Quinoa Big Bowl and spinach salad

Baby spinach with dried cranberries, whole almonds, some olive oil and pepper


Delicious Big Bowl - Quinoa - from 101 Cookbooks

Once again another delicious recipe from Heidi at 101 Cookbooks. This one is easy, quick, and one of those things that you can throw in whatever you want to customize. The recipe makes a big family-size bowl.

My first shot at Quinoa

I've never made or tasted quinoa, and I've never made tofu before...thankfully this recipe is really hard to screw up. Of course I got it here from 101 Cookbooks, which, if you couldn't tell, I am slightly obsessed with.

Quinoa (I think it's pronounced KEE-no-uh?) is a whole-grain that's sort of a mix between barley and couscous. It turned out similar to the fried couscous we made the other day...but I think I prefer this recipe. It has a deep, velvety flavor because of the pesto, the olive oil, and the pumpkin seeds.

I substituted peas for corn, but other than that I followed the recipe word for word. The tofu was ridiculously easy to cook up. In general, this recipe requires a bit of preparation but that's the perfect meal for a Sunday afternoon.