Freaky Food Friday - Quinoa Salad and Broccoli Cheese Soup

I've resurrected my Friday posts.  Yay!  *grin*  Today I've got two recipes for you.  Both are awesome.  Both have been slightly modified from the originals, which I found on Allrecipes.  Seriously, they have some amazing recipes for just about everything there.

Recipe one is a light summer salad made from quinoa.  You can generally find quinoa in your grocery store's bulk foods section.

The original recipe is there.  Here is my modified recipe.

Quinoa with chickpeas and veggies

• 1 cup quinoa
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 3/4 cups water
• 1 cup canned garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained
• 1 tomato, chopped
• 2 cucumbers, seeded and chopped
• 3 carrots, peeled and diced
• 3 celery stalks, diced
• 1/2 small onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 4 tablespoons lime juice
• 5 teaspoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 pinch salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley
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1. Place the quinoa in a fine mesh strainer, and rinse under cold, running water until the water no longer foams. Bring the quinoa, salt, and water to a boil in a saucepan. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the quinoa is tender, 20 to 25 minutes.
2. Once done, stir in the garbanzo beans, all vegetables, garlic, lime juice, and olive oil. Season with cumin, salt, and pepper. Sprinkle with chopped fresh parsley to serve.
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• I wanted to add more life and color to the salad, which is why I went with more vegetables.  I had to increase the dressing (the lime juice and the olive oil) to cover all of the new ingredients.
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• The second recipe is the modified version of this recipe that I took from allrecipes.com as well.  That really is my online go-to place for wonderful recipes.
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• Broccoli Cheese soup with smoked sausage
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• • 8 cups chicken broth
  • 2 cups water
  • 2 cups half-and-half
  • 4 ounces shredded Sharp cheddar cheese
  • 4 ounces shredded smoked gouda
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 medium onion, chopped fine
  • 1 smoked kielbasa sausage, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 8 cups broccoli florets
  
  
  1. In a skillet, brown sausage and garlic together.  Set aside.  Cook onion with a drizzle of olive oil to keep it from sticking until the onions are translucent.
  2. In a large pot over medium high heat, combine the broth, water, half-and-half, cheese, flour, onion and ground black pepper. Whisk all together to break up any lumps.
  3. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low. Stir in the broccoli and sausage and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, or until broccoli is tender.

  
  
  If you don't like smoked gouda, you can use any cheese that will easily melt.  I've used pepper jack in this recipe before when I was making it to send with Himself to an event.  This is what I do when I'm NOT being lazy and using the soup mixes. *grin*