Quinoa Salad

Quick lunch or side dish that can be served hot or cold. Keeps well in the fridge :) This is a super basic recipe that is very forgiving to all sorts of tasty ad-ins: kalamata olives, chopped walnuts, sun dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, hearts of palm, etc.

1.5 cups quinoa
2 cups Kitchen Basics veggie stock
2 roughly chopped ribs celery
1 can of Trader Joe's Tongol tuna
Handful of golden raisins
1 tsp Herbs de Provence
1 TBP olive oil
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 teaspoon of balsalmic vinegar
Healthy grinds of sea salt + pepper to taste

Pour your stock into a saucepan, add the quinoa, raisins, herbs, onion/garlic, vinegar, oil, salt/pepper to taste. Give it a quick stir, turn the burner on medium until it barely reaches a boil, reduce heat to simmer, cover and wait 10-15 minutes or until almost all of the liquid has soaked in.

After the elapsed time, chuck in your celery, turn off the heat and put the cover back on. Keep covered until all the liquid has been absorbed and the celery is fork tender (don't over cook!! its better to have very crunchy celery than mushy!)

At this point you can either throw the tuna in and serve warm or take the pot off the stove, transfer to a large bowl and refrigerate until cold. Once cold, throw the tuna in.

Garnish with fresh basil.