Qui-NO-a, Qui-YES-a

I need to preface this post by apologizing for the title.  It's stupid, I know.

I would also like to make a promise to any "food blog-haters" that this is not going to turn into a food blog!

However, I made up a recipe last night and I was rather proud of myself so I thought I'd share.

It's a very simple, summer-y salad that is better if it has been chilled over night (as I discovered this morning.)

All you need is:

White quinoa
Spinach
Olive oil
Raisins (whichever kind you prefer)
Lemon
Salt and pepper (amount is subjective, due to the preferences of one's taste buds)

Instructions:

1. Depending on how much quinoa you are using (I used 1 cup of uncooked quinoa which yields several cups when cooked) bring the appropriate about of water (about double the amount of quinoa) to a boil.  Don't forget to rinse the quinoa before you cook it! Sometimes the outer shell tends to have a slightly bitter taste that goes away when rinsed.

Rinse meeeee

2. When the water is boiling, mix the quinoa in and let it simmer for 10-15 minutes or until quinoa is done.

The consistency should look something like this when the quinoa is done cooking.
 

3. While the quinoa is cooking, chop up some garlic (I used one large clove), pour some olive oil in a pan, and sauté the spinach until it is cooked all the way through as shown below.

4. When both the spinach and the quinoa are done cooking, drain any excess water out of the quinoa and pour it into a serving bowl with the spinach.

5. While the quinoa is still hot, add the raisins.  The heat will allow the raisins to swell making them extra juicy and delicious.  Top it off by squeezing as much lemon as you would like on top of the salad and adding your salt and pepper.

6. Voila! Enjoy.

Photos courtesy of THE Patrick Ingram.