Quinoa with Roasted Vegetables

The vegan thing continued into dinner and got upped with gluten free, making this KLP.  Still, surprisingly filling.

This is the special time of year that you can buy fresh bundled spinach and most of it will be "baby", without having to buy it packaged that way for twice as much.  Ten minutes into the de-stemming process, I wished I'd bought frozen.  Save yourself the trouble, since it's getting cooked anyway.  I'm using the same process for the quinoa base as with the Garlic Spinach with Quinoa.

The dressing was going to be parsley, until I realized my chive plant needed a haircut.  You can swap out pretty much any herb that goes with lemon.  Thyme, sage, or curry would all go well.  Rosemary might be pushing it because it's such a strong flavor.

1 C tri-color quinoa
10 oz box frozen spinach, thawed
*1 clove garlic, minced
*2 large carrots
1/2 red onion
1 bundle asparagus
*1 lemon
*2 Tb fresh chives
olive oil
kosher salt
pepper
*Nuts for garnish (optional)

1.  Preheat oven to 350º.  Chop carrots, onion, and asparagus into 2" lengths.  For the carrot, also make the width about the same as the asparagus.  The veggies should all be about the same dimensions, like you were making a stir-fry.  Toss with a couple of tablespoons of oil and spread in a single layer on a foil-lined baking sheet.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper and roast until just starting to brown, about 30-40 minutes.

2.  While the veggies are in the oven, place quinoa (pre-soak if needed) in medium saucepan.  Top with minced garlic, a slight pinch of salt, and the thawed spinach.  Add 1/2 C water and bring everything to a simmer.  Cover and cook until quinoa is done, about 15 minutes.  Stir and add a few more tablespoons of water at the end if the quinoa looks dry.

3.  While the quinoa is simmering, make the dressing.  Combine juice of the lemon and 1 tsp lemon zest with finely chopped chives and salt and pepper to taste.  Whisk in 2 Tb olive oil to make the vinaigrette.

4.  To assemble, spoon a bed of the quinoa/spinach mixture on a plate.  Top with roasted veggies and drizzle with lemon dressing.  Serve hot, garnished with nuts of choice for a bit of crunch.  I used macadamias.  Pine nuts or walnuts would work well.

Difficulty rating  :)