There are few things in life that I feel better about eating than Costco's quinoa salad. Its healthy, full of flavor, with a delicious good for you crunch. In case you don't have a Costco near you, or GASP! don't have a membership, never fear. We have come up with our own recipe for this delicious quinoa goodness. 

2 cups red and white quinoa (mixed)
1/3 cup tablespoon olive oil
6 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1/2 cup red bell pepper, diced
1/2 cup roma tomatoes, diced
1/2 cup cucumbers, diced
1 cup cooked mung bean
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, minced
2 tablespoons fresh kale, minced
salt and pepper

Rinse and boil your quinoa in 6 cups water with a spinkling of salt. Simmer on reduced heat for about 15 minutes until tender. Remove from heat and toss with olive oil. Add vinegar and lemon juice & zest. Mix in vegetables, beans, and herbs. Season to taste. Serve immediatley. 

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I've been making this Mexican skillet for my family for years. This week when I made it, my husband commented that it is actually one of his favorite recipes of mine. Its just a filling stick to your ribs no fuss meal. Classic Mexican flavors that come together in a cinch. 

Ingredients: 

1 lb lean ground beef

1 small onion, diced

1 packet taco seasoning

2 tsp olive oil

2 cups cooked brown rice

1 tsp butter

1 can black beans

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 cup diced tomatoes

1 avocado, sliced 

2 tsp chopped cilantro

Directions: Cook your rice with 1 tsp butter and a pinch of salt. While that cooks, in a large pan heat some oil, cook your onions until they begin to brown. Add your ground beef and crumble and cook until golden brown. Mix in your taco seasoning, and beans. In a large dish, layer your rice on the bottom, meat mixture on the top, then cheese, tomatoes, avocado, and cilantro. 

We hope this easy weeknight meal quickly becomes a favorite in your household as well. 
Enjoy!

We recently went to Disney's Epcot in Orlando Florida. Right now they are doing their Flower and Garden Festival and their beautiful themed topiaries are not to be missed! While visiting Epcot's Morocco, we at at Restaurant Marrakesh. They have this TO DIE FOR lentil salad. In a park as huge as Epcot, with so many wonderful culinary choices, to say something was my favorite thing I ate all day really means something. This salad is super fresh, flavorful, and healthy! And it's also easy to make. So as you know from past experience with this blog, those things make it a real winner. 

Ingredients: 

1 1/2 cup green lentils

1/4 red onion, finely diced

1 bell pepper, finely diced

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

1 tablespoon chopped cilantro

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar 

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons mayonaise

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

Directions: 

Place lentils in a pot of 4 cups of cold water. Turn on heat to high and boil for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, drain, and rinse with cold water to stop the lentils from cooking. Mix the lentils with all of the other ingredients. Make sure you have diced everything very finely, because you will want your onion and pepper pieces to be the same size or smaller than 1 lentil. Refrigerate until cold. Adjust seasoning as needed. 

This salad is one for the books. You will love how low in fat, full of flavor, and delicious this recipe is. You might just be able to pretend you are somewhere exotic like Morocco, or at least Orlando. :) 

Tonight we stumbled upon a very satisfying and filling meal that came together in a snap. Quesadillas and wraps are so easy to put together, but they can get a little boring week after week. Tonight I made a BBQ chicken Mexican pizza for dinner. It was so easy to throw together but had some unique twists that made it a lot more fun than a boring old quesadilla. It is crispy, ooey gooey, and crunchy all at the same time. The individual layers in this pizza filled with Mexican flavored goodness are like a cinco de mayo party in your mouth, while still being simple enough for a weeknight meal. 

Ingredients:

3 whole wheat soft tortilla shells 

1 can pinto beans 

1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese 

2 tsp olive oil 

1 small onion

1 tsp cumin 

1 tsp paprika 

1/2 tsp salt 

1/2 tsp pepper 

1/2 of an avacado 

1/2 lrg cooked chicken breast, shredded

3 tablespoons BBQ sauce 

Cilantro for garnish 

Turn on oven to 350. Take a tortilla and place it on a baking sheet. Cover it will 1 cup of cheese and then place the 2nd tortilla on top of that. Bake for 5-7 minutes while you complete the next step. 

Warm your oil in a frying pan and cook your onion with your salt until translucent. Rinse and drain your beans and add them to the pan with your other spices. Heat through then mash with a potato masher so they have the consistency of refried beans. 

Take your tortillas out of the oven and top the 2nd layer with beans. Add your 3rd tortilla on top of that. Add your chicken, cheese, and drizzle with BBQ sauce. Put it back in the oven and bake until crispy and the cheese on top is bubbly. Remove from oven.

Cut your avacado and place that and the cilantro on top. Cut into wedges and serve pizza style. 

Feel free to switch up the chicken with whatever type of extra protein you have laying around your house. This would also work well with black beans too. Add chili powder if you love heat. This is the beauty of this type of me, you can clean out your fridge! Just don't leave off the BBQ sauce, it will give your Mexican pizza a lovely Kansas City sweetness and tang. Enjoy!