A 30 Minute Meal: Curried Chicken with Quinoa and Veggies

I'm not going to lie, I've been in a dinner rut. We've had about a million variations of pasta - much to Gabriel's delight - and more breakfast for dinner than, well, breakfast.

Armed with the motivation fueled by my workouts, I decided to change all of that this week. I want to get excited about food again and to start using it to make my time at the gym worth it because you know, they say it's something like 70% nutrition and 30% exercise, right?

I wanted to find something packed to the brim with flavor but without any "naughty" foods and this fit the bill in so many ways. Not only was this dish flavorful and filling, but it was homey and warm on such a cold night.  Oh, and did I mention it was FAST? We are talking 30 minutes or less.

Here's a confession for you - I have never used curry powder and I don't know how I have ever lived because it is SO good. After scouring website after website looking for the perfect recipe, I decided to use this recipe as inspiration. It doesn't have any weird crazy ingredients that I would never ever have in my house. Perfect.

One note - you will notice if you google something like this that most recipes call for turmeric. I didn't have it, nor did I have any desire to go get it, so I left it out. It was delicious without it but if you have it and want to use it, I would say around 1/2 tsp. would suffice.

Ingredients List

1 c. quinoa

4 c. chicken broth, divided

3 chicken breasts, diced in 1 inch cubes

salt and pepper to taste

6 tsp. curry powder, divided

1 tsp. garlic powder (I was too lazy to mince garlic, but you certainly could)

1/2 tsp. cumin

1/2 tsp. celery salt

1/2 tsp. fennel seed

1/2 - 3/4 c. Greek yogurt

1 yellow onion

Veggies: zucchini, mushrooms, peas and steamed carrots (etc., etc., etc., basically anything you want)

Olive oil

Start your quinoa using directions on box. The directions are the same as rice with a ration of 1 part quinoa to 2 parts liquid, in our case, 2 cups of chicken broth. This will need approximately 10-15 minutes to cook, which happens to be the perfect time for prepping the chicken and veggies.

While your quinoa is working, dice your chicken and mix it with 1 teaspoon of olive oil and 2 teaspoons of curry powder. Cook on medium high until it is just barely cooked (don't worry, it's going back in for a little while later). Meanwhile, chop your onion and other veggies that you will be adding.

Once the chicken is done, set it aside and then, using the same skillet, add your onions and garlic powder. Saute for 2-3 minutes, then go ahead and toss in your other veggies along with the other two cups of chicken broth, the rest of the curry powder and other spices. Make sure to scrape the bottom of the skillet as you are stirring as it will bring out the flavors rendered while the chicken was cooking.

After about five minutes, turn off the heat and go ahead and toss in the quinoa (assuming it is done), chicken and Greek yogurt for thickening.

Try to resist the wondrous smells that are wafting inside of your nostrils right now. Just try it. Mix everything up to your liking, serve yourself a piping hot bowl and relax.