Quinoa and Lentil salad with baby spinach and feta

 Living in our coastal town restaurants are limited and their menu rarely changes.  We rarely dine out as I prefer to cook a healthy balanced meal at home which also helps you to unwind from a sometimes stressful day.

Hence our idea of a mid week 'Im too tired to cook the evening meal' usually results in either a trip to our local Chinese restaurant which is very good or to the local Thai restaurant where the chef cooks authentic Thai food with plenty of fresh vegetables.

When we recently dined out I chose to wear a new dress and took extra care with my make up so I was feeling pretty good when arrived at the restaurant.  I noticed nearly everyone was looking at me as we made our way to the designated table and placed our order with the waitress.

I was still catching the odd eye of people smiling at me when a lovely mature lady went past and bent down to whisper "I hope you don't mind me telling you and of course this happened to me as well at the Bankstown RSL Club in front of hundreds of people; but you have caught your dress at the back into the top of your underwear.  I thought you would like to know".

Bless her kind heart as she was the only one brave enough to tell me!  Hubby and I laughed so hard and I thanked her profusely as she squeezed my shoulder and walked out into the night.  The people who had been smiling at me were suddenly now focusing on their plates of food or out the window.   It only takes one good person to make a difference.

Likewise a good healthy luncheon dish full of protein and fibre can make all of the difference to your afternoon energy levels.

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                            Quinoa and Lentil Salad with Spinach and Feta

100g white or red quinoa, rinsed well

200g water

1 tspn salt

1 can cooked lentils, drained and rinsed

1/2 red onion finely chopped

1/4 cucumber cubed

Handful of baby spinach leaves

Handful of cherry tomatoes

1/3 cup feta 

1/2 lemon juiced

Place rinsed and drained quinoa, water and salt into a non stick saucepan with a lid.  Stir and turn heat to medium high whilst stirring it to boiling point.  Place lid on top and turn temperature down to low.  Cook for 15-18 minutes.  Turn off heat rest for 4 -5 minutes and then take off lid and fluff up quinoa with a fork.

Mix the lentiles with the quinoa.  Add chopped cucumber, onion, cherry tomatoes and lemon juice.  Stir well.  Place baby spinach and feta on top and gently combine.  I used feta in oil so did not need more olive oil but you may like to add 1 - 2 tablespoons EVOO if your mix is a little dry.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

This dish makes 2 good lunch size servings or could be a side dish for 4 people.

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Please tell me if you have experienced a similar episode in public, we can laugh at it together.

                                                              Buon appetito, enjoy Merryn xx