Quinoa Salad with Roasted Chicken and Garden Vegetables

Ingredients

• • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 teaspoon salt, divided
  • 5 tablespoon Olive Oil
  • 3 teaspoons fennel seeds, crushed, divided
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper, divided
  • 10 ounces mushrooms, quartered
  • 4 medium carrots, sliced 1/2 inch thick
• • 1 medium onion, cut into 3/4-inch wedges
  • 1 1/2 cups water
  • 1 cup quinoa
  • 1 pound chicken tenders, halved crosswise
  • 8 cups torn escarole or curly endive

Directions

• 1 Preheat oven to 475 °F.
• 2 Mash garlic and 3/4 teaspoon salt into a paste with the side of a chef's knife or a fork. Transfer to a large bowl and whisk in oil, 2 teaspoons fennel seeds and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
• 3 Combine mushrooms, carrots and onion in a medium bowl. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of the oil mixture and toss well to coat. Spread the vegetables on a large rimmed baking sheet. Roast for 10 minutes.
• 4 Meanwhile, combine water and quinoa in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to maintain a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand, covered, for 5 minutes.
• 5 Combine chicken, 2 teaspoons of the oil mixture, the remaining 1 teaspoon fennel seeds and 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper in the medium bowl. Toss to coat.
• 6 Stir the vegetables and nestle the chicken among them. Continue roasting until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of a chicken tender registers 165 °F, 8 to 10 minutes more.
• 7 Add escarole (or endive) and the quinoa and toss with the dressing. Serve the salad topped with the roasted vegetables and chicken.