Forgetful Cupid: Oriental Quinoa

... Cause I'm Asian... Hahaha!

Yesterday after school, I wanted to make a light healthy lunch for Lance and I so I decided to whip up some quinoa with a variety of mix veggies. It was really easy to prepare and you can use any vegetables you have in the fridge. Prepping for this will take a bit of time as you do have to chop up all the veggies. Play with the different styles of chopping them: julienne, dice, etc. I actually wish I put more vegetables in.

As for the dressing, I made a sesame oil vinaigrette because I was craving this dressing from when I had a salad on a plane to Singapore. You've got the tangy balsamic flavor mix with the sweet honey infused with the sesame oil. Yum!!! It just goes so well. I kind of messed up because I made too much dressing, but that's okay, I'll just saved it for some salad for the next couple of days.

*I must add that this amount of food was perfect for Lance and I, not too much, not too little, so alter it to however much you need.

There is three parts to making this specific dish that I made.
For the quinoa part:

2/3 cups of dry quinoa
1 1/2 cups of water
a pinch of salt

I usually wash and soak the quinoa in a pot for about 5 minutes prior to cooking it to get rid of the saponin, which is a natural quinoa coating that can give quinoa a bitter taste. Even if you get the pre-washed quinoa, it doesn't hurt to wash it before cooking it.

After soaking, I drain it, put in the water and add the salt. I set it down on the stove to cook for 20 minutes. I will bring it boil at first and then turn it down to medium to simmer. When it's done, I take it off the stove and fluff it up with a fork. While all that is cooking, I am cutting up the veggies, stir frying that and making the dressing.

For the veggies part:

1 red pepper
1 cup of button mushrooms
1 carrot
1 celery
2 cups of baby bok choy
3 cloves of dice garlic
~ A tbsp of oil
a pinch of salt

Set your wok or pan on the stove on high to heat the pan up. When it is hot enough, turn it down to medium and add in about a tablespoon of oil. Let the oil heat up and then begin frying your garlic to get that nice garlicky fragrance. Throw in the carrot and celery and cook it for about 3-4 minutes. Then put in the baby bok choy, cook for about 2 mins. Finally, add the red pepper and mushroom, and cook it for another 2 minutes. Add in a bit of salt and when it's all done, try to drain out as much vegetable juices from the pan.

For the dressing:

1/4 cup of sesame oil
1/8 cup of balsamic vinegar
1/8-1/4 cup of honey (depends on your taste)
1 tablespoon of sesame seed
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
1 tablespoon of soya sauce
1 pressed clove of garlic

Mix all the ingredients together until it is all incorporated well. Even if you don't think the honey is mixing in, don't worry! It is! Just keep mixing. Adjust whatever flavors you want if you need.

Lastly, add the quinoa and vegetables in a large mixing bowl. Spoon in a few tablespoons of the dressing at a time and mix thoroughly. Keep adding the dressing until, you're happy with the taste. DO NOT dump in all the dressing because that will be way too much. Enjoy!!

My outfit of the day: H&M heart print skirt and Cotton On blouse.