Q is not my favorite letter. 

All weekend, I’ve been in a quandary, wondering what I could blog about that starts with Q.  I got so desperate that I started quizzing my children, asking for suggestions.  Not one of them had a quick answer … or a slow one either.

By the time I went to bed last night, I was ready to quit the challenge.

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Just after 3 am in the wee hours of the morning, I woke up to discover Jon was up. I questioned him about why he was awake, expecting we might spend a few minutes chatting before going back to bed. However, our quibbles turned into a minor quarrel which left me feeling somewhat queasy.

Though the concerns have since been quelled and things are good between us this morning, the queer midnight discussion definitely didn’t help my writing mood. If anything, my quest to write about the letter Q has been somewhat quenched.

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 So instead of continuing to quiver over today’s Q challenge, I’m going to quash my fears and quickly share one of my favorite healthy recipes.

I love it because it is so easy and versatile.  Jon, who can’t have gluten or dairy, can eat this delicious side dish. It goes great with a wide-variety of main courses. Best of all, no one in my rather large family has any qualms about eating it.

Perhaps your family will enjoy it too.

“Everything but the Kitchen Sink” Quinoa Salad

Two cups (or more) cooked, cooled quinoa (prepared according to package directions)

Mix and Match from the following: *use about 1/4 to 1/2 cup unless other quantity is given*

1 box grape tomatoes (or cherry tomatoes), halved

*thinly sliced celery (the hearts with the leaves are the best)

*diced bell peppers (any color)

*shredded carrots

*diced cucumbers

*diced purple onion

1 small can sliced black olives (or may substitute Kalamata or green olives)

1 can of beans (black beans, canelli beans, garbanzo beans, etc)

1 can of corn

1 can of artichoke hearts

Dressing Ingredients: 2 tablespoons lemon juice (fresh is amazing), 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 teaspoons minced garlic

Directions:

Gently toss any of the vegetables with the quinoa.  In a small bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients. Pour the dressing over the salad and stir gently to coat.  Serve immediately, or chill until time to eat. Makes 6-12 servings (depending on how much of the salad ingredients are added).

You can see how versatile this salad truly is, so it’s easy to experiment with a variety of salad ingredients. It’s almost like you can put everything but the kitchen sink in this recipe and have a tasty addition to your meal. Don’t worry about the fact that it makes so much … the next day, after the flavors have had time to meld together, this salad tastes even better!

I hope you enjoy the quinoa salad, as well as today’s Q post.

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So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.  ~1 Corinthians 10:31

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This post is part of the 2015 A-to-Z Blogging Challenge. If you are visiting due to that, thanks so much for popping in to read today’s post. I hope you will leave me a comment so that I can return the visit to your blog. I love to connect with other bloggers and readers. If you are a regular reader, I hope you’ll stick with me during April when I blog about the stories of my faith.