‘No-Mato’, Chicken & Spinach Quinoa

Place the quinoa in a pan with the vegetable stock cube & water. Bring to a boil, stirring well to make sure the stock cube is fully dissolved, then turn down to a very gentle simmer, cover & leave to cook until all the fluid has been absorbed ~10 minutes.

Meanwhile take a large pan & fill it 3/4 full with cold water, add the bay leaf & bring to the boil. Once bubbling remove from the heat & add your chicken. Cover tightly with a lid & leave to poach for 20 minutes (smaller pieces may take slightly less time, they are done when the flesh is firm to the touch & completely opaque).

In another pan place the finely sliced leek/onion & 1/2 tsp coconut oil. Sweat on a low heat until soft & translucent then add your par-cooked quinoa. Mix well.

Pour in your sauce & the black onion seeds then mix again. Cover with a lid & leave to cook for a further 7-8 minutes until the quinoa has absorbed all the lovely flavour of the sauce, if you feel it is too dry add 1/2 cup more boiling water.

Remove the chicken from the poaching liquid & chop into small pieces, stir through the quinoa mix & add your spinach.

Turn the heat off & replace the lid for 2 minutes to allow the spinach to wilt in the residual heat, then serve.

You can easily make this in advance & decant it into a casserole dish. To reheat simply cover & place in a 200ºC oven for 15 minutes until hot all the way through.