Necessity, and a stocked pantry is indeed the mother of invention.

Last weekend my Man Crow and I decided to leave the confines(and comforts) of urban life and strike out into the vast wilderness of Vermont to camp for a couple of days.  We had a truly excellent time, hiking, sitting in front of the fire drinking box wine (for another post) and of course, mowing.

Unfortunately, my life has been a little hectic recently and I  simply haven’t had the time I would have like to devote to preparing camp-friendly noshes.   However, the night before with little time and an empty fridge wanted to make sure to bring one cooler-friendly, super healthy, energy-giving dish to munch on the whole trip and supplement meals.  So I came up with this recipe, and I must say, it was a winner.

1 Cup Quinoa

2 cups vegetable stock

1 Red pepper

1 Red Onion

1 Large Zucchini

1 Large tomato

1 Tablespoon capers

1/4 cup almonds

1/2 cup crumbled feta (or more to taste)

2 big handfuls fresh basil

olive oil, balsamic vinegar, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Cook the quinoa in the vegetable stock, according to the directions on the package.  Set aside and let cool completely.

2. Roughly chop the vegetables (pepper, zucchini, onion, tomato, other veggies of choice) into bite sized chunks and toss in olive oil, s&p and a dash of red pepper flakes.   Put into a casserole dish and roast in the oven for about 20 minutes- until the veggies are tender but not too soft.   Take out of the oven and allow to cool completely.

3.  Lightly roast the almonds either in a pan, stove top, or in the oven alongside  the veggies.  Allow to cool, and then chop roughly.

4.  Toss together the quinoa, veggies (making sure to include the oil and juices at the bottom of the pan) and the almonds.  Add the capers, feta and roughly chopped bail.  Dress with balsamic vinegar to taste.

Enjoy!