Fresh Rosemary and Garlic Chicken and Fresh Herb Quinoa

Rosemary and Garlic Chicken with Fresh Herb Quinoa

I have enjoyed this week's simple but flavorful meals. I will share two of them with you here, one of which I did not make, myself.  My wondrously techy bfff, Sonja, made a fantastic luncheon for us yesterday! I created this simple dish a few days ago that gave me two more nights of a delightful, healthy dinner. There is certainly no remorse devouring this dish, nor serving it to family and friends. Flavorful, healthy, easy peasy, this meal is one for your recipe file!  

Fresh rosemary, fresh garlic oven roasted boneless, skinless juicy chicken thighs and reduced sodium chicken stock which steeped fresh rosemary and fresh garlic quinoa.  The theme is pretty clear, right?

Let's get to it shall we? That way you can get to your own healthy meal!

Preheat the oven to 375-degrees. 

Ingredients

6 pieces of boneless, skinless chicken thighs

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated, separated

3 rounded tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves, separated

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar or lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

4 sprigs fresh thyme, for flavorful garnish

parmesan, if desired

1 1/2 cups low sodium chicken stock or broth

non-stick spray (canola or olive oil) 

In a roasting pan lined with foil, better with a rack inside for more even heating, spray with non-stick spray. 

In a large bowl, add the olive oil, vinegar, the separated rosemary and garlic and whisk together. Add salt and pepper to both sides of the chicken thighs. Add the thighs to the marinate and toss the thighs well with the marinate.  Allow them to marinate as long as you can, but if only a few minutes is all that is possible, then that is fine!  I marinated the thighs only about twenty minutes, and they turned out amazingly flavorful!

Chicken thighs marinating in a bowl. 

Lay out the chicken thighs in the roasting pan sprayed with non-stick spray.  Add the pan to the oven and set the timer for 15-minutes. After fifteen minutes is up, reset the timer for 20 minutes and set up a small saucepan on the stove top over medium-high heat. 

Add two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil to the sauce pan, add a package of quinoa (about 5 ounces for four servings) and stir, allowing the quinoa to toast for about two minutes.  Add the fresh rosemary and garlic and stir for another two minutes.  Add a tiny pinch of salt and black pepper (less than 1/4 of a teaspoon each) and stir for another minute.  Now add the 1 1/2 cups reduced sodium chicken stock or broth (listen to the sizzle!) and bring it to a boil, stirring.  

Bring the quinoa liquid to a boil, stirring so the seeds will not stick to the bottom of the saucepan, and then reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.  After 15 minutes, remove from the heat and cover, and allow it to steam.  Afterward, use a fork to fluff up the quinoa.  It has a couscous-like consistency, so if you have never made quinoa before, it is as simple as preparing couscous or rice. 

By now, the chicken timer should be going off, too. Remove the roasting pan from the oven, remove the thighs to a plate and allow them to rest a few minutes. On a side note, you Could use boneless/skinless chicken breasts, too.  Chicken thighs are my preference because they retain their moisture better than chicken breasts do. But it is completely your choice, whatever you like best!

To plate, use your imagination.  I place quinoa in a bowl and turned it upside down to form a base for my chicken thighs.  I added a small salad of halved baby tomato medley, the thighs on and around the quinoa base, drizzled the plate with aged reduced balsamic vinegar and added grated parmesan to the plate for the fun of it.  I could have added it to the quinoa, but parmesan is pretty salty, and I wanted to limit the sodium content of this dish.  

I simply garnished with fresh thyme and sprinkled fresh thyme leaves around the plate. 

Final View.  

As always, I want to the Thank You, my gentle viewers and readers, for your time and consideration!  I so appreciate your visit to my humble blog site. But guess what????  I am NOT DONE!

My dear technology goddess guru bestie, Sonja, came to visit my classroom yesterday to help me add  links to my existing classroom tech, and she brought us a homemade, very healthy, balanced lunch!  She added a sliced wedge of cheese (she said next time she will add two, rather than one, a couple of delicious layers of sliced turkey to wheat tortillas and made healthy, delectable wraps.  I added halved cherry tomatoes to mine, which she'd also supplied.  She also brought us both a banana and a small bag of jerky.  So incredibly satisfying this lunch was!  

  

My techy bestie, Sonja, and I.  

NOW, Friends, go cook something healthy for someone you love!  Their hearts will thank you for it!  

~Martin

In-House Cook