I'm back! With another quinoa dish!

Greetings everyone. First and foremost, I apologize for my long hiatus. I have no real reason for it besides life just getting in the way. Now that it's late summer, I have been cooking a lot of tasty dishes using really fresh and local ingredients and I wanted to share them. So, here I am.

As chance would have it, I have another great quinoa recipe. It's quite different from the recipe I left off with back in March, but I promise it's just as good. Quinoa is such a great choice for main dishes for vegetarians and vegans because it is quite high in protein. In this recipe I used red quinoa. You can certainly use regular quinoa, but I like the earthy flavor of the red variety. I added some fresh organic kale that I picked up at the farmer's market this past weekend from E. R. and Son Farm in Monroe Township. I also added some other veggies I had on hand and a really tasty Asian vinaigrette. Enjoy!

QUINOA AND KALE SALAD
-1 cup quinoa, cooked as directed, slightly cooled
-2 tbsp sesame seeds
-3-4 stalks kale
-1 cucumber, diced
-2 carrots, grated
-1 avocado, diced
-1 scallion, chopped
-juice of 1 lemon
-2 tbsp canola oil
-1 tbsp sesame oil
-3 tbsp soy sauce
-1 tsp rice wine vinegar
-2 cloves garlic, grated
-1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated

-Steam the kale until it is tender, then chop it into bite sized pieces. Toss with the cooked quinoa.
-Toss the sesame seeds, cucumber, carrots, avocado, scallion, and lemon juice with the quinoa and kale.
-Make the dressing. Whisk together the oils, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, and ginger. Pour over the quinoa mixture and stir to coat. Serve.