Broccoli with Sun-dried Tomatoes over Quinoa

It’s finally getting warm here, the weekend ended up being beautiful!  Although Saturday morning was gloomy and chilly, by the end of the day the sun was out.  We took a walk on the Mall, among all the tourists, and got a little sun.  For dinner we tried burgers at Good Stuff Eatery, which were delicious.  Spike Mandolhson is known from Top Chef, and he opened this burger join a couple of years back.  Both of us were very surprised how busy it was!  So if you’re in Capitol Hill, and enjoy a good burger- check this place out.

In order to counteract the (not so healthy) burger, I decided a quinoa salad would be much better for us.  So below is a great recipe, for a quick and easy salad.  As always with these, feel free to change the vegetables or keep these yummy one’s.

Broccoli with Sun-dried Tomatoes over Quinoa
Adapted from: Vegetarian Times

1 cup uncooked quinoa
3 tbsp pine nuts
2 tbsp grape seed oil (feel free to use another oil)
2 heads (about 1 lb) of fresh broccoli, cut into small florets
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 cup crumbled goat cheese (feta can be a substitute)

Cook quinoa per package directions.  Once it’s cooked, add to a large bowl.  Toast pine nuts in a dry skillet over medium heat for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Transfer to the large bowl.

Heat oil over medium-high heat.  Add broccoli and cook for 2 minutes, or until florets are coated with oil and begin to soften and brown.  Add water and cover tightly with lid.  Steam broccoli for 5-10 minutes, until the water has evaporated and the broccoli is tender.  Once cooked, add to the large bowl.

In a small bowl mix: sun-dried tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes.  Stir to mix all of the ingredients.  Pour over the salad in the large bowl.  Mix the ingredients, so the vinaigrette is covering the salad.  Top the salad with goat cheese.

Artichoke, Mint and Cilantro Quinoa Salad

Another quinoa salad!  Obviously, I can’t get enough.  It’s just that they’re so easy, and perfect for lunch.  Walking through Trader Joe’s one day, I saw that they had a bag of frozen artichokes, and I’ve been wanting to use them- this salad was perfect for it.

Artichoke, Mint and Cilantro Quinoa Salad
Adapted from: Easy Everyday: Simple Recipes

1 cup cooked quinoa
6 cherry tomatoes, halved
2 marinated artichoke hearts*
3 green onions, chopped
1 15-oz can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/3 cup grape seed oil (can use olive oil)
1 tbsp sherry vinegar
juice of 1 lemon
salt & pepper to taste
2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
2 tbsp fresh mint, chopped
2 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
1 tbsp fresh chives, chopped

Cook quinoa according to box directions.  Then put the quinoa in a bowl, add the tomatoes, artichoke hearts, green onions and chickpeas.

In a separate bowl make the dressing.  Mix the oil, vinegar and lemon juice and beat with a fork.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Add the dressing to the quinoa mixture.  Then top with herbs, and toss.

* You can used the one’s from the can, drained and halved.

Broccolini Quinoa Salad

Yet another quinoa salad!  This one sparked my interest since it had broccolini in it- we love it, but have only roasted it.  But this salad allowed us to use it, and it was very refreshing.  As with many of the other quinoa salads, feel free to play around with the amount of each ingredients.  And if you find anything that’s a good addition to this salad, definitely let me know!

Broccolini Quinoa Salad
Adapted from: Sprouted Kitchen Blog

1 cup quinoa, dry
4 broccolinis
2-3 oz feta cheese
1 cup roasted red peppers, cut into thin slices
1/4 cup capers
1 cup chickpeas, rinsed
3 tbsp parsley, chopped
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground pepper
juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp olive oil

Bring 2 cups of water and quinoa to a boil.  Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.  Place the broccolini right on top of the quinoa after 10 minutes.  Cover to finish cooking the quinoa and broccolini.  Fluf the quinoa, and roughly chop the broccolini.  Toss the roasted red pepper, broccolini, chickpeas, capers, dried oregano, salt and pepper to the quinoa.  Add the lemon juice, olive oil and stir again.  Cut the feta into small cubes, and add the feta and parsley to the quinoa.  Enjoy!

Goat Cheese and Roasted Pepper Quinoa Salad

I absolutely love “salads” that don’t exactly look like the typical salad which many think of (lettuce, croutons, dressing, veggies).  I prefer using many of the grains that are out there (quinoa, barley, couscous, etc) to make a different type of salad to take for lunch.  I have found that quinoa is the easiest (especially cooking it!), and has a great taste.

So having goat cheese in our fridge, and coming across a recipe on one of the food blogs, I tried this one out.  I also grab any new ideas to put into my quinoa salads whenever I can.  But, anything goes!

Goat Cheese & Roasted Pepper Quinoa Salad
Adapted from: Cooking After Five

2 cups of cooked quinoa
8 cups (16 oz) of fresh spinach
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp of red pepper flakes (or less/more)
1 cup of roasted red peppers, chopped
1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
4 basil leaves, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
6 oz goat cheese, crumbled up

With 1 teaspoon of olive oil, saute the fresh spinach for about 3-5 minutes with the minced garlic.  Once the garlic begins to wilt, add the red pepper flakes and cook for another minute or two.

Then mix all ingredients in a large bowl, except for the basil and goat cheese.  Place the salad in a bowl (or tupperwear for lunch!) and sprinkle with some basil and goat cheese.  We had 6 servings out of this for lunch.