I’m very lucky I get to work in an extremely casual office. We’re located in a loft in a mostly residential building and we have a full kitchen stocked with snacks and beverages.  Also, no one really takes lunch breaks, so as a perk our company has accounts at local restaurants where we order lunch in most days. Trouble is we get tired of the same restaurant fare day in and day out, and lately everyone has been a little more health conscious. So last week I took to the store and stocked our fridge and cupboards with essentials to start making lunch in house.

Usually I just throw together a salad, or people make their own sandwiches. But last week I decided to make something new for the entire office (all 7 of us). Many of my co-workers had heard of quinoa, but never prepared or eaten it. It’s one of my favorite grains so I figured it was a great chance to introduce it to the others.

They almost gobbled it all up before I could take a picture.

A delicious office lunch

This dish was super easy and was done in 30 minutes. You could easily modify it a thousand different ways based on what you have on hand. It was a perfect warm lunch for a chilly fall day.

Pesto Quinoa with Apple Gouda Chicken Sausage

Recipe

1 tbs olive oil

1 med onion, diced

2 cups quinoa, rinsed (otherwise it will taste VERY bitter)

4 cups chicken stock

1/2 cup toasted pine nuts

4 tbs prepared pesto

1/4 cup dried cherries

3 links Apple Gouda Chicken Sausage , sliced

Salt

Pepper

Method

Sautee onion in olive oil in a medium sized pan until soft.

Add quinoa and chicken stock and bring to a boil. Then cover and reduce to a simmer for 15-20 minutes

Meanwhile, toast pine nuts until fragrant. I chose to rough chop mine, but you could leave them in whole if you wanted.

When quinoa is finished add the remaining ingredients and mix together.

See, I told you it was easy.