Thanks to Allison Fishman and Cooking Light – I’m now a whole grain fan. I can’t believe it’s true. But eating 3 servings a day isn’t that hard! You can keep up with my progress and the blog here on CookingLight.com.

Because of this challenge – I’ve been trying to find whole grains that I like and now – I like/love quinoa. After you cook it – use it just like you would rice – the only difference – it’s actually good for you! No matter how much we like white rice – there’s pretty much no nutritional value there. Quinoa on the other hand is packed full of goodness!

So now – I search for recipes with quinoa that I think Larry and I will like. I found one a few days back that I had to try: Quinoa Pilaf with Salmon & Asparagus. Larry isn’t much of a fan of veges but he does like asparagus – so it was worth a shot.

Fresh asparagus from whole foods, some very sweet yellowish red grape tomatoes and frozen peas…all ready to go.

Cooking quinoa is so easy – boil 2 cups of chicken broth (or water) then add 1 cup quinoa – simmer for 10-15 min and voila – DONE! I leave it for a bit just to get it all fully “popped” and cooked through.

This recipe had me poaching the salmon in chicken broth/water…it called for skin-on salmon but I bought skin-free from Meijer and it worked just fine and was easier.

After the salmon is done, remove that and start cooking the veges.

After the salmon has cooled a bit – I broke it into chunks…so much better than canned – yuck! The cats were circling like sharks in the ocean – it was pretty funny.

Then mix it all together. You have to be a bit gingerly or the salmon will just fall into tiny pieces – so I mixed in the quinoa first – then added the salmon last. There were seasonings along the way that are in the recipe.

Funny thing is – Larry jokes that sometimes my recipes come out and look like “slop”. He says “Oooooh what kind of slop are we having tonight?” Well – this did look like slop. I laughed and said – “Honey – it’s salmon slop tonight!”

QUINOA PILAF WITH SALMON AND ASPARAGUS