Curried Quinoa with Spinach and Avocado

Directions

1. Heat oil in a 12″ skillet. Add onions and saute until soft and translucent.
2. While the onions cook, toss the cumin seeds onto a cast iron pan (or any other kind of pan that is not non-stick will work) and heat over medium high heat until you can smell the fragrance of the seeds. Keep a eye on it and stir often so that the seeds don’t burn. **Don’t add oil. The point is to dry roast the cumin.
3. Toss the dry roasted cumin seeds into a blender with the tomatoes and the green chili. Puree and set aside.
4. When the onions are soft and translucent, add in the tomato puree. Stir and cook until the puree begins to look more like a paste. About 5 minutes.
5. Add in the turmeric and salt. Stir.
6. Add in the cooked quinoa. Stir until the quinoa is evenly coated in the spicy tomato mixture and and cook for about 2 minutes.
7. At this point, you can let the quinoa cool and refrigerate until you’re ready to eat.
8. Add in the chopped spinach, cilantro and lemon juice coated avocado when ready to serve.
9. If you’re like me and want to eat this for lunch in small portions, this is what I do : I portion out 1/2 cup of quinoa. Toss a big handful of chopped baby spinach leaves (you don’t really have to chop them, I like to because I prefer to eat quinoa with a spoon and not a fork). Liberally sprinkle lemon juice over half a small avocado (I also add salt) and toss into the salad. Top with cilantro leaves.