Citrus Marinated Chicken and Quinoa Salad with Pita Chips

Chicken salads are awesome and chicken quinoa salads are even better. Tender chicken with this tasty grain is an amazing combination and the addition of fresh ingredients like tomatoes and onion along with marinating the chicken in citrus yields a filling and very nutritious meal sure to satisfy.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 2 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless
• Pita chips, store-bought or homemade
• 1 medium tomato, diced
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1/2 onion, finely chopped
• 1 cup chicken or vegetable broth, reduced-sodium
• 1/2 cup quinoa
• 3 tablespoons fresh orange juice
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon orange zest
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• A handful of fresh cilantro
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Black pepper
• Lemon slices, for garnish

Directions

1. In a zipper bag, add the crushed garlic clove along with the citrus juice, zest, and soy sauce. Add the chicken to the bag, seal it up, and move it around to coat. Leave the chicken in the fridge to marinate for at least 15 minutes.
2. Once the chicken has had time to marinade, add a drizzle of oil into a medium pan. Cut the chicken into bite-sized chunks and season with salt and black pepper. Add the chicken to the pan and cook while stirring occasionally until golden brown and juices run clear. The internal temperature should be 165 degrees F. Transfer the chicken to a bowl to cool and set aside.
3. Rinse the quinoa, drain, and set aside as you bring the chicken or vegetable broth to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Once boiling, pour in the quinoa, stir and reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and cook for 12-15 minutes or until tender and all the liquid has absorbed. When done, remove from the heat and leave covered for another 5 minutes or so before uncovering, fluffing, and cooling.
4. Put the salad together by combining the cooked chicken and quinoa along with the tomato, onion, and cilantro. Simply dress with some olive oil, season to taste, toss and serve with pita chips. For the pita chips, you can use the store brought or cut pita bread into wedges, drizzle with oil, sprinkle with salt, and bake until crisp.