Friday, August 4, 2017

1117. Grilled Chicken over Minted Quinoa


A well-rounded, healthy, and satisfying meal is a bare 30 minutes away from your reality. Grilled chicken breast is far from my favorite, usually being stringy, dry, and tough, but this defies all past experiences in its tang, tenderness, and taste. The quinoa, although a purportedly ancient South American grain, is basking in popularity lately, and for good reason, as it has a very high protein factor and doesn't weigh you down like rice would.
So the secret to making the most tender grilled chicken breast is counter intuitive. Once you have that amazing golden carmelized sear on the chicken, you need to add liquid to it! But that will make it lose its crunch! Yes, but it will also sublimely infuse it with flavor and tenderize it through and through.


Ingredients:

For the chicken:
2 Tbsp olive oil
500g boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp salt and pepper
1 Tbsp vinegar
1 Tbsp lemon juice

For the quinoa:
1 cup dry quinoa
1 cup frozen corn
1 cup frozen peas
1/4 cup chopped mint
salt and pepper to taste
1 lemon, zest only


Method:

To make the chicken, add the oil to a large pan and heat over medium-high. Add the bite-sized chicken pieces in a single layer, sprinkle with oregano, salt, pepper, and cook for about 5 minutes until seared on all sides. When chicken is almost cooked through, reduce the heat to medium-low, add the vinegar, lemon juice and simmer another 1 to 2 minutes, or until done. Cooking time will vary based on thickness of chicken breasts and sizes of pieces.
To make the quinoa, cook it as per package instructions. Meanwhile, saute the peas and corn in 2 tablespoons of butter until the corn is charred and starts to almost pop. Once the quinoa is cooled, stir in the charred corn and peas, grated lemon zest, and chopped mint.
To serve, put the quinoa on the serving plate and top with the grilled chicken. Serve with fresh lemon wedges on the side.


صحة و عافية

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