Things to Eat - Summer Quinoa Salad & Our Four Week Meal Plan

I basically lived on this salad this summer. Lots of lunches and a few dinners too.

SUMMER QUINOA SALAD

INGREDIENTS:
* 1/2 cup uncooked quinoa
* 3/4 cup water
* 1 pound cherry tomatoes
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 1 and 1/2 cups corn kernels
* 2 and 1/2 cup steamed kale (or if you don't feel like cooking, just "massage" kale with salt for a few minutes (yes, literally massage it), to break down the leaves a little).
* 3/4 cup cilantro
* 1/3 cup toasted pine nuts
* Feta cheese to taste (about 1/2 cup for the entire salad)
* Salt and pepper to taste

DRESSING:
* 2 teaspoons dijon mustard
* 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
* 3 tablespoons olive oil
* 1/4 cup buttermilk
* Salt and pepper to taste

1. Mix the quinoa and water in a pot. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook for 15 minutes, until it easily fluffs with a fork.

2. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Halve the tomatoes and spread them on a parchment lined, rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle on a half tablespoon of the olive oil. Mix. And roast for 30 to 35 minutes. Remove to cool.

3. Heat remaining olive oil in a pan. Add the corn and saute, stirring once or twice, for about 2 minutes, until slightly charred on the outside.

4. In a large bowl, combine the kale, quinoa, and cilantro. When the tomatoes and corn cool, add them, along with the pine nuts to the bowl.

5. Mix the mustard, vinegar, olive oil, buttermilk, and some salt to make the dressing.

- slightly adapted from The Sprouted Kitchen Bowl and Spoon: Simple and Inspired Whole Foods Recipes to Savor and Share (my favorite new cookbook for amazing salads)
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WEEK 1

MONDAY - Dijon chicken and quinoa skillet (via Clean Eating magazine). The skillet was really good, the kids ate it up.

TUESDAY - Taco Tuesday - Ground beef tacos. Boring but easy. Plus, I also made some chipotle salsa (recipe here), which always makes me happy.

WEDNESDAY - Zucchini noodle spaghetti; regular noodles for the kids; with kale chips. Another boring but easy meal. As you can probably tell, it was sort of a boring but easy week (lots of days at the pool).

THURSDAY - Bibimbap bowls (via Clean Eating magazine). F's best friend is half-Korean so F keeps asking me to make more Asian-inspired dishes, which are not in my comfort zone. Luckily, this recipe was SUPER EASY and the kids loved it (rather than prepare the bowls, I put all the separate ingredients on the table, so the kids could pick and choose what they wanted). T only ate the steak and eggs, which P and F mixed everything together (well, except the egg because T ate all of our servings). Dan and the kids asked me to start making this on a regular basis, total success.

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WEEK 2

MONDAY - Quesadillas with leftover smoked pork and chicken from Dan's Sunday feast. So. so. good.

TUESDAY - Chicken sausage and sauerkraut (I'm addicted to Trader Joe's sauerkraut with pickles) with summer quinoa salad (via The Sprouted Kitchen Bowl and Spoon: Simple and Inspired Whole Foods Recipes to Savor and Share).

WEDNESDAY - Dinner at a friend's house.

THURSDAY - Bibimbap bowls (via Clean Eating magazine).

FRIDAY - Dinner at a friend's house.

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WEEK 3

MONDAY - Labor Day Happy Hour/ BBQ

TUESDAY - The last meal salad (via The Sprouted Kitchen Bowl and Spoon: Simple and Inspired Whole Foods Recipes to Savor and Share) with chicken and tomatoes for the kids. PROBABLY THE BEST SALAD I'VE EVER EATEN. I'm totally in awe of the Sprouted Kitchen right now.

WEDNESDAY - Stromboli with summer quinoa salad. My sister-in-law made stromboli at Smith Mountain Lake, using pillsbury pizza dough, and they were delicious. So we couldn't wait to make our own at home, but I did something majorly wrong, they tasted awful. I'll need to get more info and post a recipe eventually.

THURSDAY - Grilled zucchini salad (via (via The Sprouted Kitchen Bowl and Spoon: Simple and Inspired Whole Foods Recipes to Savor and Share) with pasta for the kids. Another great salad from Sprouted Kitchen.

FRIDAY - Vegetable Skillet Lasagna (via Dinner A Love Story:the blog). This was really good and super easy to make, though perhaps a little too cheesy.

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WEEK 4

MONDAY - Kale sausage and white bean stew (for our one autumnish day before the heat returns) (via Dinner: A Love Story: It all begins at the family table). The kids all like this (they like everything from the Dinner: A Love Story cookbook) and the recipe is fast/easy, perfect for Mondays.

TUESDAY - Black bean tacos for taco Tuesday (via Dinner: A Love Story: It all begins at the family table). P was VERY ANGRY that we hadn't taco Tuesdayed in a few weeks, so these made her super happy.

WEDNESDAY - Leftovers; mac and cheese for the kids.

THURSDAY - California quinoa (via via The Sprouted Kitchen Bowl and Spoon: Simple and Inspired Whole Foods Recipes to Savor and Share) w/ perogies and green beans for the kids.

FRIDAY - Dan's parents over for dinner so we went with curried chicken with apples (via Dinner: A Love Story: It all begins at the family table) and tomato salad (via The Sprouted Kitchen Bowl and Spoon: Simple and Inspired Whole Foods Recipes to Savor and Share) with sauteed zucchini (via 101 Cookbooks).