Quinoa Spring Salad & Molasses Baked Beans

This is the second recipe I made from Dreena Burton's cookbook, Vive Le Vegan! Here I am all set up just like on the cooking channel ready to toss the Quinoa Spring Salad together. Starting at 1 o'clock, you see: cucumber, Simple Cider Vinaigrette, pistachios, green onion, peas, quinoa, and in the center red bell peppers. I didn't have hemp seed nuts or the spices on hand this time around. Hubby would have liked for the spices to be added. For me, I thought the vinaigrette was a perfect amount of flavor to enhance the ingredients.


Ta DAH! Here is the finished salad. I had to eat a spoonful right away to sample it and make sure that it wasn't poison (a little family joke) and then another & another - I couldn't stop sampling it. Such a scrumptious salad! This is the first time I've cooked with or eaten quinoa, and I'm already hooked. I love the nutty flavor, and can't wait to try other recipes using this grain.



Here is the first recipe I made from Vive. I was planning on making this all week and had all the ingredients on hand...or so I thought. I was surprised that we were out of ketchup - so I substituted a 6 oz. can of tomato paste. Here it is just before putting in the oven. This is my largest casserole dish with a lid and just look how close to the top it is! So I placed an old cookie sheet beneath it to catch any spills, and I'm glad I did! Blackstrap molasses can make for a stubborn clean-up.


Here are the baked beans all cooked and transferred to a clean dish. These baked beans are more than delicious, they are aromatheraputic. My house smells absolutely delicious. I can tell that I'm going to really love this cookbook and just today, Everyday Vegan arrived in the mail.

Listening to: Drum Breaks by Sandy Nelson