Quinoa Crusted Chicken

After class last week, I was on my way to get some groceries and I ran into my friend Natasha. She had  4 bags of groceries because she had just completed her weekly grocery shop and so I asked her what she was making for dinner because I was so tired and feeling blah after writing an exam and having a pretty busy weekend!  She told me she was thinking of making chicken parmesan. Hello. Immediately my tongue was salivating over breaded chicken, pasta sauce and pasta. Although thats not what I quite had in mind…

Last week it was just me in the apartment as my partner is back at his parents house looking after the dogs while they are away in Florida (ah, the life). While being alone is nice, it’s also great because I get to make a complete mess of my kitchen without him standing in the corner looking horrified (mostly because he is usually the one who cleans it up … tehe). On the flip side, however, no one can be my taste tester.

I came up with this recipe while roaming around the grocery store thinking about how I can make a breaded chicken without the bread. You already know the health benefits of quinoa, so today I just leave you with a simply delicious recipe.

Quinoa Crusted Chicken

Ingredients: 
2 organic, grass fed chicken breasts
1 cup quinoa, cooked as directed
2 tbsp fresh dill, chopped
3 tbsp fresh curly parsley, chopped
Juice of half a lemon
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp turmeric
salt & pepper to taste
Directions:
Soak and cook your quinoa as directed. Preheat your oven to 375F.  Once the quinoa is cooked, let it cool cool, and as it is cooling chop up your fresh herbs. Once quinoa is a little cooled, add dill and parsley, mix it around, add cayenne and turmeric. Note: Cayenne can be really HOT, if you are not too used to it, try adding a little bit to taste and continue adding until your desired spice – a little goes a long way! Add your salt, pepper, lemon juice and mix the quinoa around so everything is evenly distributed. Crack your eggs and whisk them in a bowl.  Cut up each chicken breast into strips. Coat each strip in the egg wash and then coat your chicken with quinoa – I was very liberal with the amount of quinoa I added, I smushed it and the egg helped adhere the quinoa to the chicken! I placed the coated pieces of chicken on an oiled baking sheet and stuck them in the oven for about 40 minutes, flipping them once half way through. I broiled the chicken for the last few minutes because I like things to be crispy and the broil gave the chicken a nice golden brown colour.

These were absolutely delicious and such a great gluten free alternative to breaded chicken. I had this with a giant salad but maybe one I day I will try it with tomato sauce and some kind of pasta… yummmmm.

Bon Appétit!

Kasia