Quinoa con pollo (quinoa-chicken pilaf)

Chicken Thigh, 6 thigh, bone and skin removed
Chicken broth, homemade, 2.5 cups
Shallots / green onions, 1/2 cup chopped
Carrots, raw, 2 large (7-1/4" to 8-1/2" long)
Peas, frozen, 0.75 cup
Roma tomato, 1 medium-large
Jalapeno peppers, 1.5 peppers, with or without seeds
Garlic, 2 cloves, minced
Salt, 1 tsp
Cumin seed, ground, 1 tbsp
Turmeric, ground, 2 tsp
Pepper, black, 0.25 tsp
Pepper, red or cayenne, 0.5 tsp
Quinoa, 1.5 cup

Cook thighs in 3 cups of water over medium-low heat, about 30 minutes. (Or cook in slow cooker, low heat, 6 hours.) Allow to cool. Cut chicken into 1-2 inch cubes (irregularity is fine). Put in a large pot with a tight-fitting lid. Add 2.5 cups of the broth.

Chop shallots, carrots, and tomato in smallish (0.5-in) pieces; add to pot with peas. Mince jalapenos and add to pot along with as many seeds as you wish (or none if you can't handle hot spiciness). Mince garlic cloves and add along with spices. Rinse the quinoa briefly under running water (I find it easiest with an inexpensive fine strainer), gently shake out excess water, and add.

Cook over high heat until the mixture comes to a rolling boil. Then turn heat to low and cook for 20 minutes. If all liquid hasn't yet been absorbed, you may want to add 5 or 10 minutes after that.

This is especially yummy topped with a favorite salsa and sprinkled with chopped fresh cilantro.

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It is fun to add other veggies to this mix; of course you can use different chicken pieces too.

Note that SparkRecipes doesn't include homemade broth in its ingredient database, so for nutrient calculation I used the option with the lowest sodium (Swanson's Natural) and subtracted its sodium from that of a teaspoon of salt. If you do use a commercial broth, you may want to dilute it with an equal amount of water.

Serving Size: Makes 6 1-cup servings.