I have heard about quinoa before on all the cooking shows I watch and have always wanted to try it, but never went and bought it. Finally, this weekend I bought a small package of quick cooking quinoa to try out.
As I was looking over the package there was a recipe for a Hatch Quinoa with Chicken that sounded really yummy. Only problem was I only had some leftover tomato sauce and frozen hamburger patties. I figured I could tweak the recipe on the package and I have to say it was pretty good and satisfying.
2-4 Frozen Hamburger Patties (I used Bubbas Burgers. The kind you can cook straight from frozen.)
Small package of 10 minute Quinoa (I had Central Market Brand)
Jar of Pasta Sauce
Chicken Broth or whatever kind you would like to add
1T of Italian Seasoning
Cook the beef patties in a large skillet just so they are browned on each side, but don’t have to be cooked fully through. Remove from pan, then add 1 cup of the quinoa and toast in the pan for 1-2 minutes. Add in 1 cup of the pasta sauce, 1 1/2 cups of broth and the 1T Italian Seasoning. Nestle the patties back in the pan and bring it all to a boil. Cover the pan and cook on low for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand 5 minutes until most of the water has been absorbed.
It was really good and satisfying and I don’t feel weighed down. I almost wished I had used chicken since the patties were pretty high in calories, but hey I had a long workout this morning and have been chasing my kids all day!!
To give it a Mexican spin you could sub out salsa for the tomato sauce like the original recipe had and put in 1 tsp of cumin.
Now I really want to find other recipes to use quinoa in and different variations. If you have a recipe please comment below or send me a link to a good recipe!!
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