Kidney-Friendly Recipe: Italian Herb Grilled Chicken with Grilled Veggies and Quinoa

As kids head back to school and the long summer nights slowly slip away, celebrate the end of the season with a delicious meal on the grill—perfect for Labor Day Weekend! This recipe comes from NephCure’s Chef Sachet, a patient parent whose 12-year-old son Aiden was diagnosed with FSGS in January 2017. Aiden’s kidney disease rapidly progressed—just five months after diagnosis, he ended up on dialysis and eventually went on to receive a kidney transplant. As a kidney disease caregiver, Chef Sachet says ‘it’s important to me to keep kidney-friendly recipes in mind!’

Yield: 4 people

Prep time: 15 min

Cook time: 25 minutes

Sodium: 139mg per serving

Ingredients:

• 4 6-oz chicken breasts (with tenders attached) IMPORTANT NOTE: Check the sodium content on the chicken breasts to make sure they are no higher than 75 mg of sodium per 4 ounce serving or no higher than 113 mg per 6 ounce package.
• 2 cups of quinoa (any kind works)
• 1 large zucchini or squash
• 1 lime
• 1 lemon
• ½ handful of fresh parsley, minced
• 2 sprigs of fresh oregano, minced
• 2 sprigs of fresh thyme, minced
• 2 heads of fresh garlic, minced
• ¼ cup of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
• Pepper (to taste)
• 4 cups of no-salt veggie stock
• 2 Tbsp. of unsalted butter

Instructions:

• First, set your chicken breasts aside in a large bowl.
• Mince all herbs and toss in chicken with garlic, pepper, lemon juice, and a drizzle of EVOO. Coat chicken well and marinate for 15 minutes.
• Heat the vegetable stock in large pot on medium-high heat until simmering. Add quinoa. Lower heat, add 2 Tbsp. of butter and a sprig of thyme. Let cook until all of the liquid is absorbed. Once most liquid is gone, turn off the heat, and cover the quinoa until serving time.
• Once the quinoa is cooking, cut vegetables into thick slices. Add pepper, EVOO, and a squeeze of lime, and then place them on the grill.
• Remove chicken from the fridge and start to grill it: 7-10 minutes on each side until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit.

Chef’s Tips:

• Do not flip your chicken constantly when grilling. It will take a long time to cook and will dry out. Plus, you won’t get those awesome grill marks!
• Raw veggies can take a while on the grill. Season and lubricate them with oil ahead of time, but don’t add too much oil. It will just burn off and char the veggies.
• When using store-bought stock, always use low-sodium or no-salt varieties.