Blackened Chicken w/ Cilantro Lime Quinoa

Blackened Chicken w/ Cilantro Lime Quinoa

HOOOLY MOLY. I was excited for this meal, but I wasn't prepared for how incredibly delicious it would be. I didn't know what I wanted to eat, and I was kind of in one of those moods where nothing sounded good to me. When I saw this recipe, I knew that's what I was going to make for dinner. I originally saw it on Pinterest, which led me to the blog Sarcastic Cooking, which had the best recipe for a lime and cilantro quinoa. I'm not the biiiiiggest fan of cilantro, but I thought I'd just go for it. Lime and cilantro compliment each other, so I thought it would be fine. It was paired with blackened chicken, which I've never made before. The freshness of the lime and cilantro would balance out the burnt chicken in my opinion.

Chicken isn't typically juicy, but I swear when this chicken was done, it was still oozing liquid after it was done cooking. I will certainly make this cheap meal for large crowds, because it was to die for, and not too expensive. Woot!

Ingredients:

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
½ teaspoon of paprika
¼ teaspoon of salt
¼ teaspoon of pepper
¼ teaspoon of cayenne pepper
¼ teaspoon of onion powder
¼ teaspoon of cumin
1 teaspoon of olive oil
2 cups of low sodium chicken stock
1 cup of quinoa
Juice and zest from one lime
A dash of salt and pepper
2 tablespoons of cilantro, chopped

Directions:

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

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. After the chicken breasts have cooked all the way through, remove them from the pan and let them rest for seven minutes before slicing them.

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

6. Serve the sliced chicken breast on top of the quinoa.

7. Mash up two avocados in a small bowl and add a dollop on top your chicken.