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Slow cooker chicken, mushroom and spinach quinoa risotto

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups quinoa, uncooked and rinsed

1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces

3 cups sliced mushrooms

3 cups low-sodium chicken broth (plus up to 1 cup additional, if needed at the end)

1 large shallot, thinly sliced

5 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon each of dried thyme, basil and oregano

1 tablespoon coconut oil

1/2 teaspoon pepper

Juice of 1 lemon or 2 tablespoons lemon juice

4 cups roughly chopped, packed spinach

2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

*May substitute coconut oil with oil of your choice.

Directions

• Place all ingredients except spinach and cheese in slow cooker.
• Cover and cook on low for 3 hours.
• When almost done cooking, the liquid should be absorbed, and the mixture should be slightly sticky. If very sticky, add up to 1 cup additional broth and stir to combine until texture is creamy.
• Stir in spinach and cheese, cover and continue cooking just until spinach begins to wilt (about 2 to 5 minutes).

This dish can be made vegan by omitting the chicken, swapping chicken broth for vegetable broth and replacing the Parmesan cheese with 1/4 cup nutritional yeast. Quinoa risotto can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or frozen for up to 2 months.

Nutrition information

Serving size: 1/6 of recipe. Amount per serving: 380 calories, 11g total fat (4.5g saturated fat, 0g trans fat), 90mg cholesterol, 32g carbohydrates, 37g protein, 4g dietary fiber, 280mg sodium.

American Institute for Cancer Research