quinoa tuna salad

Had some leftover cooked quinoa and asparagus in the fridge and what started as a cold salad soon turned into a warm salad. I also found sustainably caught canned tuna at Costco and had to try it. You could add so many ingredients to this salad and there really aren’t set amounts for things… so just have fun!

Quinoa Tuna Salad

~4 cups cooked quinoa
1 can white cannellini beans (white lima beans or northern beans would work)
asparagus, cut into 1-1 1/2″ segments
1 bell pepper, medium diced
1/2 red onion, small diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes in oil
~3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (not packed)
1 can tuna, broken into chunks
1/2 lemon, juiced (you most likely won’t need all the juice)
olive oil
salt and pepper

– Fluff quinoa in a large mixing bowl
– Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add red onion and garlic and cook until onions begin to soften and then add asparagus and bell peppers. Cook until just tender
– Add mixture to quinoa. Return pan to heat and add sun dried tomatoes, with their oil, and tuna. Season tuna with salt and pepper and add to quinoa mix
– Add parmesan cheese and mix everything together. Squeeze lemon juice over salad and drizzle with olive oil, remix, taste and adjust seasoning

can you find mochi? 🙂

eggplant steaks w/ spinach, sun-dried tomato topping

Eggplant Steaks w/ spinach, sun-dried tomato topping

3 large eggplants (cut into about 10-12 steaks)
1/2 onion, small diced
1 bell pepper, small diced
4 large cloves garlic, minced
1 lb frozen spinach, thawed
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, rough chopped
1 cup shredded parmesan
balsamic vinegar
olive oil
salt and pepper
ref pepper flakes

 

 

 

 

 

– Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees
– Cut off top and bottom of eggplants. Then cut them into 1/2″ thick steaks, vertically. You can get about 2-3 steaks out of one eggplant. Keep the eggplant trim and dice it up to use in the topping
– Line a baking sheet with foil. Arrange eggplant steaks on the baking sheet. Drizzle both sides of eggplant with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Lightly drizzle with balsamic vinegar
– Bake eggplant for 10-15 minutes, till tender. Then set aside
– Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Saute onions, garlic, and red pepper flakes till the onions begin to turn translucent
– Add diced eggplant and bell pepper and cook till tender
– Add spinach and sun-dried tomatoes and parmesan cheese
– Season with salt and pepper
– Divide topping amongst eggplants. If you need to, pop the topped eggplant steaks back into the oven and broil for a few minutes to reheat

 

 

 

 

you’ll never miss the meat!