Cajun Chicken Quinoa Salad

In celebration of receiving our first issue of our subscription to Good Food Magazine here is a recipe based on one we found in that, the April of the magazine.
This was another week day lunches solution and was very very tasty indeed. It has enough flavour from the seasoning and stock to stop the cravings for anything salty and fatty that might be calling to you from the vending machine (or is that just me?), and with the lentils as well as the quinoa it was very filling.
The recipe in Good Food Magazine uses apricots, but I'm not a big fan of those, so I used a couple of peppers instead. Not really a logical substitute, I know. Also the recipe says to use 4 chicken breasts, but I think this is because it is for a main meal for 4. I only used 2, to keep the costs down and to make it lighter.

2 skinless chicken breasts, cut into small chunks
1 tbsp cajun seasoning
100g/4oz quinoa
600ml/1pint hot chicken stock
1 red pepper, cut into dice
1 green pepper, cut into dice
2 red onions, sliced
175g lentils
Olive oil

1. Heat the oven to 220C/gas 6. Coat the chicken with the cajun spice and place on a baking tray. Drizzle with a little oil and cook for about 20 mins until cooked through.







2. Cook the lentils according to the pack instructions. This involves, rinsing, and simmering for around 40 mins until tender.

3. Cook the quinoa in the chicken stock until tender. This takes about 15 mins and is when you see the germ start to separate from the grain.

4. Drain both the lentils and the quinoa and mix with the chicken and all it's juices.

5. Fry the onions and peppers in a little olive oil until soft, but not brown. Then mix with the rest of the ingredients.








This was so good, I will make it again and again. In fact I think I will be living off it for lunches at work for a while!