Pinterest Challenge: Quinoa Veg. Salad

I am so ready for it to just be spring already! Seems like every time I'm beginning to think it's finally spring, we get another dump of snow or freezing weather. I try not to complain - anyone in Colorado knows we desperately need the moisture - but I am so ready for spring.

Strawberries with pancake  was a baby step toward spring, but what I really wanted was something like The Garden Grazer's Quinoa Vegetable Salad with Lemon-Basil Dressing. Doesn't that just sound (and look) like the perfect spring taste? I think so.

I didn't quite have the ingredients to follow the recipe (what's new) but I used it as inspiration and started down as close a path as I could take. I wound up with lime juice instead of lemon, and sadly, I only had dried basil (fresh would have made a big difference). Instead of corn, I went with avocado, and eventually I threw in a few leftover black beans too. So, I didn't wind up with the same recipe at all - but at least I was inspired to do something with quinoa aside from using it as a rice substitute!

Before black beans 

Alright, so my photo doesn't do it justice at all. But...

My husband - the meatatarian - not only said it was good, he asked if we could make some kind of quinoa salad again. That's a huge victory - even if it wasn't quite the recipe I was going for! So, we'll be playing with quinoa again soon - probably with some fresh herbs and a little more courage. It might not be a copy of the recipe I set out to make, but both of us being interested in trying something new and fun again makes it a victory in my book!