Brown Bagging It- Lunch!

I am loving this simple quinoa salad for lunch lately. It's super simple, and delicious hot or cold.  A healthy and satisfying lunch, which might help me lose some of this five pounds of remaining baby weight. 

Makes 4 large servings
Ingredients:
1 cup quinoa
2 cups chicken broth
3 bell peppers (I used one red, one red and one yellow) chopped
1-2 boxes grape tomatoes
1 cup green olives, chopped (optional)
2 cups chopped pecans
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons cumin
1 cup feta
salt and pepper to taste

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
• Toast the pecans on a baking sheet for about five minutes.
• Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
• Toss the bell peppers and grape tomatoes with olive oil and kosher salt and put on the baking sheet in a single layer.
• Roast the veggies for about 25 minutes or until the tomatoes are bursting.
• Meanwhile, cook the quinoa in 2 cups of chicken broth (or vegetable broth), and the cumin, according to the quinoa package instructions (i.e. I just followed the bag, and can't remember exactly how long I cooked it for).
• Mix the cooked quinoa, toasted pecans, olives, and feta in a large bowl.  Add the roasted vegetables.  Stir, and season to taste!  Equally delicious warm or cold.

I love how the feta gets creamy when it melts a little into the quinoa when you mix in the warm veggies.  The pecans, quinoa and cheese provide enough protein to keep me full through the afternoon, but I think the addition of some tonno canned tuna would be excellent to beef it up a little.  This is a great base recipe to add in any vegetables you have lingering in your crisper.  Just roast away!