Keen-wa bueno! Quinoa Salad with Chicken

Every time I hear the word quinoa (pronounced keen-wa), all I can think about is the XBox game Civilization Revolution. This is embarrasing, but I played it for about a week straight. I wanted to beat it at every level... never quite achieved that and now we've sold it. Anyway, some of the characters spoke made-up languages, and one lady would always say "keen-wa bueno!" For some reason this stuck with us, and when we first discovered quinoa, that's all we could think about. After eating this for dinner last night, that's what I wanted to say, "Quinoa, bueno!", because it is so good and refreshing. A nice change from the heavy food we've been eating this past month. 

Quinoa is so delicious and so good for you. Even though people commonly think it's a grain, it's actually a seed. That's why it looks like it's sprouting when you cook it.

One of my meals on my menu plan for the week is this quinoa salad. I basically made it up and it's not really much of a recipe since I used store-bought dressing, but I wanted to share how delicious (and healthy) it was. As far as cost goes, quinoa itself isn't super cheap, but for 1 cup (3 cups cooked), it cost me about $1.50. I think I can find it cheaper, and it's actually on sale this week, so I plan to get some more.

This salad would serve 4 - we are eating again tonight as leftovers. Here's the cost breakdown:

quinoa: 1.50
chicken (1/3 of Costco rotisserie): 1.70
cucumber: 0.35
radishes: 0.35
tomatoes:0.75
dressing (about 1/12 bottle): 0.30
parlsey: 0.50
spinach: 0.50
TOTAL: 5.95

For a healthy and filling meal, I think that's not bad! You could make it meatless to save even more - and since quinoa is a complete protein, it would probably still be very filling.

Quinoa Salad with Chicken
This is a loose recipe, so feel free to add any other veggies you have on hand, feta cheese, or olives if you want!
Serves 4

1 cup dry quinoa (3 cups cooked)
Cooked chicken pieces, chopped
1/2 - 1 cucumber
Small bunch radishes
3-4 tomatoes
1/2 bunch parsley
Greek dressing to taste (store bought or try this recipe)
Salt and pepper
Handful of spinach per serving

Rinse quinoa thoroughly using a mesh strainer. In a saucepan over medium-high, add about 1-2 tsp olive oil. Add quinoa and cook for a minute or two until some of the water is evaporated. Add 2 cups of water, bring to a boil, and cover. Lower the heat and cook for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and let stand, covered for 5 minutes. Let cool.

Dice all vegetables into bite-sized pieces and chop parsley. To get rid of some of the water in the tomatoes, dice them then lightly salt them and put in a mesh strainer over a bowl. Let stand for 5-10 minutes.

Once quinoa is slightly cooled, toss with all veggies, parsley, chicken, and about 1/4 cup dressing. Taste, and add more dressing if desired. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cover and refrigerate until cool.

To serve, place a handful of spinach on each plate/bowl, then top with some of the quinoa salad.

 

Hopefully you say "Quinoa, bueno!" after you've tried it. :)