What's For Dinner? - Quinoa Tabbouleh with Chicken

Since we moved I have been more about 'getting by' than doing new things in the kitchen...there have been a few new things here and there but nothing that I think is inspired enough to have shared, with the hot weather in Adelaide last week a 'fancy salad' served with some meat off the BBQ was our staple.

Late last year I guest posted for the lovely lovely Diminishing Lucy with this Quinoa Tabbouleh, it's yummy and nice and light for anyone counting calories :)  The perfect sort of thing for a warm summer evening...I'm sure that someone is having one somewhere in Australia this week because it's not Adelaide's turn!

Over the years I have heard quite alot about quinoa, often hearing it referred to as a 'superfood'.  As much as I love food I can be a bit reluctant to try new things, in case they taste awful!

I recently (finally) tried quinoa for the first time and am a total convert!  It is expensive compared to other grains (I'm talking $6-$7 for 500g at the supermarket...look in the health food section) but a little goes a long way.

After cooking up my first batch I quickly had ideas for plenty of other ways to use it.  I'll definitely be using it as a substitute for rice in dishes like pilaf and sushi and it's also a great replacement for cous cous.  I don't think my family would notice if I served it with curry instead of rice and I'm pretty sure I could get away with replacing it as the side to stir fry.

For my first experiment I 'replaced' the cracked wheat you would normally use in tabbouleh and incorporated chicken to make an 'all in one' warm salad.

Quinoa Tabbouleh with Chicken - Serves 4, 320 calories/serve

 

Ingredients

150g (raw weight) quinoa

300g Chicken Breast, preferably free range

50g Low Fat greek yoghurt

1 tsp Sumac

1 punnet Cherry tomatoes, halved

 2 lebanese cucumbers, peeled and cut into batons

1 large, wholemeal pita bread, toasted in hot oven for about 7 minutes until golden brown.

Leaves from 1 bunch flat leaf parsley, washed well.

Juice of 1 lemon

Method

Mix together the yoghurt and sumac, use to coat the chicken breast and set aside while you get started on the quinoa and chop the tomatoes and cucumber.

Cook the quinoa in water according to the instructions on the packet.  Be careful not to overcook it because it will get a bit mushy.

Drain the quinoa and leave it to cool.

Heat a grill plate or the barbecue and cook the chicken breast.  Leave aside to rest.

Wash the parsley well and pick the leaves from the bunch.

Toast the pita bread in a hot oven until golden brown and crispy.

In a large serving bowl mix together the tomatoes, cucumber and quinoa.

Add the chicken, parsley and lemon juice.  Finish with the broken up pita bread and season to taste with freshly cracked pepper.

Serve to the table, divide into serving bowls and dig in.

Hope you give the keen-wah a go and enjoy it as much as we did!

Tatum xx