The Great Quinoa Adventure!

Last night, as usual I was finding it hard to sleep.  So you find yourself browsing Pinterest for hours on end.  I stumbled upon this recipe for baked parmesan quinoa & this lunchtime I wanted to find out how truly scrumptious it really was. 

I had some quinoa in the cupboard (a year out of date but after 10minutes googling I discovered that it can have shelf life of 2-3 years after its printed date, thanks eatbydate*!)


Ingredients

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced (i used 2 large cloves and chopped finely)
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce 
1 (15 oz) can no salt added diced tomatoes (i just used 1 can of plum tomatoes in sauce)
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (left these out as did not have any!)
basil and oregano, to taste (I used about 1/4 cup total) (again i used sage & oregano!)
1 cup quinoa, uncooked
2 cups water
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup (4 oz) fresh mozzarella cheese, shredded and divided ( i also used mature cheddar instead of mozzarella!)
1 oz parmigiano-reggiano or pecorino romano, shredded
2 Tbsp breadcrumbs (optional, exclude to make gluten-free) (I left these out as well!!!)

I made the quinoa first - 2 cups of water & the quinoa, bring to boil and simmered for about 20minutes. Drained & left to cool.
Water In a pan, bring to boil & simmer with chicken breasts in for 5 minutes, turn and repeat for another 5minutes
In a pan, gently cook the chopped onion until soft, add the garlic (30 seconds) I added the balsamic and cooked until absorbed.  
Add the tomatoes, season with pepper & herbs, I also splashed some white wine in (make sure you burn off the alcohol slow simmer for 10min or so) 
Add chicken and then quinoa. 
Transfer half to baking dish and add grated cheese of choice (mozzarella,cheddar etc) then the rest of the sauce then top with rest of cheese.  Cover with foil and bake in oven (375 or 170 fan) for around 10/15minutes or until as desired! 

As you can see I enjoyed this thoroughly, very tasty, although I would of used fresh herbs if i could of & possibly half a tin of tomatoes on top of that 1 can I used. Overall a lovely different dish and quinoa will be a staple in my kitchen from now on!! 

love
harrietflorence
x

References

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/127086020710859428/
http://www.eatbydate.com/grains/quinoa/
http://preventionrd.com/2012/05/money-matters-baked-quinoa-and-chicken-parmesan/