Spinach Tomato Quinoa

So now you’ve got some cooked quinoa left over from making the other day’s Quinoa Banana Bread.
What are you going to do with it?
You’re going to make this yummy side dish!
I wasn’t even going to do a post tonight, but this stuff was so yummy delicious that I couldn’t not share this recipe with you. Even I was impressed with how wonderfully this turned out!

I have my good friend and neighbor, Tracy, to thank for the inspiration of this recipe!

Spinach Tomato Quinoa – serves 4 as a side dish

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large clove garlic, minced
3 handfuls fresh spinach, cleansed, dried and torn or chopped ( I can’t give you a weight amount because I picked it from our garden.)
1 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes in juice, not drained
2 cups cooked quinoa (I cooked it according to directions in chicken broth, not water)
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon salt
freshly ground pepper to taste

Place olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
Add garlic and saute for two minutes.
Add spinach, in batches if necessary.

Saute until just before it is wilted.
Lower heat to medium low.
Add can of tomatoes and mix.
Stir in quinoa.

Mix in cilantro, cumin, salt and pepper and thoroughly combine.
Cook until heated through and serve.

I rate everything I make on a scale of 1-4 with 4 being the best and this Spinach Tomato Quinoa earned 4 rolling pins.

I ABSOLUTELY LOVED THIS STUFF!!!!

Can you tell? And the family loved it as well. The quinoa was perfectly cooked (I had taken it out of the fridge – haha) and the dish was incredibly flavorful!! We had this as a side dish with the chicken nachos we had for dinner.

There is no limit as to what you can do with quinoa. Ok, well, maybe there is, but get creative with this stuff!
Add different things to it and use it as a side dish or make it into a full meal. Tracy suggested adding a can of beans, too. I didn’t, but was thinking as I was eating it that you add the beans, some cooked chicken and you’ve got yourself a quick and easy meal.

That is of course, if you precook the quinoa and purchase one of those store-bought rotisserie chickens.
Store- bought rotisserie chicken? Of course you’re going to buy it at the store, where else would you get it???!! Ugh. Sometimes, I’m just not working with a full deck. I think it might have been the Frgookie I made for dessert. That thing ALWAYS makes me loopy because it’s so delicious!

I made it for my son for his birthday which was actually yesterday, but he had a track meet and we didn’t get home until 7 which meant we ate around 7:30, and by the time we were finished with dinner, it was WWAAYYY too late to make a delicious dessert such as that and it was too heavy before bedtime, too and probably not the best thing one should recover with after running in a track meet anyway.

Wow, that was one long sentence. See what chocolate and sugar will do to you? I feel like I’m on a caffeine high right now and could talk your ear off, but I’ll spare you. I should go be productive, watch the rest of the Coyotes/Blackhawks game and then wash the dishes. 

Then I’m off to bed.

TOMORROW is Friday, and tomorrow, I am putting together something I hope turns out really well.
See, I have this vision in my head. Many times when I have this “head vision” it doesn’t turn out exactly as I picture it, so we’ll see how this one goes.

The part I made for it today tasted pretty darn good, so there’s that consolation that at least the filling will be good. I’m sure when it all comes together it will be delicious based on things similar to it that I’ve made in the past.
I just hope it looks as pretty in real life as it does in my head.

We’ll see!