Just have to share what I made for dinner last night. It was so delish!! I wish I had taken a picture. The idea came from this recipe which I heavily modified. ( Decided that "heavily" was a bit pretentious!)

yay...I took a pic of the leftovers. Sorry for the poor quality but at least it's a pic!

Quinoa Salad with Green Beans, Cranberries & Orange

Salad:

cooking spray

1/2 cup finely chopped sweet onion

1 cup uncooked quinoa

2 cups water

1/2 tsp salt

1 small can drained mardarin oranges

1/4 cup slivered almonds

1/2 cup dried cranberries 

2 cups fresh green beans, cooked & cooled & cut into 1 inch pieces

Dressing:

1 tbl fresh lemon juice

1 tbl olive oil

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper

1 garlic clove, minced

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

Optional: Fresh grated Parmesan Cheese.

1. Salad: saute onion in cooking spray. Add quinoa, saute' 5 mins or so. Add water & salt to pan. Bring to a boil then reduce heat, cover & simmer 15 mins. Remove from heat & let stand another 15 mins to absorb water. Transfer to a large bowl & add remaining salad ingredients.

2. Dressing: combine dressing ingredients & pour over salad. Serve at room temp.

Top with parm if desired. Yield approx 8 3/4 cup servings.

I plated up the salad then I sauteed about a dozen shrimp & tossed them on top of the quinoa with grated parm. OMG! Oh...a dozen shrimp was for 2 people. I didn't eat them all. But, I could have.