Recipe: Tropical Quinoa Chicken Salad

This is an easy meal that uses ingredients I commonly have around the house. I invented it one day when my fridge was empty and so was my belly. Hope you like it!!

When I was working full time, I rarely used the crockpot but have been using it more frequently now that I am home. I like using the crockpot for this recipe because I can start the chicken at lunch time and then work on it during nap time. I also like to shred the chicken vs cube it because I think it works better with the quinoa. You, however, can cook and prepare your chicken however you darn well please.

I cook my quinoa in the rice cooker and use only 1.25 cups of liquid per the 1.5 cups of dry quinoa because soggy quinoa is no bueno. To sweeten the quinoa and to give it more of a tropical taste, you can substitute coconut milk for some of the water. When I have it on hand, I use about .5 cup coconut milk and .75 cup water.

When draining the pineapple and oranges, I leave the tiniest bit of juice in the can to mix in with the salad. Make sure you fold the oranges in gently after everything else is mixed in or else you will end up with mangled oranges...like mine. When I am feeling ambitious, I toast coconut flakes in the oven to sprinkle over the top (didn't happen last night).  

Yum!

Tropical Quinoa Chicken Salad

2 Cups cooked chicken, shredded

1 1/2 Cups dry quinoa, cooked

1/2 Cup coconut milk (optional)

2 Cups grapes, halved

2 Cans pineapple, drained

1/2 Cup poppyseed dressing

2 Cans mandarin oranges, drained

Possible delicious add ins:

Toasted coconut flakes

Red bell pepper, chopped

Chives, chopped

Sliced almonds

Let me know what you think, especially if you try a variation. I'll also keep you posted with any variations that I try. 

Update on 10/19/2013

I added a red bell pepper and it was AWESOME! Highly recommended. 

Keep track of what is going on At The Beech House by following us on Facebook.