Thai Peanut Chicken Quinoa Bake
This Thai Peanut Chicken Quinoa Casserole recipe also has my name all over it!! It's FULL of veggies, packed with flavor, and has one of my favorite meal builders - quinoa!
Happy New Year!
Happy new year! After taking a break from blogging for the holidays, I am feeling 100% refreshed and ready to dive back into it. I actually have some big plans for a few changes around here, including more healthy recipes.
My word for 2018 is authenticity, and I hope to fully embrace it here on greens & chocolate. I have to admit - last year may not have been my most authentic year. I feel like I got into a trap of developing recipes that I thought you guys might like, as opposed to recipes that I truly enjoyed.
Don't get me wrong - I 100% loved every recipe I posted. If I don't love a recipe, I don't post it. However, some of them may not have been recipes that I would have actually made had I not been a blogger. Sometimes I caught myself thinking of what someone else might like as opposed to what I was really craving. Does that make sense?
Hellooooo Awkward
So this year - I'm becoming selfish and posting things that I truly want to make and eat. Typically, this is pretty healthy stuff. On a regular basis, I eat a lot of oatmeal, lots of veggies, and a ridiculous amount of avocado toast. This doesn't mean I won't be posting indulgent recipes as well - of course I will! I just think they will be fewer and less frequent.
In addition, I want to connect more with my readers here on the blog and also through social media. To kick things off, I did something WAY outside of my comfort zone while making this recipe and made Instagram video of it. As in, my face on the video. Helllooooo awkward.
Here's the thing that I learned - the anxiety that led up to the actual video was WAY worse than doing it and even watching it. I had a ton of fun doing it, even with my 2 month old strapped to my chest and my toddler tearing apart my cupboards and telling me the house was on fire. p.s. it was not actually on fire.
Thai Peanut Chicken Quinoa Casserole
Even through the chaos of making this dish, this Thai Peanut Chicken Quinoa Casserole was DELICIOUS! This recipe also has my name all over it!! It's FULL of veggies, flavor, and has one of my favorite meal builders - quinoa.
This quinoa bake also has a surprise ingredient that I decided to add at the last minute - cauliflower rice! I saw it at the refrigerator next to the bag of stir fry veggies that I picked up for this recipe and thought - what a great way to add even more veggies to this dish without noticing too much.
We all ended up loving this quinoa casserole - even Lars! His new thing these days when he tries something new is to say "I like it" or "No like it" and this one definitely got the "I like it!"
Thai Peanut Chicken Quinoa Bake
Ingredients
- 1 cup quinoa uncooked
- 1 lb chicken breast cut into bite-sized pieces
- 2 cups riced cauliflower I bought a bag of pre- riced cauliflower but you can do it with a head of cauliflower in a food processor as well - just google cauliflower rice and you should be able to find a tutorial
- ½ white onion finely diced
- 1 red bell pepper diced
- 12 ounces stir-fry vegetable mix I used one with broccoli, carrots, and snow peas
- ¼ cup peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons Thai curry paste
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 16 ounce can full-fat coconut milk
- 1 cup chicken broth
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Spray 9x13" baking dish with cooking spray. I use one that is coconut oil based.
- Spread quinoa evenly on bottom of dish.
- Top with cauliflower rice, chicken, onion, bell pepper, and stir fry veggies.
- In a food processor, add peanut butter, Thai curry paste, garlic, soy sauce, honey, sesame oil, and ginger, and pulse to blend well.
- Add about ½ of the coconut milk and blend.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together peanut sauce with remaining coconut milk and chicken broth and whisk to combine. Note: I tried doing this step all in the food processor but my food processor spilled over and made a mess, so that is why I recommend combining the remaining coconut milk and chicken broth in a separate bowl.
- Pour mixture over baking dish.
- Bake in preheated oven for 45-50 minutes, until chicken is cooked through, veggies are cooked tender and quinoa is fully cooked.
- Serve and enjoy!
Nutrition
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Yeah for healthy!! While the indulgent recipes are fun to drool over, quite frankly, I never make them. This recipe I will make!! Thanks and happy new year!