Quinoa Chicken Chili

 This is a recipe I randomly came across a few months ago on the Queen Bee Coupons website.  The idea of quinoa in chili intrigued me and I love chili, so decided to make it!  This was actually my first time cooking OR eating quinoa and it was great.  There's not a whole lot in the chili, but it really expands a lot and adds a bit of substance and texture.  Quinoa aside, the chicken and spices are just perfect.  My husband said this was the best chili he's ever had, and I'm inclined to agree!  I made it over a month ago and froze most of it, but need to make another batch already.

Quinoa Chicken Chili

4 C chicken broth

10 oz can Rotel (diced tomatoes and green chiles)

28 oz can crushed tomatoes

2 15 oz cans black beans, drained

1 C quinoa
2 Tbsp chili powder

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Toppings such as sour cream, grated cheddar, diced avocado, chopped tomatoes, cilantro, or green onion (I just did grated cheddar and it was perfect)

In a 5-6 quart slow cooker, stir together everything except chicken.  Add chicken.  Cover and cook until meat is cooked through, about 4 hours on high or 6 on low.  Remove chicken, chop or shred, and return to slow cooker.  Serve with your favorite chili toppings, such as grated cheese, sour cream, cilantro, and green onion.

When I did this, I added the broth, Rotel, and half the crushed tomatoes to the slow cooker, blended with the immersion blender, then added everything else.  My chicken was frozen in a large solid brick, so it took longer to cook- about 4 hours on high.  I put the chicken in the fridge for 15 minutes to cool off before shredding.

Yield:  About 13 servings

Secret Recipe Club: The Mothership Tomato Salad

For this month's Secret Recipe Club, I was assigned the awesome blog, Chit Chat Chomp!  Isn't that the best blog name?  Chit Chat Chomp is run by an Australian lady named Leigh, and she has a ton of very intriguing, tasty looking recipes of all kinds on her blog. 

I ended up choosing a recipe called The Mothership Tomato Salad.  It's from the chef Jamie Oliver, and I was drawn to it because I LOVE tomatoes!  We have tomato salad very frequently, usually just using tomatoes, a pinch of salt, and balsamic vinegar.  Simple and delicious.  The Mothership Tomato Salad is like a fancier version of that.  It's still super fast and easy to make, but has things like oregano, garlic, and red pepper flakes.  So good, and definitely a repeat!  Best of all is there aren't even really any measurements, you just sprinkle in the ingredients to your heart's content.

In a few days I plan to make Leigh's wonderful looking Chickpea Falafels.  I actually made the tomato salad a few days ago just because the recipe looked irresistible, and planned to make the falafels for this post, but then I got sick.  I'm still recovering, so the falafels will have to wait a couple of more days!

The Mothership Tomato Salad

tomatoes (recipe calls for heirloom, I used grape), cut into bite size chunks

small amount of minced garlic

pinch of salt
pinch of pepper

pinch of oregano
pinch of red pepper flakes

splash of extra virgin olive oil
splash of balsamic vinegar (about 1/4 the amount of olive oil)

Just toss everything together in a bowl, taste, and add a bit more of anything if it needs more!  Enjoy.

An InLinkz Link-up