Fresh Caprese Quinoa Salad

Another day of summer down- another day spent with my favorite three kids! They honestly make my heart melt with the words that come out of their mouths! How could this picture not make you smile?

Last year, I made my family a picture book at the end of the summer documenting all of the fun stuff we did. I had my camera out all day and Charlie asked me if I was going to do the same thing this year. I said yes and he DEMANDED I take a picture of him and his stuffed animals. *so cute* This kid is seriously the epitome of awesome.

On a foodier note, I got to talking with Jackie this morning, their mom, about QUINOA! When I first started making quinoa, I could never get it quite right. I either cooked it too fast, leaving it hard and crunchy, or too slow- making it too mushy. I even burnt it a few times! *yikes* I took on the task of making my family a delicious quinoa salad. Good thing I’ve finally mastered quinoa making.

Is your mouth watering yet? Don’t lie to me…

Fresh Caprese Quinoa Salad ingredients

1/2 cup quinoa, uncooked
8 oz fresh mozerella
1 carton grape tomatoes, halved
fresh basil, to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
salt & pepper

Method:In a medium sized pan, bring 1C water and ½C quinoa to a rolling boil. Reduce heat and simmer on LOW until all of the water is absorbed. This should take anywhere between 10 and 15 minutes. *Cooking your quinoa on low is extremely important. If you let it simmer on a hotter flame, the water will absorb too quickly and the quinoa will turn out hard!
Cool the cooked quinoa in the refrigerator for at least an hour before preparing the salad.
To prepare the salad, slice grape tomatoes in half [hot dog way] and cut the block of fresh mozzarella into bite size pieces. Mix together. Then, add the chopped basil and cooked quinoa and give the salad a toss. Next, drizzle on the olive oil, and balsamic vinegar, and season with a little salt/pepper (to taste). Give your salad a final toss and serve cool or at room temperature.

I do have to say that the lighting was PERFECT for these photos. Maybe I’m just a perfect photographer? *BAHAHA* jk. But really, I think I can taste the fresh basil and mozzarella cheese through these pictures! Look who I caught in action helping me with the dishes…

didn’t even ask him to help! Charlie is one of those goofy kids who makes crazy sound affects. If only I knew how to spell the noise he was making to imitate the water flow. *fshhhhhhhh*

On a side note- I’m finally exploring different settings on my camera. I haven’t been able to grasp the whole lighting/exposure/white balance thang.

Crazy what blurring and sharpening the background can do to the foreground of a photo! Anyways- I’m pondering going to bed at 8PM tonight. I am pooped. Until tomorrow blogistas!