Pesto Quinoa Salad

I don't like to repeat meals too much at home.  Whenever I am asked, "what is your favourite meal?" my answer is, "the next one!"  While I love to try new things, inevitably there are some meals that are repeated.  This quinoa dish is one that I've had a lot of requests to bring to potlucks, cottages and lunch dates.  One particular potluck involved a group of hockey coaches standing by the dish stating, "what is that?" followed by "looks kind of weird?".  Imagine my satisfaction when not only did they go back for seconds, they asked for the recipe.

Over the years, my granola recipe is the only one that has been requested more than this one.  It will make a quinoa lover out of the biggest sceptic.  Not only that, it comes together quickly and can be made in advance.  I love to take it on a workday lunch or pack a container for the kids.

The tomatoes are the most time consuming part and you could easily substitute sun dried tomatoes from a jar if you're short on time.  Fresh corn can make this even better, but when out of season I use frozen.  Let me know if you give it a try.

Pesto Quinoa Salad

adapted from 101cookbooks

 5 cups cooked quinoa
2/3 cup pesto
1 cup Parmesan
1Tbsp olive oil
3 cups kale finely sliced
1 shallot
2 cups corn
2 cups oven roasted tomatoes
Prepare quinoa and set aside to cool.  Usually 2-2 1/2 cups of dry quinoa will make the 5cups.
Once room temperature, stir in the pesto and Parmesan.
In a skillet on medium heat, add olive oil and shallot.  Cook for about 3min and then add kale.  Stir and cook for 5min more.  Add the corn and cook 3-5min more, stirring periodically so it doesn't stick to pan.  Add kale, shallot, corn mixture to quinoa mixture and stir.  Gently fold in oven roasted tomatoes.  Top with additional Parmesan or salt/pepper to taste.  Serve at room temperature or refrigerate for later. Enjoy!