Planning Ahead: Recipe Style...

So I've been promising recipes for at least a week now - and I've finally found a few free minutes to sit down and put them up here. I hope that you like them... I tend to eat pretty simply when I'm cooking for myself for a couple of reasons (I'm heck-of picky and can't really stand left-overs) but for the purposes of this post & the recipes I'll be including as time goes on it's because I'm just one woman - ie. I'm not cooking for a family, etc. So I guess not liking left-overs is relevant to this post, afterall. ...I digress.

Quinoa (red and white)

I've decided to start with a quinoa salad - it's simple and can be adapted to suit many a taste bud and pairs great with almost anything you can imagine/what's currently available in your pantry or at the local veggie (or even fruit) market! I give you my favorite iteration:

Ingredients: (per one serving)

1 cup white quinoa, cooked

1/2 of 1 red onion, diced

1-2 persimmons, skin removed and diced

1 stalk spring onion, finely sliced

1 avocado, cubed

Juice from 1/2 a lemon (or maybe a whole lemon)

Cook your quinoa the way that you would cook oatmeal or rice. Ie. 2 parts water/1 part grain - if this is new to you, there are several helpful websites and youtube clips with proper instructions (I checked!).

SIDENOTE: Red quinoa has a nuttier flavor than the white quinoa, so experiment with which taste you prefer based upon the ingredients you'll use. They are rad mixed - but I use the white quinoa in this recipe.

When your quinoa is finished cooking, mix in the other ingredients and eat hot.

*Mango can be substituted for persimmon if they're not readily available in your neighborhood. Be creative - and if you come up with something delicious, let me know! ...Monday's just around the corner!

*Oh... yeah. Peep the benefits of quinoa in the wiki-link above.