Chipotle Quinoa & Summer Harvest Salad with Smoked Gouda

I can never relate to the parent that says they're happy to shove their kids back on the school bus and get them out of their hair when school starts back up.  For me, it's a sad time.  Don't get me wrong, I'm very excited that my little sous chef is getting bigger and starting 4th grade, but I really do enjoy those precious moments of summer break with her each day!  If you haven't noticed, I've haven't posted a new recipe for nearly a month.  This is mainly because the last month of summer is always a super busy time for us.  Now that school has started and our schedules have become a lot more structured, I'm hoping to get back into the swing of things and start posting on a weekly basis again.

One of the things that has really kept us busy over the last month is processing harvested vegetables from the garden.  I had some green pepper, tomato, and corn that I needed to use up from all that harvesting, so I decided to make this warm, spicy quinoa salad with freshly harvested garden vegetables, topped with smoked gouda.  It's delicious, guilt-free and packed with flavor!  

#photobombed

Ingredients:
Yields 3 servings

• 1 c quinoa, rinsed and drained 
• 2 c vegetable or chicken broth 
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp avocado oil 
• 1/2 c onion, diced 
• 1/2 c green bell pepper, chopped 
• 2 garlic cloves, finely minced 
• 1 c tomatoes, chopped 
• 1/2 c corn
• 1 c mushrooms, chopped 
• 1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, finely minced - remove the seeds if you don't want it very spicy
• 1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice  
• 1/2 tsp chili powder 
• 1/4 tsp ground cumin 
• 1 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped 
• 3 oz smoked gouda cheese, shredded 
• Salt, to taste
• Pepper, to taste 

Directions:

Add the broth and quinoa to a medium sauce pan.  Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat.  Turn the heat down to low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes.  Set aside.  

Meanwhile, heat the butter and avocado oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the onions and green pepper, and cook for 5 minutes.  Add the garlic, and cook for 1 minute longer.  Stir in the tomato, corn, mushrooms, chipotle, lemon juice, chili powder, cumin and cilantro.  Cook for 5 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper, to taste.  

Spoon the cooked quinoa evenly in the bottom of 3 serving dishes.  Top evenly with the vegetable mixture.  Sprinkle gouda cheese over all.  Garnish with cilantro.  

Enjoy!