Curried Chicken and Quinoa Bowl

"Curry" is a generic term, and can be used to describe a number of different dishes with a combination of different spices.  Curries appear in a number of different cultures and have a wide spectrum of sweet to tangy, mild to spicy.  This curry has more of an East Indian flavour.  To simplify things, I actually used a prepared curry powder from the spice aisle, in addition to some other spices.  

You could make this vegetarian by leaving out the chicken and substituting vegetable stock.

Recipe:  Curried Chicken and Quinoa Bowl

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 red pepper

3 serrano peppers

3 large carrots

1 handful cherry tomatoes

1 dozen small golden nugget potatoes

2 large garlic cloves

3 Tablespoons curry powder (the yellow one)

1 Tablespoon cumin

1 teaspoon chili flakes

salt to taste

cayenne pepper for spice, to taste

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces

1 container chicken stock

2 Tablespoons flour

1 cup quinoa

1 cup raw spinach

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Chop all vegetables into uniform, bite sized pieces.  WAIT.  If you don't want it super spicy, just score the serrano peppers and throw them in whole.  If you DO want it spicy, chop those suckers up, seeds and all!  Grate or finely chop garlic.  Heat skillet or oven safe cast iron pot on high heat.  Once hot, add oil and sauté vegetables and garlic until tender.

Remove vegetables from pan, add a little more oil if needed, and brown chicken.  Add flour and stir until chicken is well coated.  Add vegetables back to pan, add spices, and add stock.  Stir until all ingredients are incorporated.  Cover and pop into the oven for 20 − 30 minutes.

Follow instructions on box for quinoa.  It's normally 1 part quinoa to 2 parts water.  Boil, then reduce to simmer and cover for approximately 15 minutes.  Construct bowl with quinoa, spinach and curry.  Done.

Cilantro Lime Margarita

Yes.  It is Sunday morning, and I am posting a Margarita recipe.  Don't judge.

I just made this up, based on a cocktail I had recently in NYC.  It's not too sweet, and because of that, it is not too high in calories.

Start with about ¼ cup of sugar and either 4 or 5 packets of True Lime, or the juice of one lime.  Combine with a cup of water and whip it up in a blender or food pro.  This is your simple syrup.

Next, combine a handful of cilantro, minus the stems with about a cup or so of water and blend.

Coat the rim of a low ball glass with the simple syrup with your finger, then dip in True Lime.  Add a bunch of ice, a shot of Don Julio tequila, a splash of Triple Sec a wee bit of the simple syrup and fill the rest with the cilantro mixture.  Sweeten with more syrup to taste, but NOT TOO MUCH.  Cheers!