Ouinoa Salad with Sundried Toms :-)

Hi Guys!

How are y'all? ;-) I'm currently snuggled under a blanket on my sofa having just finished taking the christmas tree down. It's so sad and bare :-( After a mad hoovering marathon, the trail of pine needles is no more and the cosy glow of the christmas tree lights has diminished.

In amongst the havoc of cleaning, running a bath, folding washing, taking the rubbish out, packing away baubles (and subsequently tripping over the neatly packed decorations box, flying across the room and sending baubles everywhere!), I managed to rustle up a healthy dinner from "Everyday Vegan". I didn't follow the recipe exactly (I missed out the olive oil and pine nuts) but the result was yummy! The different flavours come together wonderfully - the kick of the mustard, the lemony lemon juice :-), cool and crunchy cucumber and sundried toms. Perfect! In fact, anything with sundried tomatoes is always fine by me :-)!

Ingredients

- 1/2 cup quinoa

- 1/2 cucumber (slice and dice it baby!)

- 1/2 cup rehydrated sundried toms (soak these little dudes and then mash em up!)

- 1/2-1 tbsp wholegrain mustard

- splash of lemon juice

- fresh basil, chopped

- a mashed up garlic clove (I missed this out as I've got patients to see at work tomorrow and don't want their dentist giving off garlic fumes!)

- 2 chopped spring onions

- salt to taste

Mix it all together!

Ta-dah! Yummalicious!

Quinoa (pronounced keen-wa) is a complete protein and a great source of the 8 essential amino acids. It makes a great substitute for rice and pasta. I'll definately be makng this dish again. Pity I didn't have any pine nuts as I think they would have added great taste and texture. I just can't bring myself to buy pine nuts at the moment because they have recently become hideously expensive in the UK. I'm talking £5 for a 100g bag! On yer bike mate! ;-)

Ooh....I went to see "Love and Other Drugs" at the cinema last night. LOVED IT!! If you like chick flicks and men with cute butts then this could be the movie for you!

I hope all is well in your world. I'd love to hear from you if you're passing. Have a great day!

Much love x x x