Chicken and rice is a dish that’s beloved around the world in its various forms, but this recipe takes that traditional formula and mixes it up a bit. Instead of rice, these chicken pesto bowls have a base of quinoa. This dry good is often called a grain, but it’s actually a seed. The plant is native to South America, but has been gaining popularity over the past decade since it’s a change of pace from rice and offers more nutrients than rice does.

Quinoa has protein, fiber, and minerals and vitamins that rice simply doesn’t have. For this recipe the addition of plenty of vegetables and pesto creates a fresh chicken bowl with tons of flavor.

To make this recipe you’ll need to prepare your quinoa to the package directions. If you’ve never made it before don’t be worried by the “seed” part. They plump up just like rice or couscous in the pan and have a nice flavor. You can buy different colors of quinoa as well. For this recipe we used rainbow quinoa that has different shades in it.

Then you chop up and bake a head of broccoli, making sure to coat the pieces with olive oil and season them with salt and pepper. I love roasted veggies and there’s something about broccoli that’s been browned in the oven that just ups the ante for me personally.

Then you’ll fry up your chicken breasts until golden, then add thawed, frozen peas to the pan to heat them up. Once the chicken and the broccoli are done toss the quinoa with peas, oregano, butter, and pesto. The savory, salty pesto is the perfect compliment here to the rest of the ingredients and makes this dish a comforting take on health food.

I make sure to always have a tub of pre-made pesto (from the fresh pasta section in the grocery) on hand and it keeps really well in the fridge for a long time. However, if you don’t think you’ll use that much pesto on a regular basis you can also buy shelf stable pesto in a tube or a jar, but in my opinion it doesn’t taste as good as the freshly-made stuff.

Next cut the chicken into cubes or strips (whichever you like better). In individual bowls put a layer of the seasoned quinoa, then the chicken and broccoli, then the tomato wedges. You can sprinkle with some Parmesan cheese on top if you’d like as well. Between the pesto and the Parmesan you probably won’t need to add any more salt to the recipe.

This is the kind of food that makes your body feel good, but is incredibly filling as well. If you’ve never tried making quinoa at home before this is a wonderful inaugural recipe that’s bursting with both fresh flavor and nutrients.