Quinoa Kissed Salad
If your cock hates salads, this will convert him. The quinoa gives this salad a meaty chewiness that satisfies and the combination of hot and cold elements will remind him of you.
I make a pilaf out of the quinoa for this recipe, but you can also just sprinkle plain cooked quinoa on top of your salad base.
.
Ingredients
The Warm Quinoa Pilaf
1 cup quinoa (red, but the standard beige is okay too, which is what I used in the pic)
2 cups water (or stock for more flavour)
5 sun-dried tomatoes (the dry bulk ones, not in liquid or oil) chopped
1 leek, cleaned and chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped (optional)
1 cup chopped mushrooms (optional)
1 tablespoon olive oil
The Cold Salad
Two cups baby spinach
1 tomato sliced in wedges
1/2 avocado, sliced
1/2 cup sliced cucumber
1/2 cup organic frozen peas, cooked
Vinaigrette (I like the Wafu Light Japanese dressing for this, but you can make your own. Anything works, you’ll see!)
Directions
1. Add 1 cup quinoa and 2 cups water (or stock) in a small-medium sized pot. Bring to a boil and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in the pan, sautee celery, leeks, peppers and sun-dried tomatoes on med-high for 4 minutes. Add mushrooms. Cook another 4 minutes.
3. Add the cooked quinoa and mix.
4. On 2 plates, lay out a handful of baby spinach leaves. Place warm quinoa pilaf on top. Garnish with whatever veggies you like; chopped tomatoes, cucumber, avocado, a sprinkle of organic peas (Margo’s fave). Whatever you’ve got in your fridge or pantry will work.
5. Drizzle vinaigrette on top, being mindful that dressing adds calories.
As an additional salad layer, I sometimes fry up sliced tofu and lay it on top of the quinoa (about 4 small cubes or rectangles per salad.) Again, if you fry up extra, you can use the same salad materials all week.)
I used regular white quinoa here, which though less pretty, makes the deep red sun-dried tomatoes pop. As soon as I make it again, I’ll post a new pic.
From “Help- LOVE is making me fat.”