Quinoa feta spinach salad with chicken

Quinoa feta spinach salad with chicken

I’ve never made this dish before, but I will be making it again. I was thinking about what to make for dinner over the weekend when I knew I wanted to make some type of side dish with quinoa in it. I make a cold orzo salad with spinach and feta cheese, so I thought I would incorporate that into my quinoa.

I just kind of added stuff to the cooked quinoa. Depending on how much you make, you can add more or less of the additional ingredients.

To make the quinoa use 2 cups quinoa and 3.5 cups water. After you bring it to a boil, cover and turn the burner to low and cook on low for 15 minutes until all the water is absorbed.

Meanwhile, chop up some fresh baby spinach, 1 green onion, zest of one lemon. Measure out 1/4 cup (or more if you like!) of feta cheese.

Next, add the spinach, green onion, zest of 1 lemon, and squeeze of half the lemon, 1 tablespoon of olive oil and salt and pepper to taste.

Breaded chicken tenders are a specialty of mine, so for my healthier version, I cut up 3 chicken breasts into cubes. Placed that in a bowl and sprinkled generously with salt and pepper. Next I added about 1/2 cup of bread crumbs over the top with a little parmesan cheese.

In a large non stick skillet I added 1 tablespoon canola oil and heated that up until hot. Add the coated chicken to the skillet and cook on high until browned on all sides and then turn to low and cook until no longer pink. (it will take about 8 minutes total).

Once the chicken was done, I decided to place it on top of the quinoa salad I made and sprinkled with a little more feta.

It was fantastic!

**********Now onto Weigh in for week number 3……..

Down 1 more pound! 🙂 So that’s 9 pounds in 3 weeks! The only thing I’ve done differently this time losing weight, is tracking my calories EVERY day using www.myfitnesspal. It’s free and totally easy to use.

So my goal this week, is to just keep going!

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10 comments

  • Love that you swapped out orzo (which is tasty, don’t get me wrong) for the quinoa – isn’t that the “perfect food”? Anyway, your meal looks healthy and delicious – I will have to make this next week when I’m cooking for more than myself again.

    Congratulations on another pound gone! Woohoo!!! Tracking your food really keeps you honest, that’s for sure – and look how well it’s worked for you. Great job, Jenn! 🙂

  • Hi Jenn, wow, this recipe looks fantastic!!! BIG congratulations on the next pound gone!!! You are doing SOOO well!!!!! Have a good Monday.

  • I love your blog! That recipe looks is right up my alley. I like all the goodies you put in it.

    Have you tried Farro? It is another power house type whole grain that puffs up like barley but has more of a nutty taste. Delicious!

  • Woohoo! 9 pounds is fantastic! You’re rocking 2011! I used to dress up quinoa a lot like this. I need to start doing that more – I forget how versatile it is and HEALTHY!

  • Interesting meal! Don’t know if I’ve ever had quinoa before, or even feta cheese, so this would definitely be a fun meal for me to try!

    Great job with the weight loss! Keep up the good work!

  • This sounds so fantastic! Quinoa is so tasty and healthy… and this dish is packed with tons of yummy goodies!

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