Curried Pineapple Chicken Quinoa

Whenever a friend asks me to "teach" them to cook, I feel at a loss because I am not quite sure how to do so.  Teach them lingo?  Tell them what the different types of knives are? Tell them how to cut different fruits and vegetables? The one thing I consistently come back to is sharing that the best way to learn to cook is to follow recipe after recipe until you learn what works, and then you will eventually learn to vary them slowly, until you one day will feel able to develop your own recipe.  You have to learn the rules so that you can break them. This year I have found myself more often than any other ever googling recipes with ingredients I have on hand, considering, adjusting, and making things outside of my tried-and-true basics.

Tonight, I had pineapple and I had quinoa. I googled and found a few different recipes, but ultimately decided upon this one, which I found here. I followed the beginning and changed it up near the end. Being the resident carnivore on this blog (even as my title has officially been changed to Happy Omnivore),  I also grilled up some chicken and added it in as well, though it would have been just as delicious without.  I served mine hot rather than cold, so here is the recipe I landed upon, with which I was quite happy.

1 1/2 cups veggie or chicken broth
3/4 cup quinoa
2 teaspoons curry powder
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup pineapple chunks

A quarter of a red onion

1 chicken breast

Bring broth, quinoa, curry powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper to a boil in a saucepan over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the quinoa is tender, 15 to 20 minutes. 

Dice onion and sauté with olive oil until tender.  Add bite sized pieces of chicken seasoned with more curry, pepper, salt and garlic to your taste. Sauté until almost cooked through, add pineapple chunks.  Let the chicken cook in the juices until fully cooked, and pineapple is softened.

Mix chicken and pineapple with cooked quinoa, serve hot.