Chicken Teriyaki with Kañiwa Grain and Sautéed Vegetables
While shopping at Whole Foods Market I stumbled upon kañiwa grain, which is a grain of the high Andes that's very high in protein and antioxidants. Since I love healthy food I decided to give kañiwa grain a try. It has a crunchy texture and an earthy flavor that I found oh so satisfying. Now I use it in my dishes.
The dish I recently made is chicken teriyaki with kañiwa grain and sautéed vegetables (carrot, onion, sweet bell pepper). All these ingredients make for a unique, great tasting entrée that is good for you too.
Below you will find this recipe of mine, with a full list of ingredients, step-by-step instructions, and recipe photos. Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Kañiwa Grain
- 1 Large Red Bell Pepper
- 1 Medium Onion
- 1 Medium Carrot
- Few Tablespoons Ketchup
- 1 Teaspoon Aji Mirin (Sweet Cooking Rice Wine)
- Chicken Breast
- Teriyaki Sauce
- Toasted Sesame Oil
- Roasted Sesame Seeds
- Sea Salt
- Canola Oil
- Before cooking the kañiwa grain it is best to first toast it. To do so, simply measure out a cup of the grain and place it in a skillet over medium heat. Cook for five minutes or so, making sure to stir occasionally. When done turn off the heat.
- Empty the toasted kañiwa grain into a pot. Fill the pot with two cups of water. Add a small amount of sea salt. Cover the pot with the lid and place on the stove over medium-low heat. Once the pot comes to a boil lower the heat and simmer for about twenty minutes. May be a good idea to stir the grain a few times while it's cooking to make sure it doesn't stick to the pot. When done cooking turn off the heat and let sit.
- Wash a large sweet red bell pepper, and cut into thin long strips. Wash and peel a medium carrot and cut into thin long strips as well. Do the same with a medium onion.
- Heat a skillet with canola oil and cook the onions until golden brown. Remove when done. Next cook the carrots and the red bell peppers until they are tender. In the mean time, take a small bowl and add a few tablespoons of ketchup and a teaspoon of Aji Mirin. Mix well. When the bell peppers and carrots are just about done place the onion back into the skillet, add some sea salt, and the ketchup mixture and mix. Cook for a few minutes and then cover with the lid and let sit.
- Take a package of chicken breast (skinless/boneless), remove it and rinse under running water. Pat dry with a paper towel. Cut each chicken breast into strips and place into a bowl. Add a little bit of sea salt and pour teriyaki sauce over it. Let sit for about five minutes. Then heat a skillet with canola oil and cook for about eight minutes. When done turn off the heat. Make sure chicken is not pink when you remove it as pink means it's not thoroughly cooked. Also don't overcook the chicken or it will be dry.
- To set up your plate mix a bit of the kañiwa grain with the sautéed sweet red bell peppers, onions, and carrots and place in the middle of a plate. Then add the chicken teriyaki slices around it. Finally, sprinkle with roasted sesame seeds and toasted sesame oil. Enjoy!
Another kañiwa grain dish...
Another dish that you can make using Kañiwa grain is a salad. Simply slice the red onions and yellow tomatoes and place into a soup bowl. Then add the cold kañiwa grain, drizzle with olive oil and mix. You can add some smoked sea salt if you want as well, but not too much of it. You can even add slices of meat to it, be it chicken teriyaki of ground meat patties, cutlets, pork chop, or turkey breast. Either of these will go great with the salad and make it even more filling than it already is. I came up with this dish when I first bought kañiwa grain. It is so good, not to mention it's creative and unique. Give it a try sometime.
