Happy Mrs. Monday!! Gonna mix things up a bit now with a more complicated recipe. Also, this is a two-for-one!!! Not only do you get the quinoa and veggies recipe, you get vegan pesto!
Let’s start with the pesto! We need raw cashews, garlic, nutritional yeast, basil, lemon juice, a dash of sea salt, chickpeas, and unflavored plant-based milk. Soak the cashews in super-warm water for a half-hour to soften them up. I brought water to a boil then used that to soak them. Combine the cashews, garlic, chickpeas, nutritional yeast, sea salt, lemon juice and plant milk (I used unsweetened almond milk) in a blender. We have one of those bullet blenders, which comes in extremely handy for stuff like this. It’s quick and easy to use and easy to clean. Blend the ingredients until they turn into a thick light green soup. Presto! Pesto.
Now, cook the quinoa. I always make such a mess cooking quinoa! It bubbles over and coats the side of the pot and the base of the stove. I’m not sure why I have such an issue with this.
While the quinoa is cooking, gather the veggies-corn, zucchini, green beans, onion, tomatoes. This recipe didn’t call for Brussels sprouts, but I had them on- hand so I used them as well. I cooked the green beans in the vegetable steamer along with the sprouts and the zucchini. I used frozen corn, boiled it quickly, then added it to a pan with the onion and tomatoes. I grilled the corn, onion, and tomatoes and then added the green beans, sprouts, and zucchini last minute.
The quinoa is the base for this meal, with the vegetable mix added in. Lastly, top with the pesto and you have a flavorful dinner!
I was shocked by the fact that Mr. FBBQ actually tried (and enjoyed) this dish! Shhhh!