Oh happy day!

I love today. It's one of my favorite days of the year.

Last night I made two super awesome salads for dinner. Here they are, for your enjoyment!

Lentil Salad

4 biggish handfuls of lentils
1 med/large cucumber
1 small red onion
3 med/small beets
salt
grapeseed oil
balsamic vinegar

Put the lentils in a pot and cover with water. Simmer until they are tender, about 20 min. Drain and cool them.

Score the cucumber skin with a fork. Cut lengthwise and remove the seeds. Chop.

Finely chop the onion.

Steam or roast the beets and chop them up.

Mix the lentils with the chopped vegetables. Season with salt, oil, and balsamic to taste.

Quinoa Salad

1 c quinoa
1/2 tsp salt
1-2 tsp sugar
1 green pepper, chopped
1/2 red onion, minced
2 c corn (cut off a cob, or from frozen)
grapeseed oil
red wine vinegar
1 T lemon juice
1/4 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp adobo spice mix (if you don't have this you can just use more cumin, or whatever spices you like!)
1 clove garlic, minced
salt to taste
(also would be good here but I didn't have: tomatoes and avocado. Black beans, too)

Cook the quinoa in 1.5 c water with the 1/2 tsp salt. Simmer 20 min til water is absorbed. Cool.

Mix with the veggies. Make a dressing from the oil, vinegar, lemon juice, sugar, cumin, adobo, and garlic. Pour over quinoa and veggies. Add salt as you like.

Anyway, Kenn and Giselle are coming up later today, and Craig and Vivienne and Valentina are coming over, too. I baked a fresh peach pie last night (It's pretty, I'll probably post a pic in my modesty...) and we're grilling tri tip and chicken to go with our huge salad and refreshing lemon ice.