Quinoa Again!

Moving right along with my recipes, this week was book club so I decided to make another type of Quinoa salad. It was alright, nothing spectacular, but easy enough and didn't require much advance shopping. The recipe is from The Kitchen Sink Recipes and is called Quinoa Salad with Asparagus, Lemon & Feta.

Ingredients:
- 1 cup quinoa (I used Red Quinoa because that's all the store had)
- 2 cups water
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
- 1 lb asparagus, trimmed
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp shredded parmigiano-reggiano cheese (I used grated)
- black pepper to taste
- 1 large garlic clove, peeled and left whole*
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 1/2 cup sliced almonds (recipe calls for them toasted, I didn't do that)
- 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
* [I forgot to buy fresh garlic so just used the jarred stuff I already head, thus spread it over the asparagus as opposed to a while clove]

Directions:
- Combine the quinoa, water, and 1/4 tsp salt in a medium size pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and cook (covered) for about 20 minutes or until the water is absorbed.
- While the quinoa cooks, spread the asparagus on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper or foil. Drizzle 1 tbsp oil, the parmigiano cheese, and salt and pepper over the asparagus; toss to coat the spears evenly and spread into one layer. Place garlic evenly on top of spears and roast for 15 minutes until the asparagus is blistered in spots, but retains a bite. Allow the spears to cool slightly and slice into one-inch pieces.
- While the asparagus roasts, whisk together the mustard and lemon juice in a large bowl. Whisk in remaining oil, season with salt and pepper.
- Add the cooked quinoa, sliced asparagus, and almonds to the large bowl. Toss to distribute vinaigrette throughout the quinoa. Taste for seasoning and add salt/pepper as needed.
- Transfer to serving bowl and top with crumbled feta.
* Because I was making this for the next day, I transferred it to Tupperware and stuck it in the fridge. Then when it had cooled I tossed in the feta, put it back in the fridge, and took it to book club the next day!*
- Can be served warm, room temp, or cold. I served it cold.


The end result, as previously mentioned, was ok. Nothing to scream from the rooftops about, but definitely more than edible. The original recipe said it was for 2-4 servings. At that serving size this would be about 9.5 PointsPlus/serving, but I would say you could probably get more out of this if served as a side dish (which it was).