Mexican Quinoa Dinner

Mexican Quinoa Dinner ~ Substituting quinoa for rice, this meal has all the markings for a comfort food favorite with chicken, black beans, corn, and topped with queso fresco

Ever since I was little I have loved my Grandma’s Spanish Rice. I can eat it cold straight out of the fridge. Well, I have a large supply of quinoa and keep hearing all of its virtues. I wondered if I could make it like my Grandma’s spanish rice and move to a healthier grain with the same flavor.

Ok, so, no.  No grain substitute can replace plain ole white long grain rice in my Grandma’s Spanish rice.  That being said, this was GOOOOOODDDDDD. I loved the way the quinoa tasted and decided to just keep going with it and turn it into a whole dinner.

I tossed in chicken, black beans, corn, topped with some queso fresco and ate it on a bed of lettuce. Perfect meal! I didn’t add dressing as the quinoa/chicken mixture was fairly ‘wet’ from the seasoned tomato sauce.  I bet ranch or a creamy cilantro dressing would be amazing too, if you needed a dressing.

Mexican Quinoa Dinner

Author: Michelle

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Ingredients

Quinoa

• 1 cup dried quinoa
• 1-15 oz can tomato sauce
• 1 oz water
• 1/2 tbsp granulated garlic plus additional teaspoon
• 1/2 tbsp oregano
• 1/4 tbsp chili powder
• 1/2 tbsp chicken bouillon granules
• Bay Leaf
• 1/8 tsp Black pepper

Meal

• 2 cups cooked chicken
• 1 can black beans; drained and rinsed
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1/2 cup queso fresco
• Romain lettuce

Instructions

1. Bring quinoa, tomato sauce, water, herbs/spices to a boil in a medium saucepan.
2. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer until tender and most of the liquid has been absorbed, 15 to 20 minutes.
3. Fluff with a fork.
4. In a skillet, add the chicken black beans, and corn, heat over a medium heat, stirring gently.
5. Incorporate the cooked quinoa.
6. Once will mixed serve over the bed of romaine and top with queso fresco.

Thank you for sharing!