When Life Calls for Comfort Food: Healthy Quinoa White Chicken Chili
I know, it’s been a long time since I last wrote. It’s been a busy, strange time for me and I haven’t found the energy. Also, I fried my laptop, which certainly hasn’t helped. To sum up the last month, I spent two weeks in Denver, where I had my first experience busting my ass for a campaign and losing anyways. It’s an experience everyone needs to have at some point, but unfortunately one that far too many of my peers on our side of the aisle had this cycle. Everyone knew it would be a rough year for Democrats, but it was a far rougher one than I expected. After the campaign, I spent some time exploring Denver, drinking just enough craft beer and far too many soy lattes, discovering that Rocky Mountain National Park is even more beautiful than I’d imagined, and spending just the right amount of time doing absolutely nothing. Then I came back to D.C. for a week of bittersweet celebration marking the end of the long and amazingly inspiring career of a boss I’ve come to love and respect so much. Now that the election and the celebrations are over, I’m running out of ways to avoid the question of “what’s next.” While I’m making some progress, it turns out trying to figure out what you want to do with the rest of your life and how to make it happen is kind of exhausting. So there you have it.
In other news, it’s bitterly cold in D.C. all of a sudden. UnNovemberly cold, I’d venture to say. I’d say that all the above circumstances call for red wine and comfort food. This white chicken chili is the ultimate comfort food, and a healthy one at that! It’s fabulous served topped with avocado with a side of tortilla chips!
Quinoa White Chicken Chili
Adapted from Closet Cooking
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 2 jalapeno peppers, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon cumin, toasted and ground
- 3 cups chicken broth or chicken stock
- 1 cup salsa verde
- 1 pound boneless and skinless chicken breasts
- 1 (15 oz) can garbanzo beans
- 1/2 cup raw quinoa
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- salt and pepper to taste
- Heat the oil in a large sauce pan over medium heat, add the onion and jalapenos and cook until tender, about 5-7 minutes.
- Add the garlic and cumin and cook until fragrant, about a minute.
- Add the broth, salsa verde, chicken, garbanzo beans, quinoa and oregano; bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the chicken is cooked and the quinoa is tender, about 10-15 minutes.
- Remove the chicken. Once cool enough to touch shred and return to soup along with the lime juice. Season with salt and pepper and remove from heat.
- Serve with avocado and tortilla chips.
