pesto quinoa with tomatoes and kale

Before I dive into this delicious recipe can I just say "HAPPY SPRING BREAK!!!!"  I definitely needed and am excited for a break.  Two whole weeks off work.  I still have so much homework to do, but it is nice to have only one thing to tackle.  I plan on fully basking on as much relaxation as possible.  But, of course being me, we're up early Saturday morning for a church conference.  That's okay, it's well worth it.  

Moving on...

When the Mr. works late, sometimes I get really excited because it means I can make whatever I want for dinner :)  (Unless we already had a meal planned, and then I make it and box up all the leftovers for him.) I bought brussell sprouts specifically because I knew he was going to not be home for dinner one night, and then I looked in my pantry and fridge to see what I could come up with.  The results were divine, and I loved them hot that night and cold for lunch.  

Pesto Quinoa with Tomatoes and Kale 

First, grab the following:

2-3 c. kale, destemmed and roughly chopped

2 tsp. minced garlic

1/2 c. quinoa, rinsed

1 c. cherry tomatoes, halved

1/4 c. pesto (plus more if you'd like)

brussell sprouts

First, I sliced my brussell sprouts in half and placed them on a foil-lined pan (it makes dishes that much easier).

Then, I drizzled olive oil (about 1 T.) over them and sprinkled salt and pepper on top.

They got put in the oven at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.  At 10 minutes I stirred them up and placed them back in. 

While those are in the oven cook your quinoa.  (Sorry, I completely forgot to take a picture.)  Place 1 cup water and 1/2 cup quinoa in a sauce pan, bring to a boil, then put the lid on and turn down the heat to medium-low, and do not touch for 12-15 minutes!

For the kale I heated a large pan over medium-high heat, added 1/2 T. olive oil, and then added my kale.  To the kale I added my garlic.

Then I added 1 cup of water to the kale, stirred, and covered it with a lid.  The kale will be done when it is nice and wilted, about 5-8 minutes.  

While the kale cooked I chopped up my tomatoes and fluffed the quinoa once it was done.  These were placed in a large bowl like so:

The kale was added to the bowl next along with the pesto.  For the pesto I had some leftover homemade pesto in the fridge that I used.  I promise that I have to post our pesto recipe.  I used a secret ingredient (rainbow chard)-and it was seriously the best pesto I have ever had.  You can, of course, use just store bought pesto as well.

Everything got a nice stir....

And by the time the quinoa mixture was all done, so were the brussell sprouts.  Dinner was completely done in 30 minutes!  That is my kind of meal filled with lots of protein and greens!  

Grab a fork and enjoy!