An Explosion of Color

From the infamous Veganomicon, I decided to try out the Quinoa Salad w/ Black Bean & Mango. Seriously, this is one of my favorite dishes I’ve ever made! Not only is the presentation gorgeous and bursting with color, but the flavors compliment each other so perfectly. I made a few adjustments to the recipe, for example, I used walnut oil instead of grapeseed oil, and added a few shots of hot sauce to the ‘dressing’. This dish is also perfect for those that don’t have much time on hand, and want to throw together a quick meal that looks as though they were slaving for hours over the stove! I made my quinoa in advance, and cooked off my dried black beans in advance as well, so when dinner time came along, all I really needed to do was some chopping and tossing. Easy, beautiful, and best of all, incredibly tasty. With my salad, I had the most amazing roasted sugar snap peas of my life. I tossed them with some soy ginger sauce (i’m ginger obsessed y’all), a bit of rosemary olive oil, sea salt, and pepper, roasted them in a preheated 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes, and out came the best vegetable there is. These will definitely be making other appearances considering I have a bunch on hand, and they’re so incredibly delicious.

I ended this fabulous meal with my favorite: 4 squares of decadent dark chocolate. Pure bliss. I also snacked on a perfectly crisp granny smith apple as the night when on.

Tomorrow is Friday already! Normally, I’d be thrilled, but Friday means one day closer to the end of my vacation! I can’t believe how quickly this vacation has flown by. Where have the days gone?!