Set it and forget it with this easy and delicious recipe for Crockpot Quinoa Chicken Primavera!

What you need:

• 1 1/2 cups quinoa, uncooked
• 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 4 cups + 3 cups chicken broth
• 4-6 cloves garlic
• salt and pepper, other dried herbs you like (I tossed in 1/2 teaspoon each dried parsley, thyme, and basil)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 bunch asparagus, cut into bite sized pieces
• 6 ounces pesto
• 2 1/2 cups frozen peas
• squeeze of lemon juice
• watercress, fresh parsley, chives, or any other herbs for topping
• Parmesan or Asiago cheese for topping

How to make it:

1. Rinse the quinoa. Cut the chicken if you want – you can either cut it into small pieces (it will cook faster) or leave it whole and shred it after cooking.
2. Place the quinoa, chicken, 4 cups broth, garlic, and a sprinkle of salt and pepper and seasonings in the crockpot. Cover and cook on low for 3-4 hours.
3. When the quinoa and chicken are done, the mixture should be very thick and sticky. Add the remaining 3 cups broth or water and stir to combine – now the mixture should resemble a creamy risotto or casserole. Stir in the pesto, peas, and lemon juice and cover to heat through. While the peas are heating in the crockpot, heat the oil in a skillet – add the asparagus and sauté for 5-10 minutes, until the asparagus is lightly browned and tender-crisp. Add the asparagus back to the crockpot and stir to combine.
4. Top each serving with fresh herbs, shredded cheese, watercress, olive oil, or anything else you want.

Enjoy!

*Recipe Source: https://pinchofyum.com/crockpot-quinoa-chicken-primavera

For more “Recipes of the Week” click the image below…

Recipe of the Week…

Give these Veggie Tacos a try for dinner on your next “Meatless Monday”, or any day of the week.

Ingredients

• Olive oil
• 1 cup of roughly chopped zucchini or summer squash (1-2 zucchini or squash, depending on the size)
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, chopped
• 1 large fresh mild green chile (Anaheim or Hatch), seeds and stem discarded, chopped
• 1/2 fresh jalapeño chile pepper, seeds and stem discarded, minced (or more, if you desire more heat)
• Salt
• Pinch of ground cumin
• Pinch of ground oregano
• 1 small to medium tomato, chopped
• 4 corn tortillas
• 4 slices cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup crumbled Mexican cotija cheese (a salty, crumbly cheese, you can substitute feta)
• A few sprigs of fresh cilantro, chopped (okay to include the stems, if small)

Directions:

1 Heat a tablespoon or two of oil in a large sauté pan on medium high heat. Add the zucchini, onions, garlic, green chiles, and jalapeño to the pan. Sprinkle with salt and cumin. Stir to coat the vegetables with the oil in the pan. Spread the veggies out in the pan and then stir only occasionally, until they are all lightly browned. Stir in the chopped tomatoes and oregano, lower the heat to low. Let gently cook for several minutes while you are preparing the tortillas.

2 You are going to want to heat up the tortillas first, first to soften them, and then to melt the cheese. There are two basic ways of doing this. One way is on the stove top, preferably in a cast iron pan. Another way is to use the microwave. In both methods you will work in batches. (A third way is to use fresh homemade corn tortillas, which is a great option if you are set up for it.)

2a Preparing tortillas on the stove-top Heat a dollop of olive oil (or other vegetable oil) in a large cast iron frying pan, on medium high. Add a tortilla to the pan, moving it around a bit, and turning it over, so that it spreads around the oil. Let the tortilla heat until it develops little bubbles of air pockets. Then place a piece of cheese on one side of the tortilla, and use a metal spatula to fold the other side of the tortilla over the cheese. Heat until cheese is melted, then remove from pan. Note that if you have a big enough pan, you can have one tortilla folded over while you have another tortilla doing its initial heating.

2b Preparing tortillas in the microwave Place a paper towel (or half a paper towel) on the heating surface of your microwave. Spread out 2 tortillas on the paper towels. Cook on high heat for 20 seconds per tortilla, in the case of 2 tortillas, 40 seconds. The tortillas should develop air pockets. (Note that every microwave is a little different, and corn tortillas differ as well. So you may need to adjust the times for your particular setup.) Then place a slice of cheese on one side of each tortilla and fold the tortillas over the cheese. Cook for an additional 10 seconds per tortilla (20 seconds for 2 tortillas), or until the cheese is melted.

3 Open the tacos and spoon some of the cooked veggie filling into them. Sprinkle on chopped cilantro and crumbled cotija cheese. Serve immediately.

Enjoy!

*Source:  http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/veggie_tacos

For more “Recipes of the Week” click the image below…