Switching up the side dishes...

So in the past, Joe and I would constantly eat rice and potatoes with any of our meat meals.  Don't get me wrong, I love rice and potatoes, but it gets boring.  I am not a huge cooked veggie fan so we always had to have something else with our meat and it just wasn't enough variety.  So, the newest, latest and greatest super food is Quinoa.  I had never had it before but hey why not give it a try.  We had it in the past a couple of times and it was good, but never fantastic unless it was cooked in a very specific way.  I just didn't know enough to improvise and make my own recipes.  Below, you will find what I am sure will be a very regular part of our meals from now on.  It is amazingly tasty, and healthy!

Quinoa with Spinach and Feta (taken off of Self.com and modified for my taste)

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1 avocado, cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 cup chopped spinach
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta

Directions:

Warm oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Sauté garlic and onion until onion is translucent, 3 to 4 minutes. Add quinoa, stirring constantly, 3 minutes. Add stock; cover and simmer 20 minutes. Remove from heat; let sit 5 minutes. Serve fluffed with a fork and tossed with avocado, tomatoes, spinach and feta.

So this recipe serves 4 and has about 340 calories per serving.  Let me tell you, a serving is HUGE and you really don't even need to eat a full serving. Enjoy!