Summer Quinoa Salad

One of my clients the other day was at the clinic for a few hours and brought her lunch along. It was a pre-made salad from somewhere and it looked super tasty and definitely like something I would eat so I modified it a bit to make it into a lunch salad. I love how fresh and tasty it is - and for anyone who likes recipes that call putting-stuff-in-a-bowl "cooking," this one's for you.

Summer Quinoa Salad (makes 4 lunch-size portions)

1 cup dry quinoa
2 cups packed baby greens, chopped
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup edamame
1 cup chick peas
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
1 cup shredded carrots
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 recipe mango vinaigrette

Cook quinoa according to package directions. While the quinoa is cooking, prepare the rest of the ingredients. Cool the quinoa and combine all ingredients together.

Melted Parmesan Cheese

Aaron made an amazing risotto a while back and asked if they made vegan parmesan cheese. I haven't seen it commercially, and other than the parmesan sprinkles I make, which don't melt, I don't have experience with vegan parmesan cheese. So I did the next logical thing: Figure out how to make my own. I designed this cheese to be only melted, as in its base state should be of a melted consistency, like a sauce. Aaron added it to the risotto and it was aaammmaazzziing. I also had it on potatoes the next day, which was tasty as well.

Melted Parmesan Cheese (makes a scant 1/2 cup)

2 Tbls. melted coconut oil
3 Tbls. nutritional yeast
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1 Tbls. fresh lemon juice
1 Tbls. + 1 tsp. vinegar

Blend all ingredients together. Use as you would melted parmesan cheese.

Mango Vinaigrette

Well it has certainly been a while since I posted! Not that I haven't been cooking, but getting married and trying to by a condo at the same time means the blog has been put on the back burner for a few weeks (pun intended). Note to anyone getting married and buying real estate: I highly recommend not doing those two activities at the same time. But anyways, back to the recipe. I realized halfway through cutting up the mango that watching a YouTube video on how to slice a mango would have been an excellent idea, since that pit is something else. Even though I made an enormous mess I was able to figure out it. And it was worth it!

Mango Vinaigrette (makes 1-1 1/2 cups)

1 ripe mango (I used Haitian)
1-2 Tbls. white balsamic vinegar*
1-2 Tbls. white whine vinegar*
1 Tbls. olive oil
1/2 Tbls. agave nectar

*I think this would also be great with champagne vinegar, though I unfortunately couldn't find it.

Peel the mango and slice into large chunks. You want to get all of the flesh off, but do the best you can, it's tricky. Blend the mango with the rest of the ingredients.