I feel so wild with all the Fall talk going on. Pumpkin bread is showing up in my instagram feed.  I am simply not ready.  And to prove that point I wanted to touch on two beautiful summer tomato salads that are insanely easy and a throw together Mediterranean quinoa dish that you probably already have all the ingredients for… a three for one blog post today in my battle to hang onto Summer.

For the picture above slice up some big beautiful heirloom tomatoes.  Drizzle liberally with olive oil and sprinkle with a good amount of salt and freshly ground pepper.  Next, throw on some freshly chopped italian flat leaf parsley and toasted pepitas.  Add some crumbled  feta for good measure.  Perfect Summer eating.

For the next cute little tomato salad… chop up four cups of cherry tomatoes… different colors make it more fun but choose your own adventure.  In a small bowl whisk together a quarter cup of olive oil, a quarter cup of balsamic vinegar, a tablespoon of fresh chopped parsley, a tablespoon of fresh chopped basil, a tablespoon of fresh chopped mint and a teaspoon of minced fresh rosemary.  Pour mixture over the tomatoes, stir and let sit for a few hours or even overnight.  Season to taste with salt/pep before serving and garnish with toasted pine nuts.

And lastly- this delicious and easy quinoa dish.  It’s basically garlicky sauteed spinach tossed with quinoa, pesto and some mediterranean hits of flavor.  I used marinated artichokes and marinated tomatoes I got from the olive bar at the store.  Olives would be wonderful with this but I happen to live with someone who doesn’t like olive (I know) so I left them out.  A little feta on here wouldn’t hurt either.   I served mine with a cauliflower steak which I was very into. This is great served warm but the cold leftovers were also yum.  So make one of these salads- pack a picnic and enjoy this beautiful weather while we still have it!

• 1 cup quinoa
• 4 cups fresh baby spinach
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/3 cup pesto
• 6 pieces marinated artichoke hearts
• 0.5 cup sun-dried or roasted tomatoes*
• Olive oil
• Salt/pep

I bought roasted tomatoes from the olive bar at Whole Foods

To Make:

1. Cook quinoa according to package instructions.
2. Heat olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat.  Add garlic and stir for one minute.  Add spinach by the handful and stir until wilted and cooked.
3. Add artichokes and tomatoes to spinach and remove from heat.  Add quinoa and pesto and stir well.

 Inspired by Amuse-Your-Bouche