Fajita Quinoa Bowls

I’ve been visiting with family for the last couple of weeks and the other night we were laughing about the meals I used to cook.

There didn’t have to be a special occasion. Thursday night was a good enough reason for me to spend hours planning, go to three different stores getting the right ingredients and then cook for eight hours over the course of two days preparing my masterpiece.

I loved everything about the process.

You know I still totally do that all the time. Um, not.

Folks, I have THREE kids. How did that happen? I still sometimes look over to hubs as we are driving and whisper in amazement “There are THREE of them back there now.”

Now you know that I love my little monkeys more than anything, but they have put a serious dent in my gourmet cooking marathons. As in, I haven’t had one in about nine years.

Necessity requires that if I’m spending eight hours in the kitchen a lot more than one meal is coming out of it.

Family weeknight meals these days involve the drop game with a sippy cup, food on the floor and lots of noise. Gone food labored over for hours and in its place is easy healthy food. I am a huge fan of meals that I can make in 30 minutes or less.

I may not be making fresh pasta or beef wellington these days, but today’s Fajita Quinoa Bowl shows that simple and delicious can go hand in hand.

Whether you are starting with cooked quinoa or not, dinner is on the table in less than 30 minutes. I love this because not only am I feeding my family right but everyone is happy. (Even Skye, though she does give me funny looks when I give her onions…)

I am a total appliance junkie and I am so excited for the opportunity to introduce you to the new GE Appliances.

I am in love with the Hands-Free Auto Fill Refrigerator. Since I usually have a baby in my arms (who is getting very heavy) and am always multitasking, the ability to fill a water glass hands free is amazing. It is also smart enough to know when to turn itself off. I am also a huge fan of french door refrigerators – they are quite simply the best.

Next up in the line is their Double Oven Range – Tri Ring Burner. Let’s face it, controlling heat is critical to good cooking. This range promises “From the lowest simmer to the highest sear, perfection is yours.” Bonus points go to this beauty for it’s griddle, which provides a flat surface for cooking and warming just about anything. As a busy mom, having a double oven is important to me. I need to be able to heat up the kids lunch and work on dinner at the same time.

As the worlds messiest cook, no appliance conversation would be complete without discussing the most important thing – the dishwasher. My husband will not touch the kitchen when I’m done with it. This means that I pretty much do every single dish in our house. Think of five people, all of which are home all day, and you can get an idea of just how many dishes are in my life.

You know what I hate? Pre-rinsing. I mean if I’m going to have to wash the dish before I put it in the dishwasher, what is the point in the dishwasher?

Know what makes me even grumpier? Re-washing! You think you are about to unload the dishwasher and get those last dishes re-loaded and have a sparkling clean kitchen for, oh, five minutes. Oh, but no! Half of the load has to go back through the wash meaning you are stuck with a dirty kitchen unless you feel like a whole lot of hand washing.

GE has reimagined their dishwashers and now they have jets that reach all the dishes and even deep into bottles. They have a 102 jet cleaning system, which is 54% more than any other dishwasher. Even bottles get clean thanks to the industry’s first bottle wash jets that send water deep inside your bottles. I don’t know about you, but I’m thinking of putting this baby on my Mother’s Day list.

You can head over to Pinterest to check these out or see them in action on the GE Appliances website.

If you are looking for more great meals that you can make in 30 minutes or less, head on over to the Food Network Weeknight Kitchen page and be prepared to be inspired.

Print

Fajita Quinoa Bowls

Author Wendy Polisi

Ingredients

• Chicken or Tempeh
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 1 tablespoon gluten free tamari
• 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 12 ounces chicken or tempeh
• Vegetables
• 1 red bell pepper seeded and cut into strips
• 1 green bell pepper seeded and cut into strips
• 1 medium onion sliced
• 1 jalapeño seeded and finely diced
• Sauce
• 1/2 cup Greek Yogurt dairy or non-dairy
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1 tablespoon taco seasoning
• Bowl
• 3 cups cooked quinoa warm or room temperature
• 1/4 cup cheddar cheese shredded or queso fresco, crumbled (or Daiya)
• 1 avocado quartered
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro chopped

Instructions

1. In a large plastic ziplock bag, combine lime juice, tamari, olive oil, cumin, and chili powder. Add chicken or tempeh and marinade in the refrigerator for 1 hour, or up to 4.
2. Spray a large skillet with high heat safe cooking oil and heat to medium high. Add chicken or tempeh and cook until browned and cooked through. Remove from skillet and tent with foil.
3. Add peppers, onion and jalapeño to the skillet and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until tender and browning.
4. Slice chicken into strips, cutting against the grain.
5. Make sauce by combining yogurt, garlic and taco seasoning in a small bowl.
6. Place 3/4 cup quinoa in four bowls. Top with peppers and chicken, cheese and avocado. Sprinkle with cilantro and drizzle with sauce.

Weeknight dinners should be quick and easy for any busy family. GE Appliances can help streamline the kitchen process with their hands-free auto-fill refrigerator, their double oven range, to their 102 jet wash system dishwasher. To see these appliances in action check out GE: Kitchen Reimagined. For more tips on weeknight dinners head over to FoodNetwork Weeknight Kitchen page for recipes, tips, and much more!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of GE Appliances. The opinions and text are all mine.