Just call me the "Leftover Food Lady"

So, over the weekend, I made several batches of foodstuffs. The mister was incredibly helpful by peeling and shredding 1,001 carrots so that I'd have large amounts at the ready for my recipes.  In my Whole Grain Goodness post, I talked about making quinoa and how the grain can be adapted for many different flavors.  I cooked more than 4 cups of the stuff and left some of it plain in the refrigerator for later batches. 

The mister sometimes accuses me of making enough dinner for three people--enough for the two of us to enjoy, and then a batch for me to enjoy the next day at my desk.  I am very guilty of doing this. ☺  

Leftovers for Lunch

Well, I made such a large batch of my Mexican-inspired quinoa, that I had plenty leftover for lunches.  I brought this dish with me twice this week. And, I confirmed that it had a nice extra "kick" with the addition of Cholula Chipotle hot sauce.

Here's the recipe for the Mexican-inspired quinoa:
Ingredients:

• 2 - 3 cups cooked organic quinoa
• 1 can of organic black beans, drained and rinsed
• 3 - 4 scallions, cut very small
• 1 cup of shredded carrots (thanks to the mister!)
• 1/2 cup fresh corn
• 2 cups cherry tomatoes, cut in half
• fresh parsley and cilantro
• dressing ingredients: canola oil, juice from 1/2 a lime, lime zest, ancho chili powder, honey and the requisite garlic powder, salt and pepper

Combine all ingredients, dress with about 1/3 cup of the dressing. The longer you let the flavors marinate, the better. You can also add goat cheese just before serving for another layer of flavor.

Later in the week, I used the plain quinoa to make a Mediterranean-inspired dish for dinner. The mister and I enjoy quite a bit of it and...surprise...I brought leftovers for lunch. This dish uses feta cheese; we have been on a feta kick recently. Well, it's been a longtime kick--going on several months.  The Mediterranean dish uses herbs and flavors well known to food from that region of the world. 

Mediterranean quinoa salad

Mediterranean-inspired Quinoa
Ingredients:

• 2 - 3 cups cooked organic quinoa
• 1 can of organic garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained and rinsed
• 1 1/2 cups of shredded carrots
• 1/2 cup of crumbled feta cheese
• fresh parsley
• dressing ingredients: extra virgin olive oil, juice from 1/2 a lemon, lemon zest, fresh dill, honey and the requisite garlic powder, salt and pepper

Combine all ingredients and dress with 1/2 cup of dressing (I like to use more dressing on this dish b/c there are fewer ingredients).  Enjoy! Enjoy! Enjoy!

In the case of both dishes, if you omit honey and the cheese, you will have a completely vegan dish.