Near East Roasted Red Pepper and Basil Quinoa Bowls with Chicken and Goat Cheese (AKA: swag = awesome)

Hey Everyone!

As many of you know, I am moving across the country next week! (AHHHHH!  So much to do!)  You know what that means?

OPERATION: CLEAN OUT THE FRIDGE  !!!!!

I received this Near East (a Quaker brand) quinoa/brown rice blend from their booth at the Healthy Living Summit.  

When I was trying to throw dinner together last night with the remnants of our fridge - this package caught my eye as it could be the perfect thing to tie a lot of leftover ingredients together.  

I found a pre-cooked chicken breast in the freezer.... perfect, that is a great start!

When looking in the crisper drawer I found a few leftover green onions.... I love green onions in everything!

Then came the cheese drawer....yay! Two sprinkles of goat cheese left!  

Then came the final sweep of the back of the fridge (that scary place where all of the random ingredients end up..... woohoo! I found a handful of sun dried tomatoes.  

After cooking the Near East quinoa blend - which is super simple and fool-proof.  I added all of my mix-ins except the goat cheese, which I saved as a garnish for the top!  You know what it also wonderful about the Near East quinoa blend - besides serving as a delicious backdrop - it made TWO perfect servings.  Which is perfect for Milos and me!  

Milos inhaled his quinoa bowl in between packing up the electronics and his clothes.  The flavor of the spice packet you add to the quinoa was just the right amount of flavor and I really enjoyed the mix of different grains vs. straight brown rice or quinoa.  

I will definitely be making this again when we get settled in CA!

Near East Roasted Red Pepper and Basil Quinoa Bowls with Chicken and Goat Cheese

Servings: 2

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: 25 min

Ingredients:

1 box Near East Roasted Red Pepper and Basil Quinoa Blend, prepared according to package directions

1 chicken breast, cooked and chopped

2 green onions, chopped

2 tablespoons sundried tomatoes 

2 tablespoons goat cheese, crumbled

Directions:

 Prepare Near East Roasted Red Pepper and Basil Quinoa according to package directions.  When the quinoa finishes cooking, stir in your mixins: chicken, green onion, and sundried tomatoes.  Divide among two bowls and sprinkle each bowl with 1 tablespoon goat cheese.  

***Thanks to Stepfanie Romine for her presentation of recipe writing at this year's HLS.  I am definitely using all of your tips!