Quinoa on a Burrito? Hmmm....

I had a brilliant idea for dinner.  I wanted to make a cross between a burrito and a veggie wrap and instead of rice settled on using some tri-colored quinoa.  I cooked the quinoa with mushrooms and some light miso soup with seaweed.  It looked and smelled delicious enough to eat right then!  But I continued on...heating an organic flour tortilla shell, topping it with baby spinach leaves, topping that with the cooked quinoa mixture (still hot so it would just barely cook the spinach) and then added avocado and chopped asparagus spears on top.



Doesn't that look fresh, delicious and healthy?  Well, two out of three isn't bad.  It just wasn't delicious.  But it was a very photogenic meal...



So, I ate half and it was okay.  Not spectacular, not disgusting but not good enough that I really was craving that second half.  The hubby didn't agree but I wasn't counting his opinion because his was coated in sriracha.   That is no help to me because I am total and complete sissy when it comes to spicy stuff in my food!  So, what's a girl to do?  Well, if you have a food blog with awesome followers on facebook, you ask them.  And I did.  And you all rocked it!!  You got my creative juices flowing and I decided to cut up my remaining half and do some taste testing.



I know.  It looks like a mess.  But it was a tasty mess.  I used what I had on hand and here is the list of additions I made and my thoughts about them:

Tomatoes - definitely brightened it up and I liked it much better!

Chopped Green Olives (figured it would cover adding more salt as well) - very tasty but something was still missing.  I think these could be added as well as something else.

Cranberries - I really, really thought a sweet element would help but it just didn't.  Too many clashing flavors in this combo.  It's a shame, I usually love adding cranberries.

Balsamic Vinaigrette - Really helped boost the taste a lot.  That plus the olives has real potential!

Lime - Hmm.  This helped, but it didn't brighten enough and got a bit muddled.  Sorta like the cranberries.  I wanted to like it but just couldn't.

Hummus - This was the hands down winner and I can't believe I didn't think of it.  I mean we have a rotating supply of hummus at all times in the fridge how could I have not considered it?  Either way, I WILL make these again and will likely add hummus, green olives and maybe even a tomato or two.  :)

What would I do without my friends?  Well, for starters, I'd likely be scavenging for something else to eat in the house instead of happily devouring the rest of my burrito.

Enjoy!
Sheri