Stir Fry Recipes – A Great Way of Cooking Quinoa

by on May 19, 2010

I have to admit that only really great stir fry recipes appeal to me.  While I love the fresh vegetables  that come with stir fry recipes, I am not a huge fan of oriental cooking.  Still, when I came across a chicken stir fry recipes recently, I decided to try making quinoa stir fry.  I’m always up for a new way of cooking quinoa and am eager to try healthy recipes!

One of the best things about stir  fry recipes is that they are most always healthy!

I got the inspiration for this dish from Jillian Michael’s new book, The Master Your Metabolism Cookbook. If you haven’t already gotten it, it’s a great cookbook that I highly recommend!  (It has two great quinoa recipes to try.  I love the breakfast Quinoa Berry Crunch!  Yummm!) The original stir fry recipe does not have as much kick and used rice (horrors!) rather than quinoa.  I really liked the crunchiness that the quinoa added to this stir fry recipe.  I think is is much better than the original would have been.  (Not to mention – healthier on most counts!)

So, give this chicken and vegetable stir fry recipe a shot!  Who knows – it just may become one of your favorite quinoa recipes!

Chicken & Quinoa Stir Fry Recipe

  • For the Quinoa:
  • 1 T Olive Oil
  • 1 cup rinsed quinoa
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1.5 cups chicken broth
  • For the Chicken and Stir Fry:
  • 2 T rice wine vinegar
  • 1 T plus 2 tsp sesame oil
  • 1 T lime juice
  • 1 tsp honey
  • 1 tsp red chiles, chopped finely
  • 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken
  • 1 T Braggs Amino Acids
  • 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 1 1/2 T organic virgin coconut oil
  • 6 minced garlic cloves
  • 1 T Fresh Ginger, grated
  • 1/2 red onion, sliced
  • 1 Red Bell pepper, sliced thin
  • 1 Green Bell pepper, sliced thin
  • 8 ounces asparagus, chopped into 1/2″ pieces
  • 2/3 cup chicken broth
  • 5 oz fresh spinach, chopped
    1. Heat oil over medium heat. Add rinsed quinoa and cook for 10 minutes, stirring frequently.
    2. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
    3. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook covered for 15-18 minutes.
    4. Allow to sit covered for 5 minutes. Set aside.
    5. Whisk together 1 T vinegar, 1 T sesame oil, lime juice, 1/2 tsp honey and chilies. Add the chopped chicken and marinate for at least 30 minutes and up to 4 hours.
    6. Whisk together Braggs, 1 T vinegar, 2 tsp sesame oil, 1 tsp honey, 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes. This is your stir fry sauce. Set aside.
    7. Heat your wok set or a large pan over medium high heat. Ad coconut oil. (Be careful not to get too hot because coconut oil has a low smoking point.) Once melted at garlic and ginger, stir for 10 second and add onion. Cook fro 5 minutes. Add chicken and cook for 2 minutes. Add green pepper, red pepper and asparagus and cook for 1 minute.
    8. Add in chicken broth. Cover and cook for 4 minutes. Add spinach, quinoa and stir fry sauce. Toss well. Remove from heat.

Preparation time: 15 minute(s)

Cooking time: 30 minute(s)

Diet (other): Low calorie

Number of servings (yield): 8

Meal type: dinner

Culinary tradition: Chinese

Calories per serving: 265

Fat per serving: 10.4 g

 

My husband really loves this recipe because he is a hug fan of asparagus recipes.  Since I didn’t grow up eating asparagus, I tend to not cook it as often as he would like.  Because of this, this recipe has become one of his favorite ways of cooking with quinoa.   Have more chicken stir fry recipes that would make a great quinoa salad?  I’d love to hear from you!

By the way, if you are looking for more chicken recipes with quinoa, check out my chicken salad recipe!  Who knew chicken salad recipes could be good for you!

If you have stir fry recipes  or a favorite chicken stir fry recipe you would like to share I would love to hear from you!

{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }

Miranda September 4, 2010 at 9:40 PM

Ok Thank you! You are just wonderful for responding so quickly. Sunday meal it is!

Reply

Wendy Polisi September 4, 2010 at 11:46 PM

I hope you enjoy!

Reply

Miranda September 4, 2010 at 4:44 PM

Ok, sounds good! We are vegetarians so I can use vegetable broth in lieu of the chicken broth but I have two questions. 1, Do you know of a good veggie chicken substitute that would work well in this recipe? And 2, I have tried one from Trader Joes' that is…ooookkkk…. but if I were to use that would I still need to soak these veggie chicken stir fry products for 30 minutes or so?

Reply

Wendy Polisi September 4, 2010 at 8:37 PM

Miranda – Vegetable broth works great with quinoa recipes and I have used it many times. Quinoa is great about soaking up the flavors that you cook it in, so that is a much better option than water. I use it often myself because even though I am not a strict vegetarian I just hate the idea of meat in general. I suffer from anemia, and I literally have to trick myself into eating chicken. Anyhow – as far as meat substitutes, I haven't found many that are great. (Other than Morning Star patties and Crispy Chicken) The best one I have had I got in the produce department of the grocery store and it came with a red sauce, but I can't remember the name. My recommendation would be to experiment and cut them up really small so that there is a lot of surface to absorb other flavors. And, since quinoa is a complete protein, you can always just leave out the chicken/chicken substitute. You are still getting 10 grams of protein per cup of quinoa. Throw in some black beans and you have even more!

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