Quin-what? Quinoa!

Who says fried rice has to have rice in it? Well, okay, it does, but in this recipe instead of using rice I experimented with quinoa, and saying “fried quinoa with chicken” sounds like a completely different dish, so I embellished a bit.

If you cook the quinoa right, so it doesn’t have the bitter taste that quinoa can get, this “fried rice” tastes pretty much like the rice version. In fact, I kinda like the quinoa version better than using brown rice over white rice. Also with quinoa you get added protein. I have a new fave dish in my repertoire.

Quinoa Chicken "Fried Rice"

In this recipe, I also used fresh peas because I had them in my fridge. I’m all for using the fresh veggies because it just tastes better and I like the slight crunchiness too.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups cooked quinoa
• ½ lb chicken cut into cubes (to make veg friendly, replace the chicken with “chicken” tofu or cooked tofu)
• 1/3 cup pre-cooked fresh peas
• 1/3 cup cut diced carrots
• 2 eggs
• 2-3 tbsp green onions diced (use as much as you prefer)
• 1 tbsp soy sauce (I like the low sodium kind)
• Olive oil or canola oil for cooking
• Salt & pepper to taste

• Cook the quinoa frist and let it stand and cool down. It’s important to let the quinao sit in its water for at least ½ an hour before you start cooking it so you get no bitter taste.

• In a saucepan big enough to hold all the quinoa fried rice, heat some oil and then stir fry the chicken until it’s mostly cooked. Add salt & pepper to taste.

• Add in the carrots, and sautee about a minute with the chicken to start softening the carrots up a bit.

• Add in the peas and sautee with the chicken and carrots for about a minute.

• Scramble the eggs in a cup and then pour in with the chicken, carrots and peas. It is important to cook the scramble eggs before adding in the quinoa. If you pour the raw egg onto the quinoa, the quinoa will get soggy.

• When the eggs are scrambled, pour in the quinoa and the green onions along with the soy sauce. Mix all ingredients together well. Let cook in pan, stirring continually for about 1-2 minutes.

Serves 2-3.

Original recipe via Noshtopia.