Healthy Eating

Like many of us, I have been determined to eat healthier this year. As a part of my journey, I decided to try new foods I was not familiar with. The first one I tried was Quinoa, a seed grown in the Andes mostly from Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador. I love it! I found a recipe on the back of a bag of quinoa from my local Kroger store - a Mediterranean Quinoa Salad - and whipped it up that same day. I enjoyed it so much that I make it quite often and usually take it with me to Rocky Mountain Memories to eat at lunchtime when I am teaching.

Many people have seen and smelled my lunch and asked me for the recipe to try, so here it is!

Mediterranean Quinoa Salad


- 2 cups chicken broth 1/2 cup kalamata olives, chopped
1 garlic clove, smashed 1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1 cup Quinoa, uncooked 1/4 cup parsley, chopped
2 large cooked chicken 1/4 cup chives, chopped
breasts, cubed salt and pepper to taste
1 small red onion, chopped 2/3 cup lemon juice
1 large red bell pepper 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil

In a medium saucepan, bring the chicken broth and garlic clove to a boil. Stir in the quinoa, reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the quinoa is tender and the chicken broth has been absorbed, 15-20 minutes. Discard the garlic clove and transfer the quinoa to a large bowl. Gently stir the chicken, onion, bell pepper, olives, feta cheese, parsleym chives, salt and pepper into the quinoa. Drizzle with lemon juice, balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Stir until well combined. Serve warm or refrigerate and serve cold.

Makes about 8 servings

I like to prepare this dish with vegetarian ingredients every so often. To do this, prepare the quinoa in vegetable broth instead of chicken broth and use tofu instead of cubed chicken breasts.

Hope you enjoy this dish!




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