When I first thought about cooking dinner every night, I think I was under the impression that it had to be perfect. And not just perfect but creative and unique every time. You can see why I ate out at every meal for two years.

I think what helped get over thy mentality was the fact that I never had to cool for anyone else. Since Will and I eat very different cuisine, I never expect him to eat what I make and, likewise, he never expects me to cater to him.

But what really set me free was transitioning to an entirely vegetarian style of eating. Up front, I’m not a vegetarian but everything I make for myself is free of all animal products because this is what makes me happiest. I don’t know why cooking meat was so hard for me but since I didn’t especially like the taste, allowing myself to go another direction made cooking so much more fun.

Last night’s dinner is the perfect example of a meal that left me feeling great but I don’t think I’d make it for a dinner party. Just my version of fast food for a weeknight.

Quinoa and Veggies

Love quinoa! I’m still very new to it (a year ago I hadn’t even heard of it) but its a go-to for dinners because it is a complete vegetarian protein.

This meal is literally just 1/2C quinoa cooked in 1 C water along with a mountain of broccoli and mushrooms sautéed on the side.

I usually dress my quinoa up with some humus or at least cook it in vegetable broth but since I was out of both I heaped a few spoonfuls of salsa on the top. Salsa appears on a lot of my foods that others might think is strange (salad?) but I love the flavor it adds.

And the more vegetables, the better in my book.

Both the veggies and the quinoa we’re spiced with this:

Tied it together wonderfully!

While some meals are a little more experimental than this one, it’s nice to have some easy favorites to fall back on when you dot want to think to hard about eating well.