Morning, friends!
It’s actually a nice and cool-ish morning here, at least compared to the past few weeks — it makes me really miss morning workouts! Getting to work by 7 or 7:30 a.m. isn’t really conducive to working out in the morning… blah. I’m thinking in the fall depending on my new internship schedule I might transition back to some morning workouts — there’s nothing better than a run on a cool, crisp fall morning. Although cool, crisp fall late afternoons are also pretty awesome. :) These crazy hot summer evening workouts are getting to me!
Anyway! I got home from work yesterday around 4 and headed straight to the grocery store. After a weekend away, our fridge was pretty bare bones. Amidst doing laundry, unloading the dishwasher, and cleaning up around the house a bit, I decided to whip up something for me and Matt to enjoy after Crossfit later that night for dinner.
I decided to make a simple Italian-style Quinoa Salad. I cooked 1 cup of dry quinoa, then added chopped green pepper, tomato, cucumber, string beans, and avocado to it, plus a can of (drained/rinsed) chickpeas and a can of artichoke hearts (also drained).
For the dressing, I added the juice from the large lemon you see above, a hefty drizzle of hemp oil (decided to mix it up from olive oil — hemp oil is a great source of polyunsaturated fatty acids — PUFAs!), and some balsamic vinegar.
Mixed it all up, then added some garlic salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, etc. to taste. I also added in some feta cheese, which is not pictured because I almost forgot it. The horror! :)
It came out great! Matt and I hit up the 7 p.m. Crossfit class at Crossfit Dupont (more on that later this week… still having a lot of shoulder mobility issues) and had dinner on the porch around 8:30 p.m. This was one of the first few times we’ve been able to eat outside at home since moving back to DC — it’s usually way too hot!
Dinner was simple and satisfying and we enjoyed a beautiful sunset while we ate. Even more stunning in person! Photos never really do sunsets justice, do they?
Off to work I go — have a wonderful day, friends! And stay tuned — I’ll be back later today with a fun giveaway post!
Loving the temperatures here as of late! This mid-80s stuff is certainly a welcome change from 106 degrees :)
Gorgeous sunset!
That looks so good! I love all the veggies you added in it! and the avocado sold me! I will have to try this!
I feel ya on the missing morning workouts! I had to change my schedule too and it’s just too hot after work these days.
Mmmmm… looks delish!! I just heard about Hemp Oil recently, along with the benefits – will add this to my grocery list after we get back from our beach vacation next week!! :)
Hi – long time reader, first time poster. Just wanted to say hi! I live in DC too and it’s really fun reading DC based blogs. Thank goodness the heat broke a bit!
I love quinoa salads! I like to put chick peas or black beans, carrots, cucumbers, snap peas, balsamic vinegar dressing and of course quinoa in mine! I think I may have to make that for lunch to go with my little tortilla pizza :)
Wow! Such a easy dish! Thanks for the tip!
BTW – those sunset pictures are gorgeous! What kind of camera do you use?
I’m with you on morning workouts – I’m so much more motivated then! Whenever I work an early shift and can’t get one in I’m completely dragging my butt to get there in the afternoon.
Yum, i’m loving quinoa salads lately. Btw, I’m actually trying Crossfit Saturday in Arlington! I’m terrified, but kind of excited. :)
Good luck!! The Columbia Pike one? Let me know how you like it!
Nope, it’s on Glebe (in Ballston).. I’ll let you know how it goes – hopefully I survive!
What a tasty sounding recipe and a beautiful sunset!