Southwest Quinoa Chicken and Corn Chili….AMAZING!!!

Last night I came up with a recipe for what I am going to call a Southwest Quinoa Chicken and Corn Chili…and it was AMAZING!!! My husband and kids just ate it up like it was dessert! The funny thing is that the whole time it was cooking my husband kept saying “I am scared” (because he has never had quinoa before) but is seriously turned out great!!!

Southwest Quinoa Chicken and Corn Chili

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cup of quinoa, rinsed
• (3) cans Diced/Crushed/Italian tomatoes (I used 1 can diced and 1 can Italian tomatoes, 1 can crushed…you can do any combination you would like)
• (1) can Rotel diced tomatoes with green chilies
• (2) cans of black beans, rinsed, drained (we are not a bean family…so I only used 1 can…but it easily could have used 1 more can)
• (1) 15 oz can of corn, drained (we love corn…so we used 2 cans here)
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• (2) cans or 3 cups chicken stock
• 2 large chicken breasts (bones thighs work too) frozen or thawed (cook longer if frozen)
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp cumin (I left this out last night…but think it would enhance the flavor)
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper (don’t worry this won’t make it spicy…just adds flavor)
• 2 tsp chili powder

Directions

1. This is the best part…so easy…just throw everything into the  crock pot  and cook for 7-8 hours on low or 5-7 hours on high. If you used frozen chicken add about an hour…mainly cook until the chicken is cooked all the way through)
2. Run a fork through the crock pot and feel for the chicken…if it is not broken up already…just break it apart (or you can remove it from the slow cooker….shred it with two forks and return it) I found that my chicken cooked so tender that I just had to run a fork through and it broke apart with no effort!
3. Serve in individual bowls…topped with cheese, sour cream, avocados…whatever you like!!! (My hubby added a jalapeno at this point)