After the holidays, many complain that it’s time to get back on the wagon with healthy eating. It can be difficult to plan ahead and make healthy meals due to time, cost or simply habit; it’s much easier to stop at a drive through than it is to cook. But cooking healthy meals doesn’t have to take a lot of time, money or effort. Simple meals, like salads and soups, can be whipped up on the weekend and kept in the fridge for the week ahead. This quinoa salad is a favorite in my household. Grapefruit is what I use, but an orange and even fresh pineapple is tart and tasty. I also buy a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken, but feel free to roast your own chicken for this recipe.
Quinoa With Roast Chicken
This salad makes a great lunch or light supper. Serves four.
- 1 c. quinoa
- 1 1/2 c. water
- 1 grapefruit
- 1/4 c. pecans, chopped
- 1 rotisserie chicken
Heat a saucepan over medium heat. Toast the quinoa until it is slightly brown, stirring often, about 3-4 minutes. Pour the quinoa into a small bowl and set aside. Bring water to a boil in the same pot, add the toasted quinoa to the water and let it return to a boil. Turn the heat to medium-low, put a lid on the pot and let the quinoa cook for 16 minutes. Turn the heat off and let the quinoa sit in the pot with the lid on for another 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork. Cut the grapefruit peel from the flesh. Supreme the grapefruit by running a knife along either side of the grapefruit’s membranes, creating thin slices of the fruit. Add grapefruit supremes and chopped pecans or other nut to the quinoa. Shred the rotisserie chicken. Place a generous helping of the quinoa salad into the bottom of a bowl and top with the shredded chicken. Serve by itself or with a side of roasted broccoli or asparagus.
