Greek Marinated Chicken with Quinoa Tabbouli

I know I've mentioned on here before that my family lived in the Middle East for several years when I was quite young.  Because of those experiences, we grew up eating a lot of Middle Eastern food way before it was cool to do so.  In junior high, I'm pretty sure I was the only kid who had ever heard of cous cous, tabbouli or baba ghanoush.    Of course, all I ever wanted to do was raid the pantries at my friends' houses to eat "normal" food.  Luckily I've since come around to loving more adventurous foods.

This recipe is wonderful since almost all the work is done ahead of time.  The flavors are simple but utterly delicious and addicting.  There will most likely be quite a bit of tabbouli left over, but it makes for a quick and fantastic lunch, especially served with some pita bread and hummus.  (In fact, this is my go-to lunch most days!)

Greek Marinated Chicken with Quinoa Tabbouli

chicken recipe adapted from All Recipes, tabbouli recipe adapted from my mom

for the chicken:

1/3 cup olive oil

3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

1 teaspoon dried rosemary (or 1 tablespoon fresh)

1 teaspoon dried thyme (or 1 tablespoon fresh)

1 teaspoon dried oregano (or 1 tablespoon fresh)

2 lemons, zested and juiced

4 chicken breasts

for the tabbouli:

1 cup quinoa

1/4 cup olive oil

2 lemons, juiced

3 roma tomatoes, seeds removed and finely chopped

4 green onions, very thinly sliced

1 cup parsley, minced

1/2 cup mint, minced

salt

In a small bowl, combine olive oil, garlic, rosemary, thyme, oregano, lemon zest, and lemon juice.  Using an immersion blender, mix well.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Pour marinade into a large ziplock bag.  Add chicken to bag and refrigerate for 8 hours.  

Meanwhile, rinse the quinoa well.  Combine 1 3/4 cups water, quinoa and a little salt in a small pot.  Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes.  Let cool completely.

In a large bowl, combine tomatoes, green onions, parsley, mint and about 3/4 teaspoon salt.  Add cooled quinoa and mix thoroughly.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.

For the chicken, you can really cook it however you prefer - stovetop, grill or oven.  I think it would be best cooked on the grill but since the weather was not good for grilling, I cooked it in a saute pan on our stove.  I quickly seared it, flipping once, over medium-high heat and then reduced the heat to medium-low and cooked it for an additional 10-12 minutes.