Spring Vegetable Quinoa Salad with White Bean Crostini

You know those nights where you look in your fridge and you see that unused produce staring you in the face, just daring you to let it go bad? Well, in an attempt to keep my trusty G&E from becoming a veritable petri dish, I decided it was clean out the fridge night. It was time to improvise. On hand I had: one mini eggplant, seven or eight stalks of asparagus, a half of a red bell pepper, four (yes, precisely four) pitted kalamata olives, a half a pint or so of cherry tomatoes, and some vinaigrette I'd made the night before. I also had lettuce that was a pile of mush. Gross. My first idea, a grilled veggie salad was out. What could I make?

How about a quinoa salad? I thought. And it turned out to be a good idea. Healthy, delicious, filling, and a great warm weather supper.

Here's how I made it.

Spring Vegetable Quinoa Salad

Ingredients:

Dressing:

In a small bowl, whisk together:

Juice of 1/2 lemon

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp champagne vinegar

1 tbsp parsley, chopped

1 tbsp capers, drained

salt and pepper to taste

Set aside.

Salad

1 baby eggplant, cut into 1 inch dice

1/2 red bell pepper, diced

4 pitted kalamata olives, sliced lengthwise into quarters

7-8 asparagus stalks, cut diagonally into 1 inch pieces

1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, quartered

1/2 cup white quinoa, rinsed thoroughly

Preheat oven to 425. Place eggplant on a baking sheet and drizzle generously with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Roast in oven for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and place on a cutting board to cool.

While eggplant is roasting, bring 1/2 cup quinoa, a pinch of salt, and 1 cup water to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook for 15 minutes or until the water is absorbed. When cooked, remove from heat, fluff with a fork and transfer to a large bowl. Allow to cool for at least 5 minutes.

Gently toss remaining ingredients, along with a pinch of salt and few grinds of pepper, with quinoa. Drizzle over about two tablespoons of dressing (more if desired) and gently toss again until everything is combined. Serve with white bean crostini (recipe follows).

White Bean Crostini

1/4 cup canned cannellini beans, rinsed and drained

1 slice tuscan garlic boule, halved

1 small garlic clove, end sliced off

salt, pepper, olive oil to taste

Toast bread slices until desired level of brownness, transfer to a work surface and rub with garlic.

In a small bowl, mash white beans with a fork until relatively smooth. Spread on top of toast slices. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and finish with a drizzle of olive oil.