What's for Dinner? Wednesday: Lemon Chicken with Red Beans and Quinoa

This week’s What’s for Dinner? Wednesday meal is Lemon Chicken with Read Beans and Quinoa.  This tangy, protein-filled number was adapted from one in the March 2013 copy of Shape magazine. The most time intensive part of this meal is cooking the quinoa because it takes about 25 mins to make, however, it's a pretty easy dish overall.  Ready to get cooking? Here's what you'll need to feed four:


Ingredients:
1/2 cup dry quinoa
4 4-oz  boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tsp salt
1.5 tsp ground cumin
Olive oil cooking spray
1/2 small red onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1 - 15 oz cans red beans, rinsed and drained
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley 

Step One: Make your quinoa come to life by combining it with 1 cup of water in a saucepan.  Set your stove to medium heat to bring this protein-filed grain and the water it is swimming in to a boil.  Then, reduce the stovetop’s temperature to bring the pan’s contents to a simmer before covering it for 25 minutes.  

Step Two: While your quinoa continues to cook, prep your chicken.  Coat the chicken with the lemon juice and then sprinkle it with a pinch of salt before rubbing it with your cumin. Don’t let one part of the chicken get jealous-make sure to coat it evenly with the spice.

Step Three: Use a medium heat setting to warm a skillet sprayed with cooking spray before adding your cumin covered chicken.  Cook your chicken for 4-5 minutes on each side before removing it from your skillet to cool.

Step Four: Now that your chicken is out of the way, spray your skillet again and add the onion.  Sauté your onion for 4 minutes before adding your garlic and cooking for another minute.   Finally, add the rest of your salt, pepper, pinto beans, and vinegar and bring the skillet to a simmer.  Your quinoa should be done by now. Check on your quinoa and then stir it into this mix.  Remove the mix from the stove and mix in your last ingredient, parsley. 

Divide the chicken and quinoa evenly among four plates so you and your guests don’t fight.  Add a carbohydrate as a side and you'll have a complete meal.  

Do you plan on making this dinner? Share your thoughts with a comment below: