Skinny Chicken Quinoa Stew

I am not what you would call a talented or interested cook, and I cook for one. So I value convenience, easiness, and the ability to re-heat leftovers. But in the chilly winter I want something hearty and comfort food-ish, without extra calories from bread and cheese and rice. Discovered this amazing chicken quinoa stew from an online blog and had to share! So healthy, SO easy, and so flavorful! Credit to the original post here: http://peaceflycookingandliving.wordpress.com/2013/07/18/one-pot-meal-chicken-veggie-and-quinoa-moroccan-stew/.

I added extra veggies (squash and eggplant!) and used a full quart of chicken broth instead of water. And lots of salt and pepper and basil. Also - the crushed canned tomatoes with green chiles are key to tastiness! Enjoy! And if you enjoy the recipe or want to share more, please add me as a friend!

Serves 6; Prep Time: 6 minutes; Cook Time; 30 minutes

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1/2 a white onion, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 Tablespoon of butter

1 can of roasted tomatoes (I get “fire roasted” with green chiles)

1/2 an eggplant, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

2 medium carrots, roughly diced

2 cups of water

1 cup of quinoa

Basil or other fresh herb for stirring in at the end

Directions:

On a larger cutting board, chop and dice the onion and garlic. Heat a large pan over medium high heat with the butter. Once heated, add the onion and garlic and cook for a few minutes until the onions just start to become translucent. As the onions and garlic are cooking, cube the chicken breasts on a separate, smaller cutting board. Add the chicken to the onions and garlic, keeping the lid off so it can brown, then cook for approximately 7 minutes. After 7 minutes add the canned tomatoes and cook for another 2 minutes while chopping the other veggies

As the chicken is cooking, on the same cutting board as the onions and garlic (not the chicken!) dice the carrots and eggplant. Add the eggplant and carrots to the pot, stir, and cover the pot. Cook for 4 minutes so the carrots especially can start to become tender. Add the water and quinoa, cover, reduce to medium, and cook for 15 minutes.

Remove the cover and stir to see that the quinoa has cooked thoroughly. Although this is called a “stew” the quinoa should have soaked up most of the liquid. Add the fresh basil in the whole pot before serving. For each portion, add a large spoonful of Greek yogurt, stir it around a little bit so the sauce from the tomatoes gets creamy and the yogurt gets warm. Enjoy with a glass of wine, dreaming of far off lands where the mountains are high, the deserts and forests are vast, and the people there are open to sharing their warm and tasty food with hungry strangers