QUINOA PESTO VEGGIE BOWL RECIPE

With spring upon us our farmer's market is starting to pick up again. The regular vendors providing fish, dairy, turkey meat, bread, baked goods and apples that are cellared have survived the cold and remain committed to being there year round. It's exciting to see some of the faces return that have been gone since fall. The fruit and vegetable vendors are trickling in with greens, herbs, flowers and plants. Asparagus started last week and is already more plentiful. One of the vendors there specializes in more eccentric vegetable varieties including pea shoots, sorrel, tatsoi, ramps, young spring garlic, lambs quarters, dandelion, mache, minari, along with swiss chard and a variety of kale.  

I'm buying fresh herbs to plant for the summer, although with such a mild winter some of my herbs actually survived. I still have parsley, rosemary and sage from last year, as well as mint and chives which always come back.  

One of my favorite salads that I like to make is a Quinoa Salad with Pesto and Roasted Vegetables. It's a salad that can evolve with the seasons. Last week I did quinoa with a cilantro and basil pesto. The roasted veggies included crimini mushrooms, asparagus, cauliflower and fennel. Sometimes I add a can of white beans or shredded chicken if I want extra protein.   

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