spinach pesto quinoa

Last week a recipe popped up on my bariatric surgeon's Facebook page, so I decided to try it.  It was a perfect way to use up the pesto I bought for my department's holiday potluck, as well as some quinoa and Parmesan cheese I had hanging around.  The only thing I needed to buy was some spinach. 

I went to the store Friday night after work to get the spinach and a few other things, which was the eve of the big East coast blizzard.  I expected the store to be mobbed, but it wasn't; however, the salad isle looked as though there had been a run on salad.  In my experience, customer usually buy all the milk, bread, and junk food prior to a big storm.  Not salad.  (I now know it was likely due to the Dole recall.) Even the salad bar had been completely emptied.  There were spinach leaves, but they looked like something the cat dragged in. So, I was stuck buying a giant container of spinach. I now need to figure out what to make with that.

I made the recipe over the weekend. It was very easy.  Just cook the quinoa according to the package directions.  When it's done, stir in the salt, pesto, spinach and cheese.  That's it.  I only made half a recipe, since this is something Bob isn't likely to eat.  He tried it without the spinach and liked it, but I don't think he would sit down and have a big serving of it.

It tasted pretty good, but I wasn't happy that it kind of formed this big mass of quinoa and spinach.  I'm guessing it's because of the cheese, which, of course, melts when you put it into a pot of hot quinoa.  Next time I might save the cheese for topping, rather than mixing it in. Or maybe I can have it as a cold salad and mix the cheese in once it's cold. 

Here's the recipe if you're interested in making it:  Spinach Pesto Quinoa.