QUINOA fried rice

I got inspired on Pinterest by this gem...

and decided to make my own version tonight to pack in my lunch all week.

Basically you can throw ANY vegetable/meat combo into the pan and you can't mess it up.

The ratios/measurements don't have to be exact either.

This is one of those "everything but the kitchen sink" moments.  :)  

WARNING - it tastes delicious!

Ingredients:

• 2 grilled chicken breasts cut into cubes
• 3 eggs scrambled (you can scramble just the whites or a few whites and only one yoke if you want)
• 4 cloves of garlic minced
• diced scallions (I wanted to use onion but didn't have any)
• red bell pepper - chopped up

• 1 can bamboo shoots (I LOVE these -and water chestnuts, which the store didn't have - and used to pick them out of the fried rice at restaurants as a kid!)
• 1/2 cup canned corn
• 1/2 cup canned green sweet peas
• 3 cups of cooked quinoa 
• 4 tablespoons of soy sauce (I added this slowly one table spoon at a time AT THE VERY END and tasted as I went so it didn't get too salty - tread lightly!)
• a tablespoon or two of vietnamese fish sauce

**I added some minced fresh ginger from the fridge, it added a nice kick!

After I prepped and chopped all of the veggies, peeled the garlic and ginger to mince, and opened all of the cans, I cubed the chicken breasts (shrimp would be AWESOME) and scrambled the egg and set aside.

I sauteed the veggies with ginger, garlic and some vegetable oil.  I wanted the bell pepper and bamboo shoots to be crunchy and a little crisp from the hot oil, not soggy.   I spooned the canned corn and peas last since they are already pretty soft.

Then I added in the quinoa and started to heat it up in the pan.  It stuck to the bottom a little bit (that's the best part of ANY rice dish if you are Cuban) and that's when I added in the soy sauce and fish sauce and chicken/scrambled egg to wrap it up.  The quinoa is a GREAT texture and it tastes just like the real deal!

It makes about 6 cups.  1 cup has around 300-350 calories and TONS of protein (22 grams!).

HAPPY EATING!

Does anybody wanna come over and do my dishes?