The Healthy Kitchen: Quinoa Stuffing with Chicken and Green beans topped with Chicken gravy

 My mom used to make chicken and stuffing and it was so good! One of my favorites. Over the years, I have tried different variations of this recipe. Today I am making a healthier option for those who are not able to have all of the bread and are trying to eat more low fat. There is no butter, and this is made with leaner chicken or turkey. Of course, the main thing is I am replacing the bread in stuffing with quinoa. I also added some green beans to get some veggies added in. This of course could be left out. The gravy is made with Better than Boullion and was pretty easy to make. If you need to watch your sodium you can get reduced sodium broth and Better than Bouillon. 

The ingredients:

1 C quinoa cooked

1 C chicken broth

1 bay leaf

1 heaping C of diced celery

1 medium white onion diced

small handful of fresh sage chopped apprx 2 TBSP

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1 TBSP olive oil

sea salt

shredded or diced cooked chicken

pepper

veggies if desired

The recipe:

Cook the quinoa with a bit of salt, pepper, and the bay leaf.  I cook mine in chicken broth so tend to omit the salt. Set aside when done. 

Heat olive oil in a pan over low heat. Add in the chopped celery and onion and any other veggies. Cook until they and tender/clear about 5-10 minutes. Turn the heat up to medium and broth, sage, garlic 

powder, and cooked chicken. Season with salt and pepper to taste. and simmer for a few minutes. 

Combine the quinoa with the meat mixture and stir well. Place into a greased over safe dish. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes. Then broil under a low flame until the top is golden brown. 

To top I made a Better than Bouillon Chicken Gravy with some Thyme added. 

 

The ingredients:

4 1/2 C water

2 1/2 TBSP Better than Bouillon

1/3 C cornstarch

pepper to taste

Thyme to taste

The recipe:

On medium high heat add 4 C water to pot and bring to a boil

In a separate bowl mix the 1/2 C water with the cornstarch and mix until dissolved.

Add the Better than Bouillon to the boiling water and whisk to dissolve. 

Pout the cornstarch into the pot a little at a time. Continuing to whisk. Wisk 1-2 minutes until thickened. 

Add pepper and Thyme to taste and serve warm. 

Some adjustments:

I was out of sage, so I used thyme instead, I was also out of onion, so I used onion powder. I added green beans. I used a precooked rotisserie chicken. I topped this with some panko. However, by broiler did not get it very crunchy.  In the gravy, I also added some of the thyme.