This last Sunday my grandparents had all of us over for lunch because my cousin Latisha and her husband were in town. They recently moved to Fresno, CA and this is the first time I’ve seen them since the move! There were ten of us total and we had steaks, barbeque chicken, scalloped potatoes, baked beans, roasted zucchini and yellow squash, and salad.
Everything was really good (as always), but I was surprised that I had not found a dessert. My grandma always makes dessert of some sort when her grandchildren come to town! I am one of the lucky ones and can go over and get dessert from her any time I want! She wants to make sure everyone has their favorite dessert at family gatherings – which is why we once had Thanksgiving with nine different desserts….yes nine desserts for ten people (Lindsey still gives Grandma grief for her not getting one specific for her).
After we were done with lunch we sat around the table and talked for a few minutes. Then my mom, Carol, decided it was dessert time. She said we better get to it because it might take a while and it was interactive. Hmmm… I don’t always like to work to get my dessert, but whatever. She then started getting out papers and pens and sorts of stuff. We were all quite confused for a minute and then the explanation came.
My parents host an annual beer tasting party where their friends get together and try 20 or so different craft beers. My great-aunt Kay heard about this and said “if Carol ever has an ice cream tasting then I’d like to be invited to that”. Well my mom got word of this comment and decided the next time we were all together we would do an “ice cream tasting”.
That time finally came on Sunday, which happened to be the perfect day because Safeway was having a sale on Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream. The pints of ice cream were only $1.99, so instead of 5-6 flavors, my mom went ALL out and bought all 13 flavors available! No one can be mad about that decision.
We each got a small plastic cup (similar size to a shot glass) and spoon. My mom would put a tiny scoop in the cup and then we would try them and score them from “1 Scoop” up to “5 Scoops”, 5 being the best score. Genius. I am a sucker for ice cream so I was in heaven! It was so fun and so creative. Turns out, my favorites were The Tonight Dough, American Dream, and Half Baked. Yum! If you need an interactive or fun way to do dessert then steal that idea! Kudos Carol!
Anyway, earlier that day I had asked my grandma what to bring and she said an appetizer or a salad. She made sure to tell me she didn’t want me to have to go to the store to get anything! This is the salad that I came up with using the items at my disposal.
I love quinoa or any other grain in a salad plus quinoa has a lot of protein. Win. I had some frozen edamame (also high in protein) that I thawed out and then I sliced some radishes really thin. I threw some toasted pecans in, just for fun, and had a couple cucumbers that I needed to use up. Easy peasy!
I was pretty surprised at the outcome with those random ingredients! There was a little leftover so I took it for lunch the next day and I think I liked it better the second day… for some reason the pecans tasted really good the day after. You can add chichen or another protein to the salad or add some more healthy fats like avocado.
The quinoa does need to be cooled off before adding it to the salad. You can use quinoa that has been prepared ahead of time or just give it time to cool off before adding it.
I didn’t add any dressing to the salad because I wasn’t sure how long it would sit before being eaten (I didn’t want it to get soggy!). I would suggest a simple oil and vinegar topping, but your favorite salad dressing would work just fine!
- 3 cups spinach
- 1 cup quinoa, cooked
- 1 cup edamame, shelled
- 1 cup radish, sliced
- 1/2 cup pecans, chopped
- Toast pecans in a small saute pan over medium heat, stirring regularly until golden brown.
- Remove the stems from the spinach and wash and pat the leaves dry. Place in a large bowl and set aside.
- Combine the quinoa, edamame, radish, and pecans in a medium mixing bowl and stir.
- Add the mixture to the spinach bowl and toss.
- Drizzle with oil and vinegar or your favorite salad dressing.
- To save time, use quinoa that has been cooked already. If making quinoa fresh, allow to cool before adding to the salad.
- Add chicken or another protein of choice for a more hearty meal.
I have several more recipes to share with you. I have been having so much fun in the kitchen and can’t wait to get these new recipes out to you.
What is your favorite Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavor?!
