Quinoa and Pepper Lunch or Dinner Recipe

I've recently turned vegetarian over night so I've had to find some new lunch recipes that I can do between revision or in the evening when I get back from work. So here's one of my favourite, nutritious, lunch or dinner options.

So firstly you want to collect all your ingredients and the couple of tools you'll need.
You'll need:
-Quinoa
-Water (preferably filtered)
-A pepper
-Some olives
-Feta Cheese
-Cucumber

-A saucepan
-Two small bowls
-A wooden spoon
-A knife
-A chopping board
-Your favourite bowl

 Take half a cup of quinoa and one cup of water:

Then put it onto a pan on half heat and leave to boil for a couple of minutes. 

 Once it's boiled for a little turn the heat down and leave to simmer, stirring occasionally.

Whilst the quinoa is cooking get your other ingredients ready. Now these items are what I like to use, however you can swap some of the veg out and change it for any that you like if you want to mix it up a bit.

So I personally use a small pepper, a chunk of cucumber, some feta cheese and a small handful of olives

Get chopping!

 If you want to make this recipe vegan simply swap out the feta cheese for another grain, such as chia or bulgar wheat, or a vegan cheese.

Remove the seeds from the centre of the pepper by making a small cut on the sides of the seed stem and then pull the rest with your hand. 

Add all the vegetables to one of your bowls...

 ...and the pips and off-cuts to the other bowl.

Once the quinoa has started to soak up the water and is simmering away add a little more water. I usually add about a quarter of a cup. Stir again and then leave to simmer for a few more minutes.

 Then grab your favourite bowl, this one I painted myself about 5 years ago and it's been my go-to ever since.

 The quinoa will look a little like this once it's soaked all the water up and it's now ready for eating.

 Add the quinoa to the bowl and pop it in the fridge....

 Then wait for around 10 minutes whilst the quinoa cools down... stir occasionally if you want it to cool quicker.

 Then take the bowl out of the fridge and mix in the cheese and vegetables.

And there you have it, a quick lunch or dinner meal. You can always make this in the morning and then take it to work with you if you don't have access to a kitchen at work. The quinoa will keep quite well for a day, however consider chopping the cheese later and adding it when you actual come to eat the dish or it may have lost it's shape a little.

To make this a warm meal you can also roast the vegetables or stir-fry them quickly and then add to the quinoa whilst it's still hot.

Let me know if you try this recipe and what you added to it to make it your own.

xx