in oil (or 2 cloves minced)

1 cup of tri-coloured quinoa, rinsed well

2 heaping tsps of chile powder

1/2 tsp cumin

salt and pepper to taste

2 cups of diced chicken breast or tofu if desired (I used some leftover chicken that I had, cut into bite sized pieces, and added it at the end while the quinoa was cooking)

the juice from 1 lime

cilantro, chopped

shredded cheese for garnishing

Directions

Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high. Add the garlic and heat for about 1 minute. Add in the chicken (or tofu) and cook until nicely browned. Stir in the tomatoes, corn, black beans, broth, chipotle pepper, and spices.  Cover and bring to a boil. Then add in the quinoa, reduce heat to a simmer, cover again and cook for about 20 minutes.  Once the quinoa is cooked, add in the lime juice. Garnish with chopped cilantro and cheese.