Zucchini Salad & Balsamic Quinoa

Tuesday night's Zucchini Ribbon Salad was delicious! Here's the recipe that I more or less followed.

http://www.prouditaliancook.com/2010/04/zucchini-ribbon-salad.html

My version.

Now mine may not look as good as the fancy photo, but I promise it tasted amazing! I used a spring mix instead of arugula. I also used toasted pine nuts instead of hazelnuts. And to top it all off, I added some leftover halibut from last week's fish tacos. Delicious! Will definitely be adding this one to my salad repertoire. The crunchy pine nuts, tangy dressing, and tart feta blended perfectly!

As for tonight, I tried to do something with the bag of quinoa I've had laying around since April. Unfortunately, because I don't like math, I just made the amount suggested on the back...it wasn't until it was already cooking that I realized that 1 cup made 4 servings! Now I have a LOT of leftover quinoa. I'm hoping I can sneak some of it into a salad or another recipe here and there so that it's not noticeable. In case you've never had quinoa that wasn't seasoned, let's just say it might be the last thing left on your dinner plate.

The recipe I used for about 1/4 of the quinoa I made was for Balsamic Quinoa and Sautéed Veggies. I figured I like balsamic, and it's pretty strong, so that would be a good way to cook quinoa.

http://mybestbadi.blogspot.com/2013/05/balsamic-quinoa-recipe.html?m=1

My version.

For once, I think mine looks better than the original picture! It even tasted pretty good too. But long story short, with every bite, the balsamic became too much and eating it became more of a chore. I used zucchini instead of carrots and left out the peppers but the vegetables themselves were really good. Wasn't a huge fan of the tomatoes though. (Unless they're part of a sauce, I usually enjoy tomatoes better raw). I think I'll call this a success in regards to my cooking abilities. As far as quinoa goes, I think it might be a bit of a quest to find the perfect way to build a meal around it (or even season it). But I think I'm up to the challenge...after all I have plenty of leftovers to experiment with. ;)