Tomorrow's Dinner

Tomorrow night Zach and I are having a friend over for dinner who is a vegetarian. I love the challenge of cooking outside my comfort zone so I am really looking forward to preparing tomorrow nights meal. 

Here is what I have planned so far: 

One of my new favorite things is Quinoa (see above plant). It is a fabulous grain from South America that is considered a "perfect food" due to the fact that it contains high amounts of protein as well as all of the essential amino acids. Aside from these fabulous health benefits (especially for vegans and vegetarians) it tastes delicious. I have gotten into the habit lately of substituting it for any meals where I would normally cook rice. At this point, Zach and I really prefer it to rice. It tastes great with stir fry's! I also have an amazing recipe that I got from a friend for a Quinoa salad that is incredibly easy that I will post some other time. So, the plan for tomorrow night is to make something with Quinoa and I found an awesome recipe on Epicurious. 

Quinoa with Corn Scallions and Mint 

I bought four fresh ears of sweet corn at Outpost (you can buy Quinoa in bulk there and it's much cheaper) and plan to grill the corn before putting it in with the Quinoa. YUM! The combination of mint and scallions and sweet corn...I can't WAIT to try this recipe. I will be sure to update with my thoughts after I'm done. 

I also plan to include a salad with baby greens, avocado, grapefruit, red onion and Brianna's French dressing.  

I am still trying to decide on dessert. Maybe I will actually challenge myself to BAKE something. :) 

update: This quinoa recipe is FABULOUS. I highly recommend it!