Think BBQ Chicken Pizza, turned Quinoa Bake! All the flavors, a bit healthier, and done in 30 minutes! Tasty, easy, and sure to please!
When we first moved to Maine, many many years ago. We kind of moved out to East Bum..quite literally, we lived on a dirt road, that was probably 3 miles long, each house being about 1/4-1/2 mile apart. We lived right on a lake, so that was really fun, but other than that there was nothing around. The big event ever year was the Church Fair. It was an everybody knew everyone kind of small town.
At first, partly because I was only 12, but mostly it’s because all of my family and cousins suddenly lived within walking distance, I loved it out there. (That changed about halfway through high school, and thankfully my parents were on the same page as me, so we got the heck out of dodge and moved into ‘the city’.) But it was really, REALLY fun for awhile, and every now and then, I even get a little nostalgic about it.
Summers were full of all my cousins, bon fires, bike riding into town for ice cream or meet friends, jet skiing, water skiing, grilling and spending our days out on boats, tubing, racing across the lake, water swings, tree jumping, four-wheeling, etc., and winters were loaded with ice fishing, fires on the ice, sledding behind 4-wheelers, snowmobiling, igloo making, etc…life was really easy, and completely fun 100% of the time.
It was so small town, but when I was young, I loved every minute of it. There was a pizza joint, that we used to order from every single Thursday night. Every. At one point a couple of my cousins even worked there. But it was so fantastic. The pizzas were pretty large and only $5 on Thursdays! We always ordered four, and one was alwaaaays a bbq chicken pizza.
Mind you, this was back before I had a more diverse palate..it was the only kind of pizza I ate or ordered ever. You could say I was a little close minded at the time. But maybe not. To this day, it’s still one of my favs, and in my mind is totally a classic.
I still love all things BBQ Chicken. Always have, and probably always will. We needed a quick dinner one night recently. It was shortly after you found me standing at the fridge, licking spoonfuls of this perfect BBQ Sauce. (oh I love it so!) And thus, this super easy, 30 minute, healthy dinner was formed. You can’t go wrong here, and the more cheese the better. If you’re not in the mood to make the BBQ Sauce I used, no problamo, just use your favorite one!
This is a great one for the nights where you’re really just not in the mood to cook, but boy is it loaded with flavor, and super filling! Enjoy!
Think BBQ Chicken Pizza, turned Quinoa Bake! All the flavors, a bit healthier, and done in 30 minutes! Tasty, easy, and sure to please!
Ingredients
- 1 cup dry quinoa, rinsed
- 2 cups water
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 1 red bell pepper, sliced
- 1 orange bell pepper, sliced
- 1/4 cup sliced red onion
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 cup halved grape tomatoes
- salt and pepper
- 1 1/2 cups Chipotle Peach BBQ Sauce (or BBQ Sauce of choice)
- 2 cups extra sharp Cheddar Cheese
Directions
- Add quinoa and water to a medium sized saucepan, bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low and cook for 10-15 minutes, until water has been fully absorbed.
- While the quinoa is cooking, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the groun chicken and cook through.
- Add the red and orange bell pepper, onion, garlic, and grape tomatoes. Sprinkle with a dash of salt and pepper.
- Toss together and cook 5-7 minutes until the peppers have slightly softened, but retain a little crunch. At the very end, add 1/4 cup of the BBQ Sauce.
- Preheat the oven to 400°.
- In a large baking dish, add the cooked quinoa, the chicken and peppers, and remaining BBQ Sauce. Stir together until evenly combined.
- Sprinkle with cheddar cheese and pop in the oven for about ten minutes, until the cheese is melted, bubbly, and golden brown around the edges.
- Serve and enjoy!