[Urbane Guerrilla]

Quinoa One Skillet Meal, or, Garlic Chicken Stir Fry with Quinoa, Peppers, and Basil

Had some quinoa in a box, and there was a recipe on the back of the box. It's pretty flexible, turns out. I substituted beef strips for chicken, and didn't have any bell peppers.

Prepare quinoa in saucepan:

1 cup quinoa grains
2 cups chicken broth or stock

Soak quinoa in two or three times the volume of water to rinse away bitter flavor.
Simmer quinoa and broth together in saucepan until all of broth is absorbed.

While this is going on, prep everything else:

1 1/2 lb. boneless, skinless Chicken breasts, cut in 1" pieces
4 TBSP Garlic Olive Oil, or increase garlic from amount below
1 sm Onion, sliced thin
1 red Bell Pepper, 1 yellow Bell Pepper, seeded and sliced thin
5 or more cloves Garlic, sliced thin or minced
20 leaves fresh Basil, julienned
Parmesan Cheese, grated
Salt & Pepper to taste.

With everything sliced and readied, heat skillet, add Oil. Saute Chicken 5 minutes or until golden. Add Onions and Peppers, sauteing one or two additional minutes; add Garlic and saute until Peppers are slightly limp but still bright (adds to dish's looks), a minute or two more. Season with Salt and Pepper.

Remove skillet from heat; add prepared Quinoa and julienned Basil, toss until Basil is well wilted. Garnish generously with Parmesan. I served it in soup plates.

For variation, add tomatoes, or use another meat, sliced thin the way you'd prep meat for stir frying. Beef or pork could stand to be marinaded for this recipe in something acidic and tenderizing. Some may like a little drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil.

Quinoa can be fixed in a rice cooker without trouble: one volume of quinoa to two volumes water or stock. With stock it comes off very like a pilaf.