Newcomer Quinoa!!

Another inspiration, albeit not nearly as possessing as the cupcake-craze, came to me this weekend. In the form of quinoa. 

                                        

Quinoa is like the hipster form of rice (is anyone noticing a hipster trend on this blog? #berkeleygirl). Except it is a whole-grain packed with protein and leaves out the unnecessary carbs/starch. A vegetarian's best buddy. It's that item you know you can find at Trader Joes.

                                      

                                  Did I also mention quinoa is amazingly easy to cook? Yeeeeees.

There is no one way to make a quinoa salad-dish. Essentially, every recipe just calls you to add a certain arrangement of veggies, usually uncooked, followed by their prescribed medley of salt/oils/sauces.

I decided to use whatever veggies I had in the fridge, fry them up and add it to my quinoa. I got my sauce inspiration from this recipe. 

                                       

Here we see carrots, mushrooms, celery, cong and corn

I decided to fry my veggies after remembering that time I made not-so-tasty thai noodles

The lime and salt provided a much stronger flavor than I would have imagined, in a very good way. I didn't have the patience to seed out and add jalapeno, but added a few drops of hot sauce for a kick instead. I don't think this added much though, and I think next time I will try it with jalapeno. 

                                     

This lunch was a perfect quick-fix since I was on my way to play hostess to some of my friend's visiting from NY/NJ. These are Cal friends who also have jobs on the east coast this summer. Because playing host tends to involve spending lots of money eating out in the city, I figured I  would save some strain on my wallet by catching one freebie meal at home before meeting up with them.

                                     

mmmMMMmm look at the pretty colors

Over-all, despite levels of humidity that felt like we were in Satan's bathroom, it was a very fun weekend filled with new and old friends, some belligerence (yolo-fish!) and of course, Mike's Pastries. This lunch left me surprisingly full and well energized to tackle the heated streets of Boston and endless walking, despite being healthy and very salad-esque. Thank youuuu quinoa! 

                                       

Difficulty: 3 (will vary on vegetable chopping time)

Willingness to make again: 10!

Over-all: 8

Notes:

1) jalapeno pepper (see above)

2) I used the boiling water method to cook my quinoa, which was easy and fast. But it did leave my quinoa a little soggy. Next time, either steam it, microwave it, or try frying the quinoa in the skillet with the veggies for a few minutes.