The South Arm Cooking Club for Seniors met again after the Christmas and New Year winter break. Michelle, the program facilitator prepared four recipes for the first meeting in 2012. By the way, Michelle has her own recipe blog by the name Mint Green Apron. Go check out her blog for healthy and delicious recipes.

The main dish for this meeting is an easy, one pot meal with almost all the food groups covered. It’s called Smothered Chicken in Quinoa.

Quinoa is widely considered a “super food” that originated from South America. It is a grain-like crop grown for its edible seeds. It contains essential amino acids and good quantities of calcium, phosphorous and iron. It is also high in protein and is a “complete protein source”- unusual among plant foods. It’s nutritional value is similar to milk. The information above is taken from www.quinoa.net and wikipedia.

You can use quinoa in place of almost any other grain and it cooks in 15 minutes.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 chicken breasts, cut into 1″ chunks
• 2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup sherry, cooking sherry or more broth
• 1 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained
• 1 teaspoon thyme leaves
• salt and pepper to taste

Source: via Michelle

Serve: 4 to 6

P/S: Michelle substituted shallots for the onion in this recipe

Instructions

There is a small problem in this kitchen as my camera battery ran out and the spare battery seemed to have died. I got to go home to get another camera and I missed to take pictures of some of the steps in between. Nevertheless, here is the instructions.

• In a large skillet or pot, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium heat. Add onions, carrots, celery and garlic. Cook for 5 to 10 minutes or until slightly cooked and starting to brown on the edges.
• Remove the vegetables from the pot to a bowl. Put the pot back onto the stove and heat 1 tablespoon of oil over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook approximately 6 to 8 minutes, or until the edges begin to brown.
• Add quinoa, saute for a few minutes. Add thyme, broth and some salt and pepper to taste (start with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper).
• Cook for 15 minutes our until all the broth is absorb. Serve warm.