Quinoa and Sweet Potato

I recently joined the lovers of quinoa due to it's healthier aspects compared to pasta. It has taken a little convincing to get the husband on board, but he definitely enjoys this tasty dish from my lovely and talented sister-in-law Grace! I have to admit that when she brought the dish to a family gathering and mentioned that it was vegan I turned my nose up at the food. I knew that I would try it just to be nice, but for some reason I have a bad habit of thinking that healthier/unknown foods will not taste good! However, I am very glad that I tried this delicious dish. It is SO tasty and very healthy for you, especially when it comes to casseroles or side dishes. Normally Grace serves this as a side dish, but I wanted to make it my main dinner dish, and because my hubby and I are huge meat people I added chicken to the dish to make it more filling. Here is the recipe:

Quinoa and Sweet Potato (and chicken!)

2 Sweet Potatoes
2 Cu. Quinoa (4 cu of water)
Chicken (I used about 3 small chicken tenders)
1 Onion
1 Green Pepper
Cranberries
Slivered Almonds

Dressing:
1/4 cu. olive oil
1/4 maple syrup
2 tbl. balsamic vinegar
2 tbl. juice (I used apple but orange would work too)
1 tsp. dijon mustard
(Whisk well)

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Cut up the sweet potatoes in small chunks and toss in olive oil (or just use olive oil spray like I did) and put on a cookie sheet and cook in the oven until soft for about 20-25 min.
3. Meanwhile boil 4 cups of water and when it is boiling add in the 2 cups of quinoa and boil for about 3-4 minutes then turn off the burner and put on the lid and let it sit for about 10-15 minutes.
4. While the quinoa and sweet potatoes are cooking cut up onion and saute it in a small saucepan WITH the chicken.
5. Cut up one green pepper (no need to saute) or whatever veggie you have on hand!
6. Mix the sweet potato, quinoa, veggies, chicken, cranberries, almonds, and dressing all together and bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes or until it is all warm.

Sorry the picture doesn't show just how tasty it is!

That's it! You definitely want to try this recipe because it is delicious! I will be posting later about another quinoa meatloaf recipe also from Grace that I absolutely loved...