Quinoa Chicken and Sweet Potatoes

I consider myself a vegetarian.  I have been one for 9 years or something crazy like that!  I avoid meat and only really eat cheese and eggs.  You will occasionally see me eat a small piece of local hormone free chicken for dinner.  This is a new thing that started after I cut gluten out of my diet.  So you will occasionally find a chicken recipe on here and even meat recipes that I make for people who are not vegetarian and are yummy enough to share :)

I was excited to find this recipe online.  Being gluten free means NO breaded chicken.  and all though this isn't breaded it has a nice crunchiness to it and plenty of flavor.

Quinoa Crusted Chicken

 Ingredients:

• 4 breasts of Organic Chicken
• 3 cups cooked quinoa (which is about 1 cup uncooked)
• 1 small onion chopped
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 egg
• 1tsp sea salt (or more to taste)
• 1tsp pepper (or more to taste)
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

 Optional:

• 1-2 tsp garlic powder
• 1-2 tsp of any other spices
• I used red pepper flakes, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper, garlic powder

(Recipe Yields 4 servings)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375*F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Rinse quinoa first. Add a small amount of olive oil to pot and saute the garlic and onions until transparent.  Add quinoa and toast for a couple minutes.  Add water and bring to a boil.  Then set temperature to medium and cover for about 12 minutes, stirring occasionally so the quinoa does not burn.  When most of the water is absorbed turn off heat and let stand for 5 minutes. Fluff with fork when finished (1 cup dry quinoa yields 3 cups cooked)
3. In a separate dish, combine quinoa with salt and pepper (and the other spices that you choose)
4. Scramble raw egg into another dish.
5. Dip chicken into egg, coat well. Then put chicken into quinoa mixture, coat well. Place chicken onto baking sheet.
6. Lightly brush oil over each piece of chicken to help it brown.
7. Bake for 30-45 minutes depending on thickness of chicken.

I adore sweet potatoes and yams.  One of my favorite ways to eat them is to roast them in the oven.  It is easy and they taste great!

Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients:

•  Sweet Potatoes
• Olive Oil
• Seasoning

 Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.  Peel and cut your sweet potatoes into chunks.  I usually make them about 1/4-1/2 inch thick.  Coat potatoes with olive oil and place on a cookie sheet.  Place in oven for 10 minutes.
2. After 10 minutes take the potatoes out and flip them.  I also sprinkle some salt, garlic or garlic powder and red pepper at this point.  Place back in over for another 8 minutes.
3. Take potatoes out, if they are the desired softness take them out, otherwise continue to check them every few minutes until thoroughly cooked.  Depending on how thick I cut them they usually take 20-30 minutes to cook all the way.

 Enjoy!

Bry

Roasted Kale Chips

I will be the first to admit kale is disgusting on its own!  Roasted however I can eat a whole bundle of it in minutes.  Roasting kale is so easy.  I have never tried kale chips from the store but I don't think I would like them after having the home made ones.

Ingredients:

Kale
Olive Oil
Salt
Garlic Powder
Red Pepper Flakes (optional)

Directions:

Wash the kale and dry throughly.  Cut the leaves from the steam and cut into large pieces (the will shirnk when you roast them so don't make them to small)  Toss with a light coat of olive oil and seasonings.  Put on a cookie tray, turn on oven to 400 degrees and place the tray in the oven.  I found that putting the tray of kale in the oven while it preheats helps it crisp more evenly.  Let it cook for about 10 minutes and take it out and stir it up.  Place back in the oven for about 3 minutes and check on it again after that,  cook until crispy, it will turn fast so check every couple of minutes.

Bry