Happy happy Friday to y’all! I’m quite thrilled it’s the weekend because I have a lot to look forward to. Nothing big, but just the little things that add up! Before the weekend comes, I want to share with y’all this spinach, quinoa and shrimp salad that I put together for dinner last night.
Let’s rewind to last night and how my lazy evening turned into a fun new recipe! As I left work, I thought about it and decided I didn’t feel like really doing much of anything. I traded running for a glass of wine and working on tutus for Disney! Don’t get me wrong, I L.O.V.E. to run and work out and get my sweat on, but every once in a while, we deserve a veg kind of night right? Well I ended up catching up on my DVR while nearly finishing the tutus. Take a look! All I need to do is sew them together…how to coming soon. I promise it’s so easy!
After one glass of wine, one show and several pita chips, I decided to get creative and try something new for dinner. I’ve been craving quinoa {weird, I know} lately and decided that would be an ingredient. I didn’t feel like defrosting any meat, so I decided that small shrimp would be my protein. It’s thaws and cooks quickly and lately I’ve acquired a taste for it. I only like the small ones though!
After deciding on these two ingredients, this is what I came up with:
Spinach, Quinoa and Shrimp Salad
Ingredients:
- 1 cup of spinach
- 1 cup of quinoa cooked {1/4 cup uncooked}
- 3 oz small cooked shrimp
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 2 tbsp reduced fat feta
- 1 tbsp reduced fat balsamic vinaigrette
- Salt
- Garlic Powder {optional}
Directions:
Quinoa:
NOTE: I made 1 cup of uncooked quinoa for leftovers.
- Place one cup of quinoa in small pot and add 1 1/2 cups of water and 1/4 tsp of salt {optional}
- Bring to a boil. Place lid on pot and reduce heat to a simmer.
- Cook for 15 minutes with lid on.
- Remove from heat and allow quinoa to continue cooking with lid on for 5 minutes.
- Remove lid and fluff quinoa with a fork.
Shrimp:
- Heat olive oil in small pan
- Add garlic and cook for about a minute
- Add shrimp and saute in olive oil and garlic mixture.
- Sprinkle salt and garlic powder to taste
- Continue to saute until both sides on shrimp are browned, about 5-8 minutes
Salad:
- Put spinach leaves on a plate and add dressing and feta.
- Scoop 1/2 cup to a cup of cooked quinoa and add to salad.
- Top off with your cooked shrimp
TADAAA!!! Super easy and super yummy spinach, quinoa and shrimp salad! Enjoy 🙂 Let me know if you try it. I’d also love to hear of some other variations if you have any!