I’m kind of obsessed with quinoa lately.  I love that it is an all encompassing food, with the best possible nutrition bio a food can have.  I even got my kids to eat it today, begrudgingly, but they did eat 3 bites each.  It’s a texture thing with them.  At least they tried it.

This recipe is a play on a dish my Assyrian grandmother used to make called kurush.  I have always looked forward to eating this dish. Walking into a home where this was cooking would send my salivary glands into over drive.  In it’s original state, it is a tomato meat stew with green peppers, and canned green beans, served over rice that has been baked all day in butter.  Not exactly the poster child for health.  So I took it to the kitchen and gave it a health makeover.  After serious changes, in all of it’s stewy glory, it walked out of the kitchen smelling delicious, and looking fit.  Instead of the buttery rice, a bed of quinoa now soaks up the luscious red sauce.  The canned green beans have been replaced with fresh, crisp green beans.  I hope you enjoy this play on my grandma’s dish.  I hope she approves of the nutritionally necessary makeover.

1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs, all visible fat removed, cut into bite sized pieces

1 – 2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 lb. fresh green beans, wash and cut in half lengthwise

2 large bell pepper, ct into chunks

1 onion chopped into wedges

1 lb. sliced mushrooms

1 cup chicken or vegetable broth

1 14 oz can organic diced tomatoes

1 8 oz. can organic tomato sauce

1 6 oz. can organic tomato paste

1 tablespoon paprika

1 teaspoon basil

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

sea salt to taste

For the quinoa

2 cups quinoa

4 cups vegetable or chicken broth

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees.  Season the chicken by sprinkling with salt, pepper, and paprika.  Heat the olive oil in a dutch oven and brown all sides.  Brown in batches so that the pan is not overcrowded, if needed.  Put the browned pieces in a bowl and set aside.  If needed, add a small amount of olive oil and saute the vegetables over medium high heat for 5 minutes.  Pour the chicken broth into the pan to de-glaze (scrape all of the brown bits off the bottom of the pan).  Add the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, paprika, basil and black pepper to the pot with the vegetables.  Bring to a boil and add the chicken back in. Put the lid on and place in oven.  Set the timer for 30 minutes.

For the quinoa:

Bring the stock to a boil and add in the quinoa and turmeric.  Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 15 to minutes or until the liquid has evaporated.  make sure to check after 15 minutes that the bottom is not burning.  Stir and put the lid on if there is still liquid present until done. Pull off heat and set aside.

When the stew is done, pull out of the oven. Stir and serve over the quinoa.  Then leave a comment and tell me your experience!