Blackened Chicken and Cilantro Lime Quinoa

By granolagina

Ingredients

• 2 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
• 1/2 Teaspoon of Paprika
• 1/4 Teaspoon of Salt
• 1/4 Teaspoon of Pepper
• 1/4 Teaspoon of Cayenne Pepper
• 1/4 Teaspoon of Onion Powder
• 1/4 Teaspoon of Cumin
• 1 Teaspoon of Olive Oil
• 2 Cups of Low Sodium Chicken Stock
• 1 Cup of Quinoa
• Juice and Zest from Two Limes
• A Dash of Salt and Pepper
• 2 Tablespoons of Cilantro, chopped

Details

Servings 2
Adapted from sarcasticcooking.com

Preparation

Step 1

Combine all the dry seasonings in a small bowl. Mix them together and then season both sides of each chicken breast.

Add the teaspoon of olive oil to a large pan or skillet. Heat the olive oil for a minute over medium/high heat. Add the chicken breasts to the pan. Cook for seven minutes on each side with the lid on.

Add the chicken stock and quinoa to a medium sauce pan. Bring to a simmer over medium/low heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for ten to fifteen minutes with the lid on, until all the stock has been absorbed.

Add the warm quinoa to a large bowl. Toss in the lime zest, lime juice, salt and pepper, and chopped cilantro. Mix to combine.

Serve the sliced chicken breast on top of the quinoa. If you find the blackened seasoning too spicy, you can add a quick and easy avocado cream sauce to cool it down.

Just place the flesh from an avocado along with two tablespoons of Greek yogurt in a food processor and puree until smooth.

Absolutely loved making this recipe! It was incredibly tasty & easy to make. I’m doing a “new year’s challenge” of finding & making one new recipe every week this year, so was overjoyed to find yet another dish that is not only easy, but is actually healthy & tasts amazing. Thank you so much!

I came across this recipe on Pinterest. It is delicious! I used Trader Joe’s tri-colored organic quinoa and made a couple of changes (out of necessity!). First, I used low sodium vegetable stock instead of chicken stock. I also added a bit of diced tomatoes. Third, I don’t have a mixer, so I just mashed up the avocado and mixed it with the Greek yogurt. I really liked the lumpy texture of the sauce with the chicken. Thanks for sharing this!

I would combine half of an avocado with two to three tablespoons of Greek yogurt or sour cream in a food processor. To thin it out I would add some lime juice or a tablespoon of olive oil. If it still seems too thick for you, keep adding more lime juice/olive oil or Greek yogurt/sour cream. Hope that helps!

DO IT: Mix Up Your Menu « N + C

I used your recipe as a springboard for what I had in the fridge tonight. Subbed turkey loin for chicken. Subbed grapefruit for lime. Added green onion and sundried tomatoes to quinoa because my husband hates cilantro and believe it or not…It was great! Thanks so much!

i found your recipe via pinterest… read all the ‘this is delicious’ comments… and then made this awesome dish! thanks so much. it was so good. i know i will make it again very soon. i am sharing in on my blog post today! (with credit to you, of course!). can’t wait to try some of your other recipes now.

found this on pinterest and i’m psyched to make it next week!!!!!! gotta get back in that healthful groove of things

All of those sound great! I would also suggest black beans, red bell pepper, and maybe a little corn. That would go well mixed in with the quinoa.

Hi Stephanie, looks like a great recipe…will give it a try this week. I definitely need to work on my winterized body. Just one little suggestion. When I went to print the recipe, it printed everyone’s comments, which added 7 pages. If there’s anyway to keep it from doing that on your end that would be great. Otherwise, I would suggest when someone prints this, set your printer to just print pages 1-5.

Thank you for this recipe. The chicken was delicious. I followed the quinoa part of the recipe but it was super sour! Am I missing something? I had to add some sweetener to it to make it edible. Do you use anything to sweeten the lime?

I’m sorry that was your experience with the recipe. You could cut the lime juice in half and add a tablespoon of olive oil to cut the lime.

This was great – made it a couple of days ago and will make it again in a couple of weeks for a dinner gathering. I’ll try the suggestion above to add cream to the avocado sauce (or trying sour cream instead of yogurt), as mine turned out too thick. But the flavor combo of the chicken, quinoa, and sauce was delicious.

Heather

Tried this tonight and LOVED IT!! I adjusted the amount of lime juice as it was too much, but may try it another time with both limes. I also added 1/4 cup cream and some ciltrantro to the Avocado sauce. Very yummy and will make this again.

my family absolutely loved it and requested that I add it to our “favorite recipe” book! My kids loved the “green sauce” and I wish I had made a double batch – it would be great to dip with chips too. Thanks again for posting this recipe. We will certainly be having it again and again!

Made this tonight and it was so, so good! I’ve had it pinned for ages and finally made it. I made the avocado cream with sour cream because I had it on hand. The spice mix for the chicken was perfect. We’ll definitely make this again! Thanks for sharing.

Thank you for this great recipe. My husband wasn’t hungry when I made it…but he cleaned the plate. He told me I need to make this recipe all the time.

Made this a few days ago and my husband and I LOVED it! PERFECT! I am always trying to fun new and fun recipes for chicken that he will like because I made it so much that he gets tired of chicken…GASP! I cannot fathom it, but alas he is one who gets tired of it. So thanks SO much for a winner of a recipe that I can serve to my husband that makes him smile for sure!

Just added this to my weekly meal plan!! Can’t wait to make it!! Would it totally ruin the taste if I omit the cayenne pepper for my kiddos? Hubby and I will love it as is, but I have picky little eaters too. Thanks!! Your pictures are beautiful!

Tried this tonight and it was awesome!! Can’t wait to bring leftovers for lunch and put the quinoa and chicken over mixed greens. Only comment, for me it was way too much lime. Would only juice one lime at the most next time. Just found your blog and can’t wait for more new recipes to try!

i just made this for dinner and my husband said, “this is one that you should make for guests!” (translation: if i need to impress people.

try to find it in a heath food store!

But that probably isn’t helping with my winterized body, is it? Whoops. Better make this meal for dinner soon, then…

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